This month’s roundup includes various opportunities brought to our attention by various organizations, members, and friends others discovered organically. (Be sure to scroll down to our events section for a great fall line-up!) Grow your skills, find submissions opportunities, and more!

OPEN THROUGH NOVEMBER 30

• The Metaworker is open for submissions of prose and poetry through November 30. (Be sure to read their Wishlist).
• Acedia publishes online and in print.
• The Apple Valley Review is an international journal that publishes both poetry and prose.
• BoomerLit Mag accepts prose and poetry. Their current call is for work on the topic of Crossing Boundaries.
• Split Lip has free submissions in November.
• Black Fox Literary Magazine‘s call is open through November 30.
• Baltimore Review is open through November 29.

Southern Journals

Susurrus is “a literary arts magazine of the American South,” and currently open for submissions through November 30, 2025.

The Cumberland River Review is produced by the department of English at Trevecca Nazarene University, in Nashville, Tennessee.

Appalachian Review is a respected and proven journal based at Berea College.

Porchlight is a new journal out of Perry County, Tennessee, and is led by Dr. Randy Mackin.

Always Open

Hate deadlines? Here are a few randomly selected literary venues that are always (or almost always) open to submissions:

• BoomerLit Mag
• Centaur Lit (seeks hybrid work up to 400 words)
• Cornice Mag
• Door is a Jar
• Menace
• Paranoid Tree (prose poetry)
• * NEW * Porchlight
• Rogue Agent
• Southern Poetry Review
• The Sun
• Your Impossible Voice

More Calls and Contests

• Poetry Society of Tennessee Festival Contest. Open through December 15, 2025.
• Tennessee Collegiate Poetry Contest. Open through November 1, 2025.
• Tennessee Student Poetry Contest. Open through February 10, 2025.
• The California Quarterly, a literary publication of California State Poetry Society
• Eugene V. Shea National Poetry Contest from WyoPoets opens October 1, 2025
• BlackBerry Peach Spoken and Written Word Contest and 50th Annual NFSPS Poetry Contests (list coming soon) open for submission January 1 through March 15, 2026

Events

• Open Mic – October 23, 2025, 6-8 p.m., Turntable Coffee Counter, 300 E Main Street, Jackson TN. RSVP (731) 298-0109. Sponsored by Indivisible Jackson.

• Writing Rural America: a public conversation with Appalachian authors David Joy, Maurice Manning, Crystal Wilkinson & Karen Spears Zacharias will be held Oct 25, 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Blount County Public Library on 508 N. Cusick Street in Maryville, Tennessee. 

Take your poetry off the page at an open mic! You’ll find them across the state and in the virtual realm:

WEST

• Monday nights 7:00 pm at the Hu Hotel rooftop with Keeping it P (and the P is for poetry). Follow them on instagram.
• Third Saturday of each month 3:00 pm at Coffee Central, 5627 Getwell Rd. Southaven, MS 38672: Bring original poetry or short prose (3 minutes) to share with other poets and poetry lovers. Good listeners are also welcome.To encourage young children, we would like to hear them read anything they write or just read their favorite poem. We do not censor any social, political, religious, or philosophical viewpoint. We do ask, when it comes to graphic content and profanity, remember that Coffee Central is one of our most gracious sponsors and we should not and will not offend other customers or negatively affect business.

MIDDLE

Poetry in the Boro is a monthly open mic and featured reading series hosted in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, currently held at the Dapper Owl Coffee Pub & Bakery and at many other locations when collaborating with other organizations in the community. Often meet the second or third Sunday evening of each month but dates can vary, especially when partnering with other organizations and groups. Get details.

MIDEAST

Sawmill Poetry is a poetry reading and open mic held at the ​The Plenty Bookstore in Cookeville, Tennessee. Get details.

SOUTHEAST

• Rhyme n Chatt Interactive Poetry Group, based in Chattanooga, hosts an Open Mic at the Edney Innovation Center at 7:00 PM on the third Thursday evening of each month. It is called Fresh Out the Shoebox. The also hold workshops and performance events with a focus on performance poetry. See the website for more information.  Get details. 
• 7:30 pm last Fridays (except for November and December) at Barnes & Noble at 2100 Hamilton Place Boulevard in Chattanooga.
•  The Wandering Poetry Circle meets every other Tuesday Night at WanderLinger Brewing Company,  https://www.wanderlinger.com/

EAST *NEW*

• Third Thursdays at The Maker’s Space, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM in Knoxville, TN. Former Knoxville Poet Laureate Rhea Carmon hosts.
• Writing Rural America: a public conversation with Appalachian authors David Joy, Maurice Manning, Crystal Wilkinson & Karen Spears Zacharias. Oct 25, 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Blount County Public Library 508 N. Cusick Street in Maryville, Tennessee. 
• Curated Poetry Night: Nov. 7, 7:00 p.m. at Southland Book’s The Bird and the Book, 1509 E Broadway Ave, Maryville, TN 37804

NORTHEAST

• First Tuesdays 6:30 pm, PoetTEA open mic is held at The Philosophers House, 117 W. Fairview Ave in Johnson City. Cosponsors are Poetry Writers Workshop and our society. Sign-ups begin 6:15 pm. 4-minute limit.
• Third Wednesdays 7:00 pm, Johnson City Poets Collective open mic at The Down Home 300 W. Main Street in Johnson City. (Weeks occasionally change so verify on instagram or website.) Sign-ups begin at 6:45. 4-minute limit.

VIRTUAL

Last Monday of the month, 7:00 pm Poetry Pie shares poetry on Zoom (max three poems). Contact the society to get on the email list.

Are we missing an open mic in Tennessee? Let us know!

Workshops

Červená Barva Press Literary Summit October 17th, 18th and 19th, 2025 — Register today! $82.00 for 12 videos. The videos will be on YouTube Unlisted for Attendees to watch during our 3-day summit. Attendees will have 2 weeks to watch all the videos. PST member John C Mannone will be leading one of the sessions.

• MTSU’s 2025 conference theme is Weaving Hope and will feature classes and presentations that will invite you to write both toward hope. This year’s conference will take place Friday, November 7 (virtual) and Saturday, November 8 (on MTSU’s campus).
• Tennessee Mountain Writers Jumpstart XXVI is open for registration! The event will be held Saturday – Sunday, January 17-18, 2026, in Oak Ridge. Poetry and Fiction tracks available.
• The Bert C. Bach Written Word Initiative offers programs related to literature and creative writing at ETSU
• Shuly Cawood virtual generative and craft-focused writing workshops
• John Davis Jr. “Metacreativity: The Process Behind the Poetry” mail-based tips and insights
• Young Creative Writers Workshop (all ages welcome), October 25. Download flyer:

On Demand

• “The Emotional Truth of an Experience:” An Interview with Valencia Robin
• Three Questions & a Poem — interviews with poets
• Briar Haus Writes writer interviews on YouTube
• Oceanside Library “Near and Afar” poetry reading replays
• Master Class
• The Plug Poetry Project (from Christian Collier). Collection of video/audio available on Sound Cloud & YouTube. There is also a public group on Facebook.

Find More Opportunities

Introducing a running list of venues to find poetry opportunities. Are we missing a good one? Let us know!

• Authors Publish
• Chill Subs
• Duotrope / Duosoma
• Submission Sundays
• Submittable
• Diane Lockward Poetry Newsletter
• Trish Hopkinson