I wondered how and why this anthology came to be, so I asked press owner Diane Lockward a few questions to find out. See my interview with Lockward and a link to their submission guidelines below.
HOPKINSON: Tell me a little bit about Terrapin Books.
LOCKWARD: Terrapin Books is a small press, founded in 2016, that publishes poetry books exclusively and only full-length books, no chapbooks. We have also published three poetry craft books and two anthologies with a third one in the works.
HOPKINSON: How/why was the kissing poem anthology idea created?
LOCKWARD: The idea came into my head right after I reprinted Hunt Hawkins' wonderful poem "When Sex Was Kissing" in my monthly Poetry Newsletter. The poem was followed by a prompt that I made up based on the poem. The response to both poem and prompt was very enthusiastic; thus, an idea was born. Some months later I discovered that Brian Turner had just published an anthology on the topic of kissing. My heart sunk, thinking he'd beaten me to it. I ordered his book and discovered that his book is prose pieces, so my idea came back to life. Now I think my book might make a nice companion to his.
HOPKINSON: Who is your target reader audience?
LOCKWARD: I envision a broad audience. Poets, of course, but also normal people. Who's not interested in kissing?
Who hasn't kissed or been kissed or at least given a lot of thought to it? I envision a good deal of variety among the poems, the poets, and the readers.
HOPKINSON: What type of work are you looking for?
LOCKWARD: Think of all the variations of kisses--first kisses, hot kisses, cold ones, longed-for kisses, unwanted kisses, kisses between lovers, familial kisses, even candy kisses. I'd like to see poems on a wide variety of kinds of kisses. I'd also like to see a wide variety of tones: happy, sad, dark, dangerous, funny, romantic and whatever the opposite of that is. I'll be happy to read free verse and formal verse. I want to see well-crafted poems.
HOPKINSON: What are some of your favorite lit mags/journals?
LOCKWARD: Poets & Writers, Prairie Schooner, Poet Lore, Cincinnati Review, 32 Poems, Valparaiso Poetry Review, Diode, Tar River Poetry, Southern Poetry Review.
HOPKINSON: Where can folks send submissions?
LOCKWARD: All submissions for the kissing anthology should go through Submittable which can be accessed on the Guidelines page at the Terrapin website. Of course, people should read the guidelines before submitting.
https://www.terrapinbooks.com/anthology-of-kissing-poems.html
HOPKINSON: If someone has a question, how can they contact you?
LOCKWARD: There's a contact form at the website. I respond quickly to all queries. But please read the guidelines and the FAQs first. Most questions will be answered there. https://www.terrapinbooks.com
Click here to read submission guidelines.
DEADLINE: March 20, 2019
SUBMISSION FEE: None
PAYMENT: Each contributor will receive one contributor's copy.
FORMAT: Print
FORMS: poetry
THEME: poems about kissing
DUOTROPE: https://duotrope.com/listing/26305/terrapin-books-anthology-poems-about-kissing
If you like this post, please share with your writerly friends and/or follow my blog or like my Facebook page. You can see all the FREE resources my blog offers poets/writers on my Blog Tour page.