Call for Poetry Submissions: Strange Bedfellows
Back in February, in a year when the centenary of the Easter Rising loomed large, Ireland went to the polls to elect its 32nd government. The sins of both parties leading up to and during the recession were still fresh in the minds of voters and no single party achieved the required majority to rule.
As a country we now face governance under a coalition formed by the two main opposition parties — will it be five years of stalemate or the death of party politics and a return to a balanced democracy?
Only time will tell.
Strange Bedfellows
Inspired / chilled by this unlikely partnership and the Game of Thrones-style political shenanigans that are bound to ensue, Headstuff are delighted to announce a new call for poetry submissions on the theme ‘Strange Bedfellows’.
We want poems on all manner of unholy alliances — think Arya and The Hound, Jon Snow and the Wildlings, Ramsay Bolton and a conscience — be they romantic, historical, political, geographical, literary or fantasy. Whether your terrible twosomes lead to grand passion, outright war or mild irritation at the bus stop, sing us the songs of the wrong people in the right place.
Game of Thrones aside, feel free to interpret the theme as widely as possible – win us with your words.
We will choose 13 poems to publish in our Poem of the Week slot between July and September.
We recommend reading our Poem of the Week and Revolution NOW series to better understand the kind of work we like. For example, we’re not fundamentally opposed to rhyming poetry, but it had better be doing something more than just rhyming to make us sit up and take notice.
What We’re Looking For
Send up to 6 poems to [email protected], marked Strange Bedfellows, by 15 June 2016. Max. 40 lines.
Please read our General Submissions guidelines before submitting your work – any submissions that do not meet our requirements will not be considered.
We welcome written submissions, sound and video performances, in the English language, from Ireland and beyond. Please submit your work in the format you want us to use. eg. page, YouTube, Soundcloud. We will only use high quality sound / video performances.
We do not want: Sexism, Misogyny, Homophobia, Bigotry, Violence and/or Sexual Violence.
All written submissions should be in .doc/.docx format, not PDF. All submissions should be unpublished.
All submissions should include author’s full name (we won’t publish anonymous work), a headshot and a 100 word bio.
Please allow 4 weeks after the close of submissions for a response.
