CLOSED FOR SUBMISSIONS
Reading periods:
October 1 - October 21
February 1 - February 21
Submissions sent outside of our reading period will be DELETED UNREAD.
What we publish:
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Poetry
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Japanese short-forms
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Sequences
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Prose
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Visual art
Sonic Boom hopes to mix it up a bit by seeking both solicited and unsolicited submissions. All submissions MUST be original and previously unpublished. Works that have appeared on your personal blogs and social media accounts are not considered published. For chapbook submissions, visit our imprint Yavanika Press.
Where to send your work:
Things to Remember:
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Please submit only ONCE per reading period.
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Please REFRAIN from simultaneous submissions.
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You can submit to more than one section during a given reading period.
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All submissions must be accompanied by a 50-word bio in the third person.
Editors: Shloka Shankar, Robin Smith, & Kat Lehmann
THE POETRY SHACK
We want poems that speak to us on some level, poems that draw on emotion, poems that dialogue with the reader. Give us the ordinary, the grandiose, the hauntingly beautiful, and avoid rhyme unless it’s the lifeblood of your piece. We love sharp, crisp images, engaging metaphors, and unpretentious poetry. We are not fond of poems that deliberately obfuscate. Give us your odes to brevity. We are open to publishing experimental poetry, including but not limited to found/remixed pieces. We are unable to accept translations at this time.
Other pointers:
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Please submit ONE poem fewer than 15 lines (excludes title & line breaks).
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Paste your poem in the body of the email with subject: The Poetry Shack Submission
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No attachments will be opened unless your poem has special formatting. In which case, please submit as both a word document and PDF file.
Response time: 3 weeks or sooner if your work is shortlisted/accepted for publication. We no longer send notices for declined work.
PAPER LANTERNS
Please submit up to 10 poems in the body of the email with subject: Paper Lanterns Submission. We accept:
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haiku & senryu (all types including poemwords, found, parallel, and concrete)
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cherita
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gembun
We request you to please number your poems.
If you're new to these forms, read our back issues to get an idea of what we are looking for. We do not merely publish micropoetry but look for pieces that are rooted in Japanese aesthetics. Send us work that is exciting and fresh. What role are you playing in advancing contemporary haikai? Every year, we nominate poems for The Haiku Foundation's Touchstone Individual Poems Award.
Response time: 3 weeks or sooner if your work is shortlisted/accepted for publication. We no longer send notices for declined work.
WARPS & WEFTS
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Please submit no more than 2 sequences of up to six micropoems.
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Sequences should have a title, should link and shift between each individual poem (or poet, if collaborating), and not have obvious repetition throughout the sequence or title.
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Additionally, they should travel.
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Feel free to submit any format of sequencing you like.
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The individual poems may be one to five lines in length.
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Submissions may be single or multi-author.
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Only ONE submission of up to 2 sequences during a given reading period.
Response time: 3 weeks if your work is shortlisted/accepted for publication. We no longer send notices for declined work.
PROSE
We encourage you to interpret this section in whatever manner pleases you. Send us your flash fiction pieces, creative non-fiction, vignettes, short scenes, hybrid forms, and haibun. We favour pieces that lean toward the prose poem rather than action-centred genre. For haibun, we prefer that the three elements (title, prose, and poem) are not repetitive but resonate or expand each other in some way. A strong voice, the willingness to take risks with language, and attention to the odd but beautifully defining details are more likely to find a home. We are open to experimentation, but not at the cost of quality. We also do not care much for sci-fi, speculative fiction, or horror.
Please submit:
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Up to 2 pieces (upper word limit 300 words)
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Please include your work in the body of the email with subject: Prose Submission.
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If your work contains special formatting, kindly also send the piece across as a PDF document.
Response time: 3 weeks if your work is shortlisted/accepted for publication. We no longer send notices for declined work.
VISUAL ART
Please submit a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 10 high-resolution images as .JPEG attachments with with subject: Visual Art Submission. In addition, please feel free to provide us with a link to your online gallery/portfolio.
We accept all styles and schools of art, including, but not limited to:
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photographs
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blackout/erasure poems
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haiga & brushwork
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asemic writing
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mixed media & collage
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vispos
If you wish to submit photo essays, please let us know and we'll feature you on our website. Browse through our back issues to get a sense of our aesthetic. And oh, we love COLOUR! Lots of it. :)
Response time: 2 weeks or sooner if your work is shortlisted/accepted for publication. We no longer send notices for declined work.
Copyrights:
Sonic Boom retains the right to publish your work as a whole, or pieces thereof, on our website and social media pages. All rights revert to the individual authors upon publication. We ask that you credit Sonic Boom as the place of original publication in case of future reprints.
Payment:
We are currently a non-paying market.
If you have any queries, drop us a mail or send us a message on Facebook.