New to Haiku presents Going Wide: Submitting Haiku in the General Poetry World by Kat Lehmann

[This week at New to Haiku, poet Kat Lehmann shares her tips for submitting haiku outside of our community. My thanks to Kat for sharing her expertise with us!––Julie]

Like many of you, I sometimes send my haiku poems to journals outside of our community. Although some general poetry journals welcome haiku and related forms, there remains a sense that most of these editors do not receive many haiku submissions and are less able to make the same nuanced evaluations due to that lower exposure.

What would happen if we increased our submissions in the wider poetry world, flooding their Submittable accounts with contemporary haiku? Could we create a grand “aha!” and show that contemporary haiku has evolved beyond an exercise in syllable counting? Could we increase haiku literacy by showing with our works published in poetry journals rather than telling about it with our explanations that the broader poetry community might not see?

In her essay “Understanding the Larger Pond: Raising Awareness and Spreading Haiku Literacy,” in Frogpond 39.1 (2016), Debbie Kolodji challenged us to send submissions to literary journals outside the haiku community. Let’s revisit this challenge to increase the presence and appreciation of haiku outside of our pond into the “larger pond” of general poetry. I hope to inspire you with some questions and moderately-informed answers that address some of the Why, What, When, Where, How, Which, and Who of such an endeavor.

Note on the terms used below:

Although haiku is most certainly a sub-category of poetry, I use “poetry journal” below as a shorthand to distinguish venues that accept diverse forms (free verse, sonnets, etc) versus journals that publish primarily haiku and related forms and/or are run by members of our haiku community. Likewise, “haiku” is used in an expansive way here to include haiku, senryu, haibun, haiga, rengay, multi-ku, etc.

THE WHY

Why would someone send their haiku to a general poetry journal?

There could be many reasons for this. We collectively sigh at the misconceptions about contemporary haiku. We might roll our eyes at the 5/7/5 “Haikus are easy / But sometimes don’t make sense / Refrigerator” attributed to Rolf Nelson (or perhaps own a t-shirt with it as a joke). Maybe we are weary of the oversimplification of haiku to be just an exercise for children to learn syllables without an understanding of season words, kire, etc. Maybe we want poets outside the haiku community to become more accustomed to seeing haiku and related forms as a serious part of the literary conversation.

Haiku is a tiny part of the larger poetry community, which publishes free verse, sonnets, ghazals, villanelles, and scores of other sub-genres and forms. Maybe we wonder if an editor who is less familiar with haiku will find artistic merit in our work beyond the context and history that our community provides. Publication in a mainstream journal can lead to more readers for all of us, collectively, and more genre familiarity in the future.

While many of us enjoy the occasional new challenge, we may wonder if we will fall off the edge of the earth if we venture outside our haiku pond toward the sea dragons of the unknown! Maybe we can be a little brave anyway. Because maybe what we desire most of all is to help expand the general readership, everyday appreciation, and love of English-language haiku.

THE WHAT

What if haiku and related forms are not listed in the poetry journal’s submission guidelines. Can I still submit there?

Of course you can, particularly if you think the venue is otherwise a good fit in tone or subject matter, and haiku is not excluded in the guidelines. Themed calls might be a good opportunity to “go wide” and submit somewhere new. If a journal has a call for poems about Yarn or Daydreams, why not send your haiku that includes these themes? Or perhaps a sci-fi journal would consider your scifaiku. What are your favorite nature-focused journals? Why not send your work there when it fits?

It might help to consider how your work might be read by someone who does not commonly see the types of poetry our community produces. If enough of us send our haikai-genre work to poetry journals, we might start to see our forms listed at some venues.

Here are some rough equivalencies for consideration. Different is different, but close might be close enough in some cases?

Micropoetry: A micropoem is a short poem. Some editors who accept micropoetry state in their journal guidelines that they do not want haiku. If the guidelines are unclear, it can be helpful to see the type of work the journal has published previously or ask the editor if they would consider haiku. If the venue seems welcoming to expansive definitions of micropoetry, it doesn’t hurt to submit. Either way, the editor is always right, and if their idea of publishing “micropoetry” does not include publishing haiku, just move on.

Hybrids: This is a term you will commonly see in the general poetry community to indicate a synergistic mixture of more than one genre. Haibun is a hybrid form, so it is appropriate to submit haibun when you see a call for hybrids. Haibun has been very popular in recent years due in part to the burning haibun of torrin a. greathouse; these are interesting to read because although they include haiku that are different from the ones our community generally publishes, they have increased the visibility of the haibun form in the wider poetry community.

CNF, Flash, and Prose Poetry: Perhaps that pesky draft haibun that does not have a satisfying haiku component can be honed into a lovely flash or prose poem piece. You might also want to look at venues that accept CNF (creative nonfiction) if your work sounds like it could fit. These genres are different from haibun but could provide some familiarity with poetry journal submissions with work that is already on hand.

Ekphrastic Poetry: Ekphrastics are poems inspired by art. Might your haiga be presented in a way that venues publishing ekphrastic or visual poetry (“vispo”) would consider it? Or perhaps a general call for art and/or photography will consider them.

Free Verse: Have you written a haiku sequence, rengay, or multi-ku that might be appealing to a general poetry journal? Some journals have a narrow focus but others are welcoming to what might be seen as “experimental” work.

THE WHEN (HOW LONG, ETC.)

In what ways is submitting to poetry journals different from submitting to journals within the haiku community?

You are more likely to be asked for a cover letter and bio in the general poetry world. The process is a bit more formal overall, but a friendly tone is still helpful when writing to the humans on the other end. The cover letter is an opportunity to introduce yourself as a well-published haiku writer who is submitting contemporary haiku that reflects our community’s understanding of the genre (thanks for the suggestion, Katie!).

Many poetry journals use online portals rather than email to receive submissions. Submittable and Duosema (Duotrope‘s submission manager) are common as are other journal-specific portals. These submission portals usually involve completing simple forms and uploading a document containing the poems. The process is straightforward once you’ve done it a time or two.

A good number of poetry journals charge submission fees. Although Submittable itself is free for poets to use, Submittable is not free for journals, so some journals offset these fees by passing a small fee to the poet (usually a few dollars). Any fee will be stated in Submittable (and often in the guidelines). A poet can decide if they want to include journals that charge a fee or focus on free submission venues. In Chill Subs, Poets & Writers, and Submittable Discover (see links below under The Where and Which), it is possible to filter the submission calls by No Fee.

Most poetry journals have longer wait times, often on the scale of 3-6 months or longer. We haiku poets have become accustomed (and even a bit spoiled!) by quick turnaround times from our community editors. This is not the experience of poetry writers generally. Being patient for general poetry venues is worth it if you are interested in expanding your portfolio or having discussions about your work with new-to-you editors. Some venues nominate for different awards than we often see in the haiku community.

Many general poetry journals will offer critiques and/or expedited processing for a fee. This can be a way to get a sense of how your work is perceived “beyond the pond.” The expedited calls I have seen are clear that the acceptance rates are the same as a normal submission, but the expedited route can be helpful if you need to reduce the wait time on a special poem.

Most poetry journals have lower acceptance rates than haiku-specific or other subgenre-focused journals. This is likely related to simple math. Poetry is a larger and more competitive community than haiku, and with that increased competition comes lower acceptance rates. Send your best! I have seen free verse poets excitedly share on social media that they had five poems published that year. Compare this to the experience of haiku poets, who often publish dozens—or upwards of a hundred—poems in a year. My personal tally has ranged between 9 and 130 poems in a year, depending on what else is going on in my life. I generally fall in the dozens range. Even my “low year” of 9 poems published would be a bumper year for many general poets. Perhaps this recalibration in scale will help with what I am going to ask that you try below.

Simultaneous submissions (“sim subs”) are generally acceptable. Haiku journals are often so quick in their turnaround time that I submit my haiku to one journal at a time. Some haiku journals also do not allow simultaneous submissions, and this is a small ask given the speedy decision times on the scale of days to weeks. As always, check the journal’s guidelines to be sure of their policy, but many poetry journals offset the longer wait times by not requiring that your submission be sent exclusively to them. In this case, journals that allow sim subs ask that you alert them if your poem is accepted elsewhere so they can withdraw your work from the submission pool.

THE WHERE AND WHICH

Where should I go for resources to find information about general poetry journals? 

Your primary source of information will always be the submission guidelines on a journal’s site. Here are some online destinations where you can search for venues and upcoming calls.

Chill Subs: A newer site to search for journals and contests.

Duotrope: Includes information about journal response times based on submitter experience. Some of the information is free, and some is available to paid subscribers only. Here are examples of listings for Frogpond and whiptail.

Submittable: Perhaps the most common submission portal used by journals. Once you sign up for a free account, the Discover tab will show you upcoming calls.

Poets & Writers: Includes an area to search for journals and presses and provides the option of creating a poet bio on their site.

New Pages: Includes a search for Poetry and a variety of other genres.

The Submission Grinder: Another submission site that is like a feed of markets and venue responses.

Good Old Social Media: Once you find journals that might be a good fit for your work, follow them on social media. From there, you can find additional similar journals due to the interactions between editors.

Rejection Wiki: Not sure if the wording of a rejection letter means you were close or far from the mark? Compare your letter to the letters that others received from that journal.

Where might someone consider submitting haiku and haiku-based works?

I have had haiku-genre poems published in the following still-active venues that publish more than just haiku, listed alphabetically:

• Ghost City Press (a multi-ku chapbook)
• MacQueen’s Quinterly (haibun and split sequences)
• MadSwirl (haiku)
• NOON: journal of the short poem (haiku)
• ONE ART (in their annual Haiku Anthology)
• Petrichor (in their annual Pebbles issue that seeks tiny poems, including haiku)
• Rattle (haibun, multi-ku, and a haiku chapbook).

I have no doubt that other community members could add substantially to this list! Let’s share our successes and stories of haiku-friendly editors. Julie Bloss Kelsey says, “I’ve had luck with Jersey Devil Press, Star*Line, and Eye to the Telescope for scifaiku.”

Additional haiku non-exclusive venues that we have seen publish haiku genre poems are:

• Fireflies’ Light & Cantos: A Literary and Arts Journal (both from Missouri Baptist University)
• humana obscura
• Ink Sweat & Tears
• Lothlorien Poetry Journal
• Nightingale & Sparrow
• OPEN: Journal of Arts and Letters
• The Pangolin Review
• The Periwinkle Pelican
• Pulse–voices from the heart of medicine (Julie notes: “Be sure to sign up for the free journal––this is required in order to submit. Also please note in the submission guidelines that they only accept haiku at certain times.”)
• Rogue Agent Journal
• Shot Glass Journal
• White Enso

THE HOW

What is a possible submission strategy for poetry journals?

It is common to create a submission packet of several poems and send this same packet to multiple venues that publish similar types of poems or themes. Just like with haiku-specific journals, it is a good idea to read the journals first to get a feel for what they publish to see if your work is a good fit in topic and overall tone. For each first submission to a new place, it’s a good idea to send a variety of work to aim for the best fit. Be mindful that different venues might allow a different maximum number of poems in a submission. For example, you might create a packet of five high-quality haiku, haibun, or haiga. For journals that want only a submission of three poems, you can remove the two that seem like the lesser fit for that venue. After submission, make peace with not knowing a decision on these poems for several months. Then go about submitting other poems within the community until you hear back from the poetry journals. Even if none of these poems are accepted in the broader poetry world, you can still submit them to haiku journals that are used to receiving the type of work you would be sending.

I’ve heard poets talk about racking up rejections as a way to motivate their submissions activity while lessening the sting when the work is declined. Some poets aim for 100 rejections every year. My dad always told me, and now I tell my kids, the worst response they can give is “no,” which puts you at the same place you are now. You will never get a “yes” until you make peace with “no.”

How else can we, as a haiku community, increase our presence in the general poetry world?

Once you have had a few publications, create a bio on Poets & Writers. Some of our haiku community journals are not included in their pull-down list. I have asked Poets & Writers to add more, but feel free to request that they add the ones you need. Julie had a great New to Haiku entry about creating a poetry bio!

We can be open to friendships with general poets and invite them to our events and readings. I’ve had fun attending online poetry readings and discussions with poets and have made some lovely new friends. My experience is that they are as interested in what we do as we are in what they do, with much to learn in both directions. Robin Smith has attended Zoom workshops held by tiny spoon and Sundress Publications. I have attended online workshops and readings held by ONE ART, Rattle, and The Poetry Space_ (listen here on Apple Podcasts; Substack here). I have also attended workshops and readings by following favorite poets, including free workshops with Diane Seuss! Many online and in-person events can be found by signing up for newsletters or following journals and poets on social media.

THE WHO….(YOU!)

What next?

Have you submitted haiku-genre poems to venues outside of the haiku community? If so, what types of poems did you submit, and where did you send them? What was your experience? Are there any lessons from this that you can share? Do you have other suggestions for increasing haiku literacy and our presence in the greater literary conversation?

Special thanks to the following poets who commented and provided wonderful suggestions: Katie Dozier, Julie Bloss Kelsey, and Robin Smith. Any remaining errors are mine.

Kat Lehmann is a founding co-chief editor of whiptail: journal of the single-line poem. She is a winner of the 2024 Rattle Chapbook Prize for her haiku collection no matter how it ends a bluebird’s song. Her latest collection highlights a multi-haiku form that she created (sudo-ku) and is available as a free download from Ghost City Press. A former research biochemist, Kat lives in Connecticut with her family. https://katlehmann.weebly.com

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