The Drinking Gourd Essay Series

Ends on

TWH is interested in conversations that poets are not having in public and opening that discourse to the wider community. We are looking to publish traditional, poetic, or experimental essays that are reflective, factual, and dynamic. Submissions should speak to issues that affect poets, their lives, the communities they live in, or the larger project of poetry. 

Selections will be published on TWH’s website, distributed to our digital mailing list, and promoted on social media and YouTube. An editorial committee of TWH Fellows and Graduate Fellows will select essays.

Essays must be previously unpublished. Simultaneous submissions are allowed; however, please withdraw your submission if it is picked up elsewhere. While you can submit multiple essays for consideration, each essay must address a single prompt.


 

Prompts: 

  1. Think of the poetry communities you operate in. Some things work well, while others work terribly. What creates and maintains a healthy poetry community? How do we unlock that code and share it with others?
  2. For poets who are not in academia or full-time artists, but maintain active and dynamic poetry practices, how are you sustaining yourself financially, and what does your poetic practice look like?
  3. What do you want poets to be thinking about?
  4. Outside of your literary impact by way of readings, publication, and accolades, how are your poetic practices tied directly to the lives of people in your communities? 


 

Guidelines: 

  • Please submit 500 - 1000-word essays. Traditional, poetic, or experimental essays will be considered.
  • In a time of alternative facts, we deeply value the writers who do their own fact-checking.
  • Preference will be given to TWH graduate fellows and fellows.


 

Deadline: December 31, 2025


 

Contributor Compensation: $100.00


 

Contributor Promotional Commitment:

  Selected writers are expected to record two vertical videos for digital promotion: 1) reading an excerpt from their essay and 2) discussing their essay’s thesis.


 

Response Time:

  All writers will be contacted on or before March 1, 2026.

We use Submittable to accept and review our submissions.
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