Our
Mission
Since its debut issue over 130 years ago, Poet Lore has been a space where poets from all over the world are put in conversation with one another. Our continued mission is to bring these urgent conversations to our pages and readers.
With energetic new voices, experimental forms, innovative translations, and our rotating Guest Editors, Poet Lore’s pages stay sharp and inquisitive, offering a lens through which to see the world and words that transform and inspire.
Explore
Our Issues
Take a peek inside our latest print issues, each featuring an exclusive themed folio curated by our Guest Editor. A selection of poems from each issue are available online.
Submit
Your Work
Two open submission periods. Special themed guest edited calls. Unlimited possibilities for your work at Poet Lore. It is always free to submit and we proudly offer $50 per published poem.
Our Efforts in Expanding
the Poetry Landscape
Poets Published
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Never miss an issue of Poet Lore with our annual $20 subscription. Your subscription directly supports our poets and ensures that we continue publishing well into the future.
Stay Up-to-date
Both a Realist and a Surrealist
Finding Light in the Shadows
Volume 118 Summer/Fall 2023 Guest Editor’s Note
Virtual Craft Chat with Poet Jane Huffman
America’s Oldest
Poetry Journal
Founded in 1889, Poet Lore has published world-famous poets and new writers side by side throughout its long history. Many renowned poets published their early work (sometimes their very first poems) in Poet Lore —Kim Addonizio, Carl Phillips, and Mary Oliver among them.
More recently, we’ve published contemporary poets including Erika Meitner, Terrance Hayes, Natasha Trethewey, Tarfia Faizullah, Benjamin Garcia, Reginald Dwayne Betts, Jose Hernandez Diaz, and many others. Some of our contributors have even become our latest Guest Editors!