Call for Poetry Submissions to Anthology: The Familiar Wild: On Dogs and Poetry

The Familiar Wild: On Dogs and Poetry
Deadline: July 1st, 2019

Sundress Publications announces an open submission call for The Familiar Wild: On Dogs and Poetry, an anthology that centers the storied, yet perpetually mystifying connection that dogs and humans share with a new focus: the historical and contemporary relationships between poets and dogs.

Reaching beyond a generic celebration of the "dog-owner bond," The Familiar Wild: On Dogs and Poetry will also interrogate and focus it: why (and how) do dogs appear in poets' poems, and what does it mean to have a dog beside a poet at their writing desk? Why might poets in particular be drawn to dog companionship? This collection will examine both the routine and the unexpected lives we've built with our dogs, exploring wildness and domestication, boundaries and freedom, rescue, and grief through poetry centered on the complicated, expansive dog-poet connection. This call takes particular interest in voices and histories not usually centered in this conversation, particularly those that consider the role of the dog-poet bond in relation to disability, queerness, race, gender, age, and more.

Interested poets should submit a cover letter, 3-5 poems, and an optional short (max. 500 words) essay that considers their personal relationship to the anthology's subject matter. We intend to include these essays alongside chosen poems for each author. Please feel free to interpret the themes of the anthology widely: however best fits you, your work, and your relationship to dogs. We want to be surprised! That said, poems must engage with dogs or dog companionship/ownership in some way (we're not looking for poems not about dogs). The deadline for submissions is July 1, 2019.

To submit, attach your manuscript as a single DOCX or PDF file to:

thefamiliarwildATgmailDOTcom (Change AT to @ and DOT to .)

If the poems have been previously published elsewhere and/or simultaneously submitted, please indicate this in your cover letter. We will happily consider previously published poems so long as the poet retains the rights to reprint them.

The poets Ruth Awad and Rachel Mennies will serve as co-editors for this anthology.