March on to Poetry Month

by Olivia Loftis March 31, 2026

No reading fee for new authors in April

Set your Escapril prompts aside, it's time to revise. Debut poets, rise!

Kelsay Books is celebrating National Poetry Month by waiving our Alabaster Leaves reading fee for select manuscript submissions received in April 2026. Manuscripts must be previously unpublished in book form. Learn more.

The Orchards is now open for submissions

We are open for our Summer 2026 issue! Each poem is considered for our Grantchester Prize, which is awarded to two poems per issue for cash prizes. Please review our guidelines. We look forward to reading your work!

Events

FLINT, MICHIGAN: Jan Worth celebrates the launch of Elegies From the Last Days of the Empire at 2 p.m. on Satuday, April 11 with a reading and book signing at Totem Books in Flint, Michigan. Joining Worth will be Ann Arbor poet Alison Swan and fellow KB author David James of Linden, Michigan.

More information and directions are available from Totem Books, 620 W. Court St. Flint MI 48503.

HIGHLAND PARK AND CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS: Melissa Huff, author, To Speak to Each Day in Its Own Language, will give live readings in Highland Park and Champaign in April:

https://highlandparkpoetry.org/

Highland Park Poetry Reading at Wayfarer Theatre,

Saturday, April 11, 4:00 p.m. Central Time

Highland Park, IL

https://www.literarybookbar.com/

The Literary Bookbar Reading

Thursday, April 30, 6:00 p.m. Central Time

Champaign, IL

PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY: Dara-Lyn Shrager will share selections from and sign copies of her debut collection Little Knives at the Princeton Library on Saturday, April 18: https://princetonlibrary.libnet.info/event/15979992

REMOTE: Kelsay Books presents Searching for Sisterhood by Christine O'Hanlon:

Sunday, April 19 at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time on Zoom.

Please email Olivia for the registration link!

May Meetup with Karen at Newtown Bookshop

Join Karen Kelsay at the Newtown Bookshop in Pennsylvania for the monthly poetry reading by Lynn Fanok's poetry group on Thursday, May 14. Karen will be in the audience and would love to mingle with attendees after the reading.

Event: May Monthly Poetry Group | Newtown Bookshop

Awards

Congratulations, Linda Neal Reising! Navigation won First Place in the At-Large Professional Communications Contest hosted by the National Federation of Press Women!

Book of the Month

Opportunities

Kelsay Books is growing for National Poetry Month and The Orchards is seeding our summer issue. Scroll up for the opportunities we're offering emerging and blossoming authors this spring!

KB poets are giving live readings in literary spaces from the Midwest to the East Coast. New Jersey poets, save the date for the 2026 Poetry by the Sea Conference: it will run in Hainesport from May 19-22. Plus, Pennsylvania poets are meeting up at Newtown Bookshop with EIC Karen Kelsay in May.

In April, we are scouting for new voices across the country. Are you our next debut? Review the guidelines of our first-ever National Poetry Month special to find out if you qualify for a waived reading fee. We'd love for current authors to recommend us to a friend.