FENCE open

 

Hello everyone, The 2028 Fence Modern Poets Series Book Prize is OPEN for submissions. Check out this recent Fence Modern Poets Series book by Kathryn Cowles, The Strange Wondrous Works of Eleanor Eleanor; click the photo to read more about it: Delicia Daniels, Fence poetry editor, will judge this round of the Fence Modern Poets Series! Delicia Daniels is a poet, activist, and person who stutters. Her first publication, The Language We Cry In, was selected as the Discovery Prize winner for the 2017 Writers’ League of Texas Book Awards. Her second poetry collection, Abolition Chronicles, was selected as a finalist for the 2023 Center for African American Poetry and Poetics Book Prize, The 2023 Poetic Justice Institute Prize, and the 2025 New Southern Voices Poetry Prize. Derrick Austin selected Abolition Chronicles as a runner-up for the 2025 New Southern Voices Poetry Book Prize. Daniels holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing/Poetry from Chicago State University and a Ph.D. in English/Creative Writing from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Daniels teaches in the undergraduate creative writing program at Warren Wilson College. Her poems have been published in many cool literary journals, including Fence, before she joined us as one of the poetry editors. Here are the judges of the future Fence Modern Poets Series books, and how it fell into place, when I wrote our names on pieces of paper, shook them in an empty jam jar, and popped Soham’s name, and then mine, as the last two, for the years to come… In Fall/Winter 2026, look out for Mud Songs  Elsehere Book I by Patricio Ferrari; for Fall/Winter 2027, we’re already getting excited for PORN W/OUT SEX by Mark Faunlagui. Here a couple reminders about submitting: You’ll receive two issues of Fence with the $25 reading fee. I recommend not waiting until the May 31st deadline to send in your manuscript; to maintain our editorial integrity and to give each manuscript the attention it deserves, we cannot take on submissions beyond the 700 cap. There are 25 trust based & no questions asked fee waivers available for writers with low income; click HERE. Read more below for the guidelines, and send in your work through the Submittable portal; click HERE. The Fence Modern Poets Series Prize, founded in 2001, is open to full-length poetry manuscripts. An award of $2,000 will be paid upon publication. The selected book will be published in fall/winter 2028. The poet will be given a two-week residency at the T.S. Eliot House in Gloucester, Massachusetts. The book will be distributed throughout North America. The author will receive 40 complimentary books and royalties, as part of the contract with Fence Books. The first printing of 1,000 will be printed offset at Versa Press in East Peoria, Illinois. First round readers are Fence editors and volunteers. Delicia Daniels, Fence poetry editor, will select the manuscript for the Fence Modern Poets Series Book Prize, and Fence Books Editor Emily Wallis Hughes will edit the book in collaboration with the author. The submission fee is $25, and all entrants receive a complimentary two-issue subscription or renewal to Fence. International applicants will receive a digital subscription to Fence through Exact Editions. GUIDELINES + ELIGIBILITY ***Submissions will be read in an identity-hidden process. You must remove your name and any identifying information from your manuscript. Manuscripts containing the author's name anywhere in the document will not be read, and will be disqualified.*** Open to full-length poetry manuscripts. Minimum 45 pages. No page limit. Poets at any stage in their writing life, published or unpublished, are eligible to submit. There are no citizenship limitations or requirements. Poets of all identities and genders are encouraged to submit their manuscripts. Collaborations and all kinds of poetry experiments are welcome, including those which incorporate visual art. Poetry in self-translation is welcome. Manuscripts may be submitted to other Fence Book submission calls simultaneously. Current or former students (within 10 years) and teaching colleagues of Delicia Daniels or Emily Wallis Hughes are ineligible to submit. Current Fence volunteers, editors, board members, and editorial advisors are ineligible to submit, as well as family and partners of the above-mentioned Fence community. The future Fence Modern Poets Series Book Prize judges are as follows: 2029: Cole Swensen, Fence Translation Editor 2030: Patricia Killelea, Fence Poetry Editor 2031: Rebecca Wolff, Founder of Fence Books 2032: Max Winter, Fence Poetry Editor 2033: Soham Patel, Associate Editor of Fence 2034: Emily Wallis Hughes, Editorial Director & Fence Books Editor Fence Books is an imprint of Fence Magazine, Inc., a small, fully independent literary publisher. The reading fees help cover the editorial labor involved in the serious, deep process of fully considering each manuscript we receive and may be allocated to various necessary operational expenses. Fence Magazine, Inc., a 501(c)(3) independent not-for-profit based in New York, is a member of the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses [CLMP]. The editors care deeply about editorial integrity; all Fence editors and readers agree to the "Editorial Guidelines and Code of Conduct" approved by the Board of Directors. Please write to fence.fencebooks@gmail.com with any questions. We look forward to reading your work! Warmest Cheers, Emily Wallis Hughes Editorial Director & Fence Books Editor Lydia Mead Managing Editor & Publicist * P.S. Wondering what we are looking for? Something that responds to the Fence Books mission: Fence Books redefines the terms of accessibility by publishing challenging writing distinguished by idiosyncrasy and intelligence rather than by allegiance with camps, schools, or cliques. Fence Books supports writers who might have difficulty being recognized because their work doesn’t answer either to the mainstream or to recognizable modes of experimentation. Through this openness, Fence Books is free to explore and connect the many literary communities and aesthetic lineages. Fence Books is celebrating 25 Years in 2026! Please DONATE or Become a Member to support our publication efforts. 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