Lips
Founded in 1981 by poet Laura Boss, the Lips poetry journal has entered its fifth decade of publication. Laura served as its editor until her passing in April 2021.
The Foundation has taken on the support of the journal as part of its mission.
Lips has published poems by Robert Bly, Allen Ginsberg, Ruth Stone, David Ignatow, Marge Piercy, Michael Benedikt, Nicholas Christopher, Anne Waldman, Ishmael Reed, Gregory Corso, Lyn Lifshin, Ted Berrigan, Paul Hoover, Jana Harris, Toi Derricotte, Joseph Bruchac, Alice Notley, Warren Woessner, Robert Phillips, Hal Sirowitz, Theodore Weiss, Alicia Ostriker, Maria Mazziotti Gillan, Stanley H. Barkan, Michael Weaver, Molly Peacock, and Richard Kostelanetz.
With the Foundation’s financial support, Lips will be accepting electronic-only submissions using Submittable for the annual issue from September 1, through November 30.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
The submission period is September through November for the annual issue to be published in the following spring. No submissions are considered at other times.
All submissions must be done through our Submittable account. If you do not have a free Submittable account, you will need to create one there first to submit poems or order back issues.
Acceptance emails will be sent on or before January 31.
Send up to five poems, previously unpublished online or in print, in one document. Each poem should begin on a new page. The document can be a single .doc, .docx or .rtf file
On the last page of your document, include a third-person biographical note of fewer than 100 words that includes your name as you wish for it to appear in print if your work is accepted.
Lips has first rights to the poems. Copyright reverts to the author upon publication.
For accepted poems, payment is a single contributor copy of the magazine which will be mailed after publication. Poets may order additional copies through Submittable.
Simultaneous Submissions: If any submitted poem is accepted elsewhere, please withdraw the poem(s) immediately. To withdraw all submissions use the WITHDRAW link on your submissions page in Submittable. For individual poems, use the messaging feature in Submittable and indicate the title(s) to withdraw from consideration.
Poets included in the magazine will have the opportunity to participate in a contributor reading when the issue is published.
Lips generally publishes poems that are narrative in style. Some of our recent Pushcart nominees are posted on this website as samples.
We recommend that contributors review a copy of the magazine before submitting poems. The current issue and selected back issues are available for purchase online using our Submittable website.
