***Eastern Iowa Review especially loves lyricism, beauty, and truth. We love honesty with a splash of hope. Even the darkest night finally gives way to the morning, not always sunny, but definitely lighter. Please, no gloomy, doomy, navel-gazing hopelessness. Life just isn't that bad all the time. Thoughtfulness, yes. Persistent negativity, no.
PROSE POETRY SIMPLY MUST "SING," like a song, poetic in its language, not narrative, not like an entry from your diary or paragraph from a piece of creative nonfiction. (More on the form below, but for us, form and language magic are equally important.)
We have rolling submission periods. No payment for accepted pieces.
Issue 19 is unthemed. Reading period is January 15, 2025 through February 28, 2025.
Creative nonfiction (lyric essays, preferred), up to 3000 words. One piece at a time until you hear back from us.
Fiction, up to 1000 words. One piece at a time until you hear back from us.
Prose poetry. One prose poem until you hear back from us.
Artwork: up to 6 pieces. No photography.
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No reprints, please. And we'd prefer if it was your own work rather than something generated by a computer program. We will check potential pieces for AI usage, and decline those where it seems AI has been used.
Response time will vary from 1 day to 6 or 8 weeks, rarely longer.
Send only one piece of writing in a genre in this reading period until you hear back from us. Feel free to send one piece in each genre at the same time.
We publish on no specific schedule. Be patient. And it really doesn't help to ask us "when will this be published," because often we just don't know.
Please send! We can't wait to read your beautiful work.
PROSE POETRY: According to our definition, it is in paragraph form only, no line breaks, no slashes, no block text, tight wording (like poetry but in prose form). We are seeking prose poetry that fits this definition. The prose poem should sing.
Miscellaneous Facts Accepted contributors will be required to sign an author's agreement. Any writer from any country in the world is welcome to submit work in English. This will be an online-only issue. Select work may be included in a future print anthology. Submissions may be nominated for various literary acknowledgments. Author bios may be edited at the discretion of EIR.
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Artwork only. No photographs or collages. Up to 6.
Unthemed.
Know that we love lyric essays and smart creative nonfiction the best, so do send your best.
Up to 3000 words, but we especially love the flash pieces, that undefined space between a prose poem and a longer lyric essay.
Please only send one until you hear back from us, usually very quickly, from one day up to (generally) a month.
Unthemed.
Please send your best. Up to 1000 words.
Send only one until you hear back from us.
Unthemed.
One prose poem at a time, please, until you hear back from us, which is often rather quickly (one day to a month, generally). Send your best. No line breaks, slashes, extra spaces. Paragraph form without the initial tab, and generally only one "paragraph," rather than 2 or 3 or 4. No block text. See our published examples if you're unsure of form.
Be sure to leave your address in the Cover Letter block!
US addresses only, unless you're willing to pay shipping. Email us first if that's the case - contact@portyonderpress.com.
Do you want to know the kind of lyricism we especially love? Then please buy, study, and learn from (but mostly, enjoy!) this gorgeous anthology of sixty-one of the most lyrical nonfiction and prose poetry works from seven issues of Eastern Iowa Review. This also includes several pieces of fiction from the noted writer of stunning prose, Stephanie Dickinson. You'll recognize some of the authors included in this book such as Laura Bernstein-Machlay, Andrea Bianchi, Sarina Bosco, Suzanne Cody, Eanlai Cronin, Debra M. Fox, Alisa Golden, Ashley Hajimirsadeghi, Jane Harrington, Kathleen Hellen, Jesse Holth, Claire T. Jennings, Amy Karon, Kevin J. Kelley, Amaris Feland Ketcham, J A Knight, Joseph Labriola, Cindy Lamothe, Mercedes Lawry, Katharyn Howd Machan, Andrea Marcusa, Lora Rivera, Jackie Sizemore, A.M. Thompson, and more.
One reader said this: "I love the format, the layout, and just the feel of it. It's a beautiful book. But more than that, I've loved the content! It's really full of great writing. I find the landscapes, the people, and the words of the different pieces to be so powerful. I can't think of another anthology that I liked this much. I consistently enjoyed all of the pieces, which, considering how varied they are, is really something."
This anthology of the very best of our previous selections is a perfect primer on what we love at EIR. It's an incomparable anthology of lyrical writing.