Please ensure when making submissions that you read the guidelines below Click here for On-Line submissions
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: BOTH LONGER POETRY & TANKA
With Edition 2 of Catchment – Poetry of Place, writers will need to use a submission proforma in making contributions of either longer poetry or tanka.
Challenges arose from differences in digital formatting received, towards our first issue.
This new approach will make our work more stream-lined, reducing burdens on our small IT team.
Submissions will be open between 21 March-21 May.
As many as three (3) longer poems per contributor will still be most welcome!
Each lengthier poem included must be able to work as a stand-alone piece.
Second or third pieces of longer poetry cannot oblige readers to be familiar with other writing also contributed by the same poet.
No longer poem offered should be greater than thirty (30) lines in length.
Titles will be seen as additional, and helpful; not to be considered in this line-count.
If poets provide no distinct title, the first line of the work submitted will be used as such.
Each poem requires its own name, within an online journal, as a distinct digital object.
Dedications may be made to persons inspiring longer poems, or deserving thanks.
This will likewise not be seen as an extra element sending a submission over 30 lines.
Brief pieces of additional text placed above or below a longer poem will not count either, if specifying a geographical location/ social context.
Of course, a place’s name could be incorporated into the body of a longer poem or a tanka.
Work offered need not name a place as such, or be prompted by locations in this country.
A brief footnote might be given, to define specialist vocabulary used (e.g. translating from a language other than English).
Yet detailed explanatory notes should not be provided, please, with poems in either style.
All writing submitted must be your own original work, neither plagiarised nor aided by AI.
Any contribution made here cannot be under consideration elsewhere, or have been published previously.
While Catchment will have first publication rights for any work accepted, poets will retain copyright, free to re-publish later, with acknowledgement.
Each poem offered must be written by an Australian resident (shown in your bio statement).
Set in the present or past, poetry of place often gains power through selective use of detail.
Always linked to location, it may achieve resonance by evoking atmosphere, prompting emotion or sparking reflection.
In terms of tanka in particular, as many as five (5) pieces will likewise be most appreciated!
With each needing to have five (5) lines, such submissions should also show understanding about other approaches commonly found in English Language tanka.
No distinct title should be given with individual pieces, nor explicit similes/ rhyming be used.
Pieces offered here do NOT need to follow a 5-7-5-7-7 pattern, in terms of syllables, thanks.
With tanka, less truly is best, in more ways than one.
Additional words or sounds should not be squeezed in, just to bring the numbers up!
Doing so often works against short-form poetry; at its best when lean & minimalist.
Following a shorter-longer-shorter-longer-longer pattern – in line-length – often helps.
True to tradition, incorporating two sections into a tanka is also generally worthwhile.
These might be punctuated, with a dash/ ellipsis, at the end of any of the first four lines.
Such a break may give a sense of link-and-shift between the natural world & human nature.
Having two parts can enrich this kind of Japanese-derived poem by suggesting a degree of juxtaposition/ similarity/ difference.
Tanka may be submitted to Catchment in a sequence, but with no more than four (4) pieces.
Such a string is the only type of tanka submission here to be preceded by an additional title.
In this edition, no more than four (4) single tanka will be taken from one contributor either.
Suggesting nuance, in showing emotion, often strengthens tanka, true to origins in Japan.
Any geographical site relevant to a particular tanka can be named immediately below the short poem concerned.
Building musicality – with cadence/ flow/ echoes – will boost poetry of place, short or long.
So will developing imagery aimed at being clear & vivid; suggestive & thought-provoking.
As with longer poetry, tanka offered to Catchment – Poetry of Place need to give a rich sense of location, most of all. Best of luck!