Unpublished, speculative poems and illustrations sought for anthology on trees edited by Akua Lezli Hope.

 

There are an estimated 3.04 trillion trees, 422 for every person on earth. We know now that trees communicate and protect each other. They make, prefer, and form communities. We don’t see what they see or know what they know. The seemingly dead stump may still be nourished and cherished by his living surround — in grief? in memory? Most trees outlive us, unless we kill them.

Send your tree-centered and tree-themed speculative verse

from sf/f to horror, myth to magic, hope punk to paranormal

 

·       Submissions until March 1, 2023 

·       Submit no more than 3 unpublished, speculative poems to speculativetrees@gmail.com

·       No previously published poems (see notes)

 

Submission Format

·       One-inch margins, 12 point or larger type (no TNR)

·       Name and e-mail address on every page of poem.

·       Name of file should be your name and title of poem.

·       Send each poem as a separate file.

·       Send files as attachment in .doc or .docx to speculativetrees@gmail.com

 

Payment: all included will receive one copy of the paperback. (Estimated value, $25 including shipping and handling). The anthology will be published as a paperback and e-Book in 2024.

 

Notes:

Please send only speculative poetry, no longer than 40 lines.

Please send only speculative poetry.

Mere metaphor does not a speculative poem make; mere simile does not a speculative poem make. All poetic forms are welcome.

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*Published works are those published in: online journals, magazines, anthologies, eBooks, eChapbooks, eNewspapers, Hardcopy journals, magazines, anthologies, books, chapbooks, newspapers, pamphlets

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Rights sought: exclusive print publishing rights for two years after date of publication, enhanced e-book and electronic rights to use work in audio or video features about the anthology.

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Speculative poetry is an ever widening expanse of verse creation, embracing elements of science fiction, fantasy, fairytales, horror, and more. Our earliest encoded storytelling  was verse tales of the imagined.  Verse was the first vehicle to convey our imaginations through the dark and to the heavens.  Speculative poetry is ancient of days, older than the flood, and as new as tomorrow with roots in Gilgamesh, the Odyssey, the Ramayana,  and Beowulf as well as the many mythologies and folklore that populate our world.

 

By speculative we mean those poems that present the unreal as real. Speculative is the umbrella term for various categories/genres of literature including: alternate history, astropoetry, cryptids, cyberfunk, cyberpunk, dystopian, fabulism, fairytales, fantasy, folklore, futurism, horror, magic, monsters, mythology, occult, paranormal, robots, science fiction, shifters, slipstream, solar punk, solar funk, space opera, superheroes, supernatural, sword and sorcery, sword and soul, steam funk, steam punk, time travel, post-apocalyptic & weird. It all poetics forms. and one called scifaiku.

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