Arc Poetry

Full details

or over 40 years, Arc has been pub­lish­ing the best in con­tem­po­rary poetry. Arc invites sub­mis­sions from poets at all stages of their writing careers.

Gen­eral Notes

• Arc has two reading periods:
  • submissions received from April 1 to July 31 will be read for the Winter issue
  • submissions received from September 1 to December 31 will be read for the Summer issue
• Arc does not accept general submissions from January 1 to March 31 and from August 1 to August 31.
• Arc does not accept paper submissions. Submissions received by mail will not be read and will not receive a response.
• Arc only accepts sub­mis­sions using the online sub­mis­sion man­ager as seen below.

Poetry Submissions

Arc accepts unso­licited sub­mis­sions of pre­vi­ously unpub­lished poetry in English, or translations of poetry into English, on any sub­ject and in any form.

• Submissions must not exceed 3 poems or 360 lines.
• Submissions must be typed and sin­gle spaced (dou­ble spaces will be inter­preted as blank lines).
• Submissions of visual poetry or concrete poetry should be submitted in PDF format.
• Submissions must include the poet’s name, email address, and mailing address on each page.
• Submissions must include the poet’s biog­ra­phy. Biographical statements should be two to three sentences or approximately 50 words.
• Multiple submissions must be submitted separately. On Submittable, each poem must be in a sep­a­rate submission along with the poet’s biog­ra­phy. Submissions will be grouped together by submitter.
• Poets may only submit once each calendar year.
• Poets may submit poems that are simultaneously submitted elsewhere. Poems that have been accepted by another publication should be withdrawn from Arc immediately.

Arc will respond to unso­licited sub­mis­sions of poetry within four to six months. Arc can’t promise to respond to inquiries regard­ing the sta­tus of sub­mis­sions before the com­ple­tion of a reading period.
Arc pays for poetry at the rate of $50 per page. Payment is issued upon pub­li­ca­tion along with one free copy of the issue in which the work appears. With acceptance, Arc secures First Cana­dian Serial Rights, meaning the poems should not appear in any print or digital publication before the release of the issue in which the work appears. All rights will revert to the author upon publication.

Prose Submissions

Arc publishes essays, interviews, and articles on poetry and poetry-related subjects. Submit a pitch of 250 words, with an estimate of anticipated length to prose@arcpoetry.ca. Tell us a bit about yourself and your writing experience in your email, including any relevant links to samples of your previous work. For further details on what to include in your pitch, read below.
Poetry and review queries submitted to the prose submission email will not be read. For review queries, please contact coordinatingeditor@arcpoetry.ca.
Please note that Arc only publishes prose content by Canadian writers or prose on topics related to Canadian poetry.
Essays:
Arc publishes essays of about 1500-2000 words. In your pitch, please include a 250-500 word description of the direction you envision for your essay. If you have already written your essay, please attach a 1-2 page sample in your email. Payment is $50 per printed page in Arc.
Interviews:
Arc is interested in publishing in-depth interviews with poets, around 1500-2000 words in length. In your pitch, please mention who you are interested in interviewing and the topics or themes you want to discuss. If you have already conducted the interview, please include a 1-2 page sample in your email. Payment is $50 per printed page in Arc, split between the interviewer and interviewee.
How Poems Work:
The “How Poems Work” feature is a 500-word column that is a “case-study” appreciation of a single poem by a Canadian poet, addressing such concerns as style, subject matter, influences, context, and the use of such elements as form, language, rhythm, and diction. The text of the poem under discussion will also be reprinted in each column.
Contributors are invited to pitch Arc with proposals of around 250 words for a “How Poems Work” feature columns. Contributors can pitch up to three different poems for consideration. Arc is responsible for securing permission to reprint accepted poems. Payment is $50 per column.
Arc does not pub­lish fiction or drama.
Payment is issued upon pub­li­ca­tion along with one free copy of the issue in which the work appears. With acceptance, Arc secures First Cana­dian Serial Rights, meaning the work should not appear in any print or digital publication before the release of the issue in which the work appears. All rights will revert to the author upon publication.