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!
Submission Opportunities
(Generously provided by Jake Lawson)
- The Bluebird Word
- Appalachian Places
- Braided Way
- Sky Island Journal
- Amethyst Review
- Thimble Lit Mag
- Appalachian Free Press
- Pulsebeat Poetry
- Westward Quarterly
- Appalachian Lit
- Shanti Arts
- The City Key
- West Trestle Review
- Lothlorien Poetry Journal
- 2River
- Appalachia Bare
- Ecotone
- Emerson Review
- Greensboro Review
- Smoky Blue Literary & Arts Magazine
Closing November 28!
Open Through December 31
- Doubly Mad
- Toasted Cheese
- Lost Pilots
- Monterrey Poetry Review
- Spectrum Literary Journal
- Pens & Poison
- Indiana State Poetry Society US250 Persona Contest
Southern Journals
Micromance Magazine “Run by both avid romance readers and passionate romance writers, we know romance, we love romance.” Cookeville, Tn
The Cumberland River Review is produced by the department of English at Trevecca Nazarene University, in Nashville, Tennessee. Open for submissions September through April.
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
- January House Literary Journal
- Menace
- Paranoid Tree (prose poetry)
- 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 Student Poetry Contest. Open through February 10, 2025.
- 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 Mics
Take your poetry off the page at an open mic! You’ll find them across the state and in the virtual realm:
WEST
- 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.
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.
- Johnson City Poets Collective open mic at The Down Home 300 W. Main Street in Johnson City. Check their Facebook or Instagram for dates and times.
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
- Haiku Group led by Shan Overton will have an online workshop on December 6. The cost is $25. Please sign up using this link. https://secure.touchnet.com/C20134_ustores/web/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCTID=1757
- 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
- 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.
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!
Poetry Society of Tennessee 