*Our next open call for submissions for Blue Heron Review will be January 15-30, 2026. Please do not send submissions prior to January 15^th. (THEME: WHOLENESS / see complete list of guidelines below and read carefully.)

THEME: WHOLENESS

What does it mean to feel whole?  The more whole, healed people there are in the world, the better our society will function.  What activities, gatherings, experiences, pursuits, or passions in life provide you with a sense of wholeness?  What types of interactions with loved ones or friends make your heart feel whole?  Perhaps, it’s about feeling more connected to ourselves and other people?  Please send me your more most heartfelt stories of wholeness in the form of poetry.   

Please read the guidelines below before submitting, as our requirements have changed (as of 7.7.25):

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

All submissions will be read with great care.  Responses will be sent out approximately 8-10 weeks after receiving a submission. NOTE: Please do not ask about the status of your submission until after 10 weeks have passed. We do NOT have an automated response system, and we do NOT send out auto reply messages about your submission being received.

Please compose the subject of your e-mail as:  Submission/WHOLENESS/Your Last Name

Please send only a MAXIMUM of 2 poems (previously unpublished work—NOTE: poems shared on a personal blog or social media are fine, but do NOT send poems previously published in a print or online journal.) Send poems in the BODY of your e-mail.  Short, poetic prose will also be considered.  NO attachments, please.  NO SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS. *Please only submit ONCE per submission period and do NOT send submissions until the reading period officially begins.

ALL poems submitted MUST BE LEFT-ALIGNED and single-spaced. Also, please DO NOT send poems with “creative” use of indents or wonky spacing within lines, due to the formatting constraints of WordPress.

Please include a brief, author bio of 3-4 sentences (120 words or less), in the 3rd person. ONLY include 3-4 publication credits IN TOTAL. If you send me a list of 15 magazines that you’ve been published in, I will choose 4 to include in a bio.

Please include a brief cover letter, with your poems, in the body of the e-mail. 

Please send all submissions to Cristina M. R. Norcross, Editor at:  blueheronsubmissions@gmail.com

 

(Extra Note: Blue Heron Review is a not-for-profit, online-only literary journal.  We are not able to offer payment for publication of work in our issues.  There is no submission fee.  Staff members do not receive any income from working on Blue Heron Review. )

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(photo by Jason Iffert)

“Don’t be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.”
― Rumi, Essential Rumi

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