Submissions | Butcher's Dog

Poetry Submissions

Issue 20
Call Opens: January 1st 2024

Call Closes: January 31st 2024

Who

Eligible poets should currently be based in the UK or ROI. Each issue includes some authors who share a connection to Northern England or whose poems explore ‘the North’ thematically or tangentially. Our poets don't exclusively live in the North or write about it. We include a strong mix of work.

What

Put simply? We publish great poetry. There is no other theme. We read your work anonymously and publish established authors alongside previously unpublished and emerging voices.

It's our ethos to print accomplished poems by exciting poets. We also operate a best practice policy whereby poems of great promise - that are perhaps a little dog-eared - will still be longlisted. As experienced editors, we may suggest changes to improve poems in terms of their musicality and meaning, as well as the basics of spelling, punctuation, and grammar.

It is always interesting to hear why particular choices have been made, but we will never publish work below the standard readers expect from Butcher’s Dog.

How

Please send us a single Word document (or .pdf) containing:

No more than three unpublished and original poems.
A new page for each poem and its title (40 lines per poem max).
Text only: no colours, fonts, or images.
Your name should not appear on the page (including in the title or body of the poems or the file name).
Translations accepted where permission to publish is secured from the original author or their estate.

Submissions are free. You should read any publication before sending work for inclusion. If you've never held a copy of the Dog, please buy a copy, subscribe or ask your local library to contact us.

Buy a copy here. Donate here. If everyone who submits a poem buys a copy or donates just two pounds, the press will stay financially sustainable.

Ineligible and simultaneous submissions do not cost us money, but they do cost time. As an independent and unfunded publisher, this is our most valuable asset. Please be mindful of this courtesy and only send us work that is not being read elsewhere. The exception to this rule is if you send unpublished work taken from a forthcoming chapbook, pamphlet or collection. In this case, we very much want to read this work.

'Previously published work' is not eligible for submission: this constitutes in-print and online publications, including audio-visual formats, that are permanently available. Unprinted and unrecorded poems are not published and are therefore eligible for submission; this includes poems in notebooks or those read at open mics.

If you don't follow these guidelines, you'll stand out for the wrong reasons, and your poems will be returned.

When

Our long listing process varies depending on the number of submissions we receive. At our most recent count, this is typically 3000+. Due to our attentive reading process, it takes a few months to prepare the magazine for print publication. Once we have arrived on the long list, we contact poets via Submittable. You must ensure your contact information is kept up to date and check your inbox for updates.

Call Opens: January 1st 2024

Call Closes: January 31st 2024

Once your poems have been submitted, they are with the editors, and changes cannot be made. Only one submission of up to three poems should be made per poet. Make sure to do your best editing before you press send. Click the Submittable logo below to send us your poems.

Good luck!