submit to boundby
Thank you for your interest in submitting to boundby. Please read our guidelines in full before sending us your work.
edition #004, due to be published in April 2026, is accepting poems for two categories:
open category
Any poems, any subject, any form. All we ask is that they adhere to our guidelines.
spotlight category: sonnots
We are looking for poems which resemble sonnets, but are not; poems which started as sonnets and have since deviated; poems whose intentions went awry, for whom the parameters of the sonnet might be somewhere in mind, but by necessity are overstepped.
This edition, boundby will spotlight radical interventions in form, in this case, the traditional 14-lined iambic-pentametric sonnet. Since the beginnings of the form, poets have set out to stretch its rules and invert its themes, reinterpreting and reinventing the Shakespearean and Petrarchan traditions that have long underpinned the sonnet’s popularity.
Examples of contemporary sonnet-variants include the free verse sonnet, popularised by the likes of Terrance Hayes; the mash-up form ‘The Duplex’ created by Jericho Brown; and the ‘niner’ (poem of nine lines, each line containing nine syllables), invented by the enigmatic poet Mendoza and adopted by Nat Raha. These approaches have come to be colloquially known as ‘sonnots’.
It’s not about how your sonnot comes to be, what rules it breaks, how it looks on the page. We don’t need to know exactly what radical traditions and non-traditions you are writing through. We do, however, want to witness how your poem accents against the demands of the sonnet, how you mould the form to the uniqueness of your poetic voice. We want to feel the sonnet’s influence grow and recede, to stumble across its remains, and to hear how your sonnot’s thinking rhymes, even if its words do not.
reviews and responses to new poetry
In addition to poems themselves, boundby edition #004 is inviting reviews of new and contemporary poetry, bridging the gap between poetry and poetics and encouraging our readership to consider the potential of essay. Scroll down to see our guidelines.
our guidelines
boundby is keen to hear work written by a wide array of voices, particularly those who are POC, LGBTQIA+, disabled, neurodivergent, and writers of all historically and presently oppressed communities. Our editors read and select submissions anonymously, and we are committed to upholding fairness in every stage of the publication process.
We do not consider work which promotes or incites discrimination of any kind.
We accept poetry in any or no form. We prioritise poems of 40 lines or less of text but reserve the possibility to publish longer poems in exceptional circumstances (never in excess of 3 pages of typed A4).
For reviews, we recommend aiming for between 500-1000 words.
layout
Poets may submit up to 3 poems for consideration on a single Word or PDF document, with each poem on a new page. Poems and reviews alike should conform to the following specifications:
Our house font is Palatino
Titles should be in size 16 font
Body text should be in size 12 font
Line spacing should be set to 1.15
Formal invention and visual (non-textual) experimentation are wonderful. In which cases differing fonts, sizes, and spacing may contribute to the poem. We asked in these cases that the work be uploaded as a PDF so we can try our best to preserve the intended layout.
personal information
Include in your submission form your email, your full name as you wish for it to appear if published, and your pronouns.
We also ask for a very short 50-word or less third-person bio. This is a space to tell readers very briefly who you are and what you do, and to point them in the direction of your other work if you wish. We encourage you to use this section as sparingly and creatively as you desire. No pressure - we are just looking for a little snapshot of you.
not-so-extraneous other bits
Poetry in translation and non-English poetry are warmly welcomed. Our editors ask you to provide an English version (or approximation) along with the original.
Submissions must be original works written by the named poet(s). Poems and reviews must not have previously appeared in any other online/print zines, been published as part of a collection or pamphlet, or anthologised.
boundby is a magazine which celebrates human creativity. To this end, we do not publish AI-generated work.
To ensure we platform a range of poetic voices, we do not publish work from the same contributor in consecutive editions.
Published contributors are reminded that boundby remains the first publisher of any selected works. Where a work is later republished elsewhere, we ask that boundby is acknowledged as such.
We understand simultaneous submissions are necessary, though we ask that you promptly inform us if your work is accepted elsewhere.
We reply to all contributors and aim to notify you two to three weeks after submissions close on the status of their submissions. If you have not heard back after this timeline then please contact us via email at boundby.submissions@gmail.com.
additional guidelines for poetry reviews
We are interested in reading reviews and essays of any kind, critical or otherwise, in response to new poetry collections and pamphlets/chapbooks.
Things we like (non-exhaustive):
Personal essays about your experience with the text.
Explorations of the intent behind the text and/or the process of its production
Critical analyses of the texts themes and ideas.
Formalist discussions of poetic and stylistic technique.
Rants, screeds, experimental non-fiction.
Open letters to the poet.
Readings alongside older poetry, cultural/political/historical movements, and other artworks.
Readings of how the work positions itself in the contemporary poetry landscape.
Thoughtful criticism of a text’s objectives or its success in achieving them.
Titles that are eye-catching and creatively tease what the review sets out to do/say.
A couple of cautionary notes:
Sweeping and unfounded statements about the text’s value rarely make convincing arguments.
Numerical values (e.g. “I give it 8/10”) risk being reductive; we are looking for responses that engage thoughtfully with the text.
Smears or personal slander don’t lend to new or interesting ways of reading.
If it belongs only on evil Twitter, it doesn’t belong here.