March Moves: Opportunities for Poets

Introduction

As the first quarter of the year winds down, defrost your motivation with us. In addition to recurring events hosted by Kelsay Books poets, we scoured our inboxes, Poets & Writers, and the rest of the internet for opportunities close to the authors we most recently accepted in Georgia, Virginia, California, Oregon, and Australia. No matter where you are, we need your voice — and there's no time like the present to be heard.

Writers in the southern and western United States can often feel left out of the East Coast-focused literary culture, so I hope y'all find this list useful. As a midwesterner, I can relate to FOMO on what's happening in NYC. That's just one of many reasons we are committed to celebrating poets of all places and identities. Though the climate is changeable and challenging for many, we're heartened to be in community with writers all over the world. 

Check out these opportunities for poets, starting with remote Zoom readings. Free Events in New York, NY and Alexandria, Virginia ring in spring and Women's History Month. You'll find plenty of open mics, followed by a southern CA residency application and an Award for young Georgia poets in the LGBT+ community. Scroll on for Submissions opportunities and so much more!   

Events

Special features: Rhina P. Espaillat, Alfred Nicol, Matthew Buckley Smith

10 open mic slots (advance sign-up required). Please email carminestreetmetrics@gmail.com if you'd like to participate. Metrical poetry encouraged (not required).

Advance registration required to attend (not only to read in the open mic). Please register at the Zoom link below by Saturday March 1. (If you register the morning of March 2, that's OK! Just send us a quick note at carminestreetmetrics@gmail.com for a heads-up if you think we may not know who you are, so we make sure to approve your registration.)

Register to attend IN ADVANCE. Please do not wait until reading time, even if you are not 100% sure you will attend. Please use your real first and last name so you are recognizable.

Please do not share the Zoom link you receive after your registration is approved. Each participant will receive their own unique Zoom link, so if someone else uses it, you may be unable to join yourself.

Please try to be as on-time as possible, as we might have to stop admitting people at some point once the reading starts.

Heidi Slettedahl: Remote Zoom Reading on Saturday, March 15 at 3:30 p.m. ET

Details: https://wab.org/event/heidi-slettedahl/ 

Rhina P. Espaillat, born in the Dominican Republic in 1932, has lived in the U.S. since 1939 and taught English in New York City at the high school level. She has been writing since childhood and has published twelve full-length books and five chapbooks, comprising poetry, essays, and short stories in both English and her native Spanish. She has also published work in numerous anthologies and magazines, as well as translations, most notably of Robert Frost into Spanish and St. John of the Cross into English. Her awards include the T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry, the Richard Wilbur Award, The Nemerov Prize, the May Sarton Award, and several from the Poetry Society of America, the New England Poetry Club, and the Ministry of Culture of the Dominican Republic.

 

Alfred Nicol’s most recent collection of poetry, Animal Psalms, was published in 2016 by Able Muse Press. He has published two other collections, Elegy for Everyone (2009), and Winter Light, which received the 2004 Richard Wilbur Award. His poems have appeared in Poetry, The New England Review, Dark Horse, First Things, Commonweal, The Formalist, The Hopkins Review, Measure and elsewhere. His awards include The Daniel Varoujan Award of the New England Poetry Club, The Robert Frost Foundation Poetry Award, and the Willis Barnstone Translation Award. Nicol’s poem “Addendum” was included in the 2018 edition of The Best American Poetry.

New York: Morningside Poetry Series: John Foy & Joshua Mehigan: In the Wheelhouse

Please join us to hear poets John Foy and Joshua Mehigan read for the Morningside Poetry Series. Bios are below. There will also be an open mic at the end. The event will be introduced by poet and co-host David M. Katz.

Morningside Poetry Series

John Foy & Joshua Mehigan: In the Wheelhouse

Plus Open Mic

Sunday, March 9, 2025

3:00-5:00 pm

Suite Bar

992 Amsterdam Ave (Corner of West 109th Street)

New York, NY 10027

212-222-4600

As always at Suite: no cover, good company, great poetry.

Co-hosts: Linda Stern, David M. Katz & John Foy

John Foy’s fourth book, At Play, was published last year by Kelsay Books. His third collection, No One Leaves the World Unhurt, won the Donald Justice Poetry Prize (Autumn House Press, 2021). Night Vision, his second book, won the New Criterion Poetry Prize (St. Augustine’s Press, 2016). His work has been included in anthologies, most recently in Contemporary Catholic Poetry (Paraclete Press, 2024) and Outer Space – 100 Poems (Cambridge University Press, 2022). His poetry has been published widely in journals and online, including in The New Yorker and Poetry. He lives in New York and is a co-host of the Morningside Poetry Series in uptown Manhattan.

Joshua Mehigan’s second book, Accepting the Disaster (FSG, 2014), was cited in the New York Times Book Review, TLS, and elsewhere as a best book of the year. He has received fellowships from the NEA and Guggenheim Foundation. His poems have appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and Poetry, which awarded him its 2013 Levinson Prize, and are recent or forthcoming in The New Republic, The London Magazine, Image Journal, and Literary Matters. He lives in Brooklyn and teaches workshops for Brooklyn Poets, a literary nonprofit. 

In our hearts: Anne Gefell (1955–2017). Special thanks to Chander Malik and Ivan Balachandran at Suite and to Cordis Heard.

Check the Morningside Poetry Series page on Facebook for upcoming events.

Virginia: Listening to the Voices of Women Poets in Alexandria
Date & Time:    Wed Mar 26, 2025 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Location:    NVCC Bisdorf Building
5000 Dawes Avenue
Event Details:    "Listening to the Voices of Women Poets: An In-person Reading" in Celebration of Women’s History Month.” Cosponsored with Northern Virginia Community College. Bisdorf Building, Alexandria Campus. Free, in person event; RSVP requested at poet@alexandriava.gov.
Contact Person:    Cheryl Anne Colton
Contact Phone No.:    703.746.5565 / 571.238.2443
Contact Email:    cherylanne.colton@alexandriava.gov
Fees:    RSVP requested at poet@alexandriava.gov

Awards 

California: DORLAND MOUNTAIN ARTS RESIDENCY is nestled in the hills overlooking beautiful Temecula Valley, wine country of Southern CA. Five self-contained cottages each with workspace & porch — easily providing social distancing. Hiking trails / ponds / views — oak trees and quail. Peaceful, inspiring. Finish your project. Rolling applications / reserve now!

E-mail: info@dorlandmountainarts.org; website: www.dorlandmountainarts.org; phone: (951) 302-3837.

Georgia Writers Association: 2025 LGBTQIA+ Literary Success Grants

Georgia Writers Association's LGBTQIA+ Literary Success Grants are designed to encourage and amplify the voices of LGBTQIA+ youth (18-24) in Georgia. At a time when the country possesses a record number of anti-LGBTQ legislation (400+ bills and counting), we believe it is our responsibility to promote positive stories of queer life in the South. As LGBTQIA+ organizations have long known, stories can be life-saving. We believe that by promoting these young queer voices state-and nationwide, we will offer models for success that all young queer people in the state of Georgia can aspire to. 

Generously supported by the Alliance for Full Acceptance (AFFA), the four LGBTQIA+ Literary Success Grants will be awarded annually, one each in the categories of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and screenwriting. Winning recipients will receive $500 each, and a full scholarship to attend and read their work at the 2025 Red Clay Writers Conference. There is no submission fee to enter.

Deadline: Monday, March 10th, 2025, by 11:59 p.m. ET.

Learn more.  

Submissions

Australia: Red Room Poetry's Opportunities for Poets page shares literary magazines that are open to submissions and is a treasure trove of other resources!

The Oregon Writers Association lists a bit of everything on their Poetry Opportunities page, from recurring open mic series to book talks. Whether you're just starting out or you're post-publication and looking to share your work, get involved! 

WRITERS OVER 50: Passager Poetry Contest. Deadline: April 15. Reading fee: $20, includes 1-year subscription. $1,000 prize, interview, and publication. Honorable mentions published. Submit 5 poems, 40-line max each, cover letter, bio, SASE/e-mail for results. Snail mail or Submittable. No previously published work. Passager, 7401 Park Heights Ave., Baltimore, MD 21208. Website: www.passagerbooks.com. 

Reminders

Kelsay Books are available in both hardcover and paperback options, with many e-books as well. See what's new and what else we're up to at kelsaybooks.com

Stay tuned, we will be announcing the results of our Women's Poetry Contest soon!