SILVER BRANCH PROJECT
Special Submission
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We open up a 1 day submission period on 31st August (only) for just a few featured opportunities on our Silver Branch project (writer of the month).
After 5 years of invite-only features, we figured it would be good to open up a small window to reward poets who have attended our 'Crafting Your Year in Poetry' workshop. The next workshop is this Sunday, 13th July at 6:00pm (UK time). For more details of this workshop CLICK HERE
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Writers featured on this project are usually put forward for awards and the features get a lot of readers. We will squeeze a few writers into our invite-only schedule.
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If you have attended our 'Crafting Your Year in Poetry' workshop, here are the submission guidelines for our call.
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1) Send up to 20 original, new, unpublished, free-verse imagistic poems to us on 31st August (only) in an MS Word document, by attachment. In your cover e-mail, let us know what Silver Branch feature you like most CLICK HERE and tell us a bit about you and your writing journey. No AI poems, of course. That carries a 10 yr ban from the Bough, as does plagiarism, with parole board after 6 years.
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2) E-mail is blackboughpoetry(at)outlook.com
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You will hear the outcome of the callout by 31st October, 2025.
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Good luck!​​​​​​​​​
Check out our current Silver Branch writer CLICK HERE
Christmas-winter 2025
Poetry Submission opportunity
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Following on from our five previous Christmas-winter editions, we will be publishing a new, sixth volume for Christmas 2025.
We welcome poems on all cultural and folk traditions around this time of year and everything to do with the season (Diwali, solstice, Hannukah, Mari Lwyd, your childhood, memories, etc.).
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The submission period when we will accept your work is Saturday 14th December 2024 - Wednesday 1st January 2025. Poems before or after this date won't be read.
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We look for imagistic, suggestive poems, following the idea of 'less is more'. We publish vivid poems that avoid cliché and have subtlety. Narrative poems are rarely published here or rhyming poetry. We strongly recommend you obtain a copy of previous Christmas/ winter editions which are available on Amazon. You'll get a very clear idea of the different styles of poems we publish and will get inspired!
Usual submission guidelines:
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a) Poets are invited to submit three short poems, max 120 words. These must be previously unpublished. No cribbing, plagiarism or use of AI. On the naughty list, ten year ban.
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b) Please send poems in Garamond font, size 11, within the submission window. We welcome bilingual versions of the same poem (eg. Welsh and English versions). .
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c) We prefer punctuated poems. Send three poems!
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d) Please send a short biography (up to 40 words) in the body of the e-mail and your poems by Microsoft Word attachment. Social media handles too.
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e) Special e-mail for this edition is winterbough@outlook.com This e-mail only.
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f) If you have a simultaneous submission to another publication, please ensure you make this clear in your e-mail as this can cause inconvenience if you suddenly withdraw your work. ​
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g) It is the editorial policy to offer feedback on essential or potential improvements to poems that are on the edge of acceptance. The editorial team will confer on borderline 'acceptance' poems. If you submit, this is what can be expected and it is intended to be constructive and increase acceptance rates. If you really don't like this, Black Bough may not be the right publication for you.
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h) Rudeness, offensive behaviour or hate speech will not be tolerated. We are trying to help poets and showcase excellent work. No sexually-explicit poetry.
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i) If you are accepted for this edition, you are also consenting for your poem to be used in a print version and for your work to be publicised on social media. We are unable to fund contributor's copies at the moment as we are entirely self-funded and do not have grants, patrons, crowdfunders, membership fees. etc. Contributor copies will be priced at an affordable level (approx. £7.50 - £9.00). Free PDF copy for all contributors.
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​​j) Please tip us - this helps keep our projects going and keeps costs down. Our paypal username is deeptimepoetry@outlook.com or you can use the paypal link. Suggested tip £3.50.
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k) We'll be looking at a small number of poems that nearly made the cut last year.
l) We will be promoting you poems and looking at award nominations so send your best work!
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We look forward to hearing from you.
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Twitter: @blackboughpoems Fb: BlackBoughpoetry Instagram/ Threads: Black Bough poetry
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