Submissions open Oct 1st ~ 31st 2025

After... is a free-to-read online journal for ‘after’ and ekphrastic poetry.

Poems are published each new and full moon, together with notes on the art that inspired them.

Because the journal is free, there’s no money to pay those it publishes. But all rights to the poems published remain always with their authors.

PLEASE READ THIS FIRST

The After... submissions window is open from Oct 1st to 31st each year. Poems submitted outside this period WILL NOT be considered.

ON LAST YEAR’S RESERVES LIST?

Any poet picked for the 2025 reserves list who ISN’T published in 2025 will be published in the first slots for 2026.

17 PLACES – PLUS 6 NEW RESERVES

There are 25 full and new moons in 2026. Places for the first eight of these will go to the 2025 reserves list poets who weren’t published during that year.

The 17 remaining places are open to those submitting in October 2025. Six further places will also be offered to create a new reserves list for 2026.

Any 2026 reserves list poet NOT called upon to replace a poet who withdraws from or gives up their place in 2026 is guaranteed publication in 2027.

WHAT YOU SHOULD SEND

Email ONE poem (40 lines max.) to afterpoetry [at] gmail [dot] com with the subject line ‘Submission to After... ’.

Your poem must be in a PC-friendly text format (Word, Google Docs) with an epigraph stating clearly and succinctly what your poem is ‘after’.

Your poem MUST NOT have been published anywhere else previously

Please also write a brief supporting note (100 words max.) about the art that inspired your poem. Put this in the body of your email along with:

• Your full (and pen) name

• Your poem’s title

• Title of the art your poem is ‘after’

• Name of your inspiration’s creator

• Any links to your inspiration online

DO NOT attach any

videos, photos, bios or audio

Your text can include non-English words, phrases or passages. However, the greater part of your poem must be written for English readers. Poems translated into English are welcomed.

SUBMITTING SIMULTANEOUSLY?

Please try to give After... two weeks’ notice

if your poem is accepted elsewhere.

ONLY SUBMISSIONS MEETING ALL

THESE CRITERIA WILL BE CONSIDERED

If you don’t get an email by Nov 30th 2025 confirming your poem will be published in 2026 (or inviting you to the reserves list), thank you for submitting and best of luck next year.

WHAT HAPPENS FROM JAN 3rd 2026?

On Jan 3rd 2026, the year’s first poem will be published. By this time, the 24 other poets picked for 2026 will know on which dates their poems will appear.

As a reminder, any reserves list poet not published in 2026 is GUARANTEED publication in 2027.

THANK YOU FOR SUBMITTING

GOOD LUCK!