News

New Happenings

~ Clare L. Martin ~ Leave a comment

Hello, friends of MockingHeart Review.

Since September of 2015, we’ve published the work of 175 poets in eight timely issues. With our new editorial, social media, and writing team, (see our masthead), we’re strategically adding more high-quality, relevant-to-poetry content. This includes interviews on a regular basis, with poets who’ve appeared in MHR, reviews of poetry collections four times a year, Poet-to-Poet conversations, Poet Spotlights, and articles on contemporary poetry, process, and subjects of interest to poets (and other humans).

We are gearing up for this expansion which will roll out August 1st, 2018. So, keep an eye here on the Beats blog, where the new happenings will be shared with you.

We’re very excited and hope you are, too.

We especially support the work of poets and writers who invest themselves in community “passion projects” that serve children and adults. Who doesn’t need the life-affirming literary arts to address cultural, political, economic, social, educational, and environmental issues? Interacting in positive ways in our communities through our artistic skills inspires so many. Hey, we’re poets. We’re in the Inspiration Business

And don’t forget, submissions open July 1st.  Access the guidelines from the menu above. 

Thank you for your interest and support of MockingHeart Review.

Clare L. Martin
Editor in Chief, Founder of MHR

Masthead

~ Clare L. Martin ~ 3 Comments

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MockingHeart Review‘s founder and editor-in-chief, Clare L. Martin’s second full-length collection of poetry, Seek the Holy Dark, is the 2017 selection for The Louisiana Series of Cajun and Creole Poetry from Yellow Flag Press. Her widely-acclaimed debut collection of poetry, Eating the Heart First, was published in 2012 by Press 53. Martin’s poetry has appeared in Avatar Review, Blue Fifth Review, Thrush Poetry Journal, Melusine, Poets and Artists, and Louisiana Literature, among others. She has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Dzanc Books’ Best of the Web, for Best New Poets and Sundress Publication’s Best of the Net. Martin is a lifelong resident of Louisiana.

 

Denise Rogers Head Shot

Associate Editor Denise Rogers is the author of The Scholar’s Daughter, a collection of poems published by Louisiana Literature Press. Her poems and reviews have appeared in Sliver of Stone, Word-River, Louisiana Literature, and The Alaska Review, as well as other publications. She is the Director of the University’s Writing Center. She also teaches literature and composition courses in the English Department of the University of Louisiana-Lafayette.

 

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Social Media Associate Charlotte Hamrick’s poetry, prose, and photography have been published in numerous online and print journals. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee and a finalist for the 15th Glass Woman Prize. She lives in New Orleans with her husband and a menagerie of rescued pets.

 

Tyler

Associate Reviewer Tyler Robert Sheldon’s newest books are Driving Together (Meadowlark Books, 2018) and Consolation Prize (Finishing Line Press, 2018). He received the 2016 Charles E. Walton Essay Award and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. His poetry, fiction, and reviews have appeared or are forthcoming in The Los Angeles Review, The Midwest Quarterly, Pleiades, Quiddity, The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, Tinderbox Poetry Journal, and other venues. Sheldon holds an MA in English from Emporia State University and is an MFA candidate at McNeese State University. He lives in Baton Rouge.

Submissions open July 1st, 2018

~ Clare L. Martin ~ Leave a comment

Submission Guidelines

Submissions open JUL. 1 TO AUG. 1

 THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND INTEREST in MockingHeart Review. 

                                          ~The Editor

PLEASE READ OUR GUIDELINES BEFORE SUBMITTING

We accept poetry only. Prose poems are welcome.
Works that require extensive special formatting are discouraged.  Our apologies in advance.

Here is a .pdf of Frequently Asked Questions for submitting poetry that generally apply:  How to Submit Poetry

We seek works of the highest literary quality. We expect your best work in its final form.

We favor poems that express the complexities of the human heart in clear, precise, and lyrical language. We want poems that call out to us, that won’t let us sleep or turn away. Bring us poems that gleam and palpitate with intimacy. We hope for visionary works that are visceral and that will leave us emotionally undone. We encourage poems that speak to the personal and political inasmuch as the political relates to the person/a.

We believe metaphors. Entrance us with imagery that transforms. We are especially intrigued by imaginative language which melds the real to the surreal and are pleased when this is done well through artful craft. We question reality. So should your poems.

We do not like poems that utilize clichés or are not finely wrought. We shy away from experimental verse, unless it appeals to our aesthetic and succeeds in moving us. We want works that convey meaning and possess emotional impact, or convince us there is no meaning to be understood.

We favor poems of shorter length, generally of a line length of 30. There is room for flexibility regarding this.

If you are unsure if your work falls within these guidelines, send it to us anyway. We will respond during the selection process and may be able to help to further clarify through conversation. Please read an issue to see what we like. 

Your publishing history does not matter, but the quality of the work does.

It is customary to send only finished pieces when submitting poetry, for the reason that editors don’t have time to go back and forth between versions. Please keep this in mind. We read hundreds of submissions and try to connect deeply with each one. Be professional and send your finest work.

Our issues will showcase only the best-selected works. We will publish issues (3) three times a year.

Unpublished poems only. Simultaneous submissions okay, if the Editor is notified immediately of publication elsewhere.

Submissions outside of reading periods, unless solicited, will be ignored. If your work has been accepted for an issue, please wait six months from publication before submitting again, within an open submission period. Also, please wait to hear from us regarding a submission before sending more work.

MockingHeart Review cannot pay our contributors at this time.  Rights revert to author upon publication, although MockingHeart Review reserves the right to anthologize, in printed or electronic format, material originally published here. If work that has appeared in this journal subsequently appears elsewhere, the editor requests MockingHeart Review be acknowledged as the place of first publication.

SUBMISSION PERIODS

NOV. 1 – DEC. 1
MAR. 1 – APR. 1
JUL. 1 TO AUG. 1

ISSUES

WINTER, JAN. 1
SPRING/SUMMER, MAY 1
FALL, SEPT. 1

Attach (3) three to (5) five poems in a single Microsoft Word Document (.doc or .docx) to an email that contains a brief cover letter and 50-word, third-person bio in the body. Your document filename should be your full name. The subject line should read “SUBMISSION: YOUR NAME” only.

E-mail the Editor at: mockingheartreview@gmail.com