Dear OccuPoetry readers,

This is a new journal, started with an instinct to use our skills and interests to support the Occupy Movement. Being new, we did not anticipate the flood of feedback that carried us through the journal’s first week of existence. We have been pleasantly surprised by the number and quality of submissions. Both have led us to propose two responses to the genuine efforts of poets hoping to find a voice in the Occupy Movement.

First, given the quality of submissions, we would like to post new poems three times a week. Posting a new poem once a day would give the journal a feeling of being rushed, and poetry is not a discipline that lends itself to rushed feelings. We recognize the need, which stems from the urgency of the Occupy Movement itself, to publish on a schedule that is more accelerated than most journals. So, we hope that three times a week is an acceptable compromise.

Second, we are moving to a submissions manager. After only a week of receiving submissions via email, we could see that emailed submissions make for an unsustainable method. We chose to use submishmash, thinking that it is likely the submission system already most familiar to poets. There are many poetry and literature journals accepting submissions electronically, and most use submishmash. Hopefully, this means no extra work for you, dear poets, while it saves us time, time that we may spend reading your poetry rather than downloading attachments and creating tracking spreadsheets.

You can find the new submissions link here – http://occupoetry.submishmash.com/submit

If you have already submitted your poem by email and we have not yet responded, you do not need to submit your poem again using submishmash. You may do so, however, if you like.

We plan to begin publishing poems on Wednesday November 16.

If you have any questions about OccuPoetry, please email us at submissions@occupypoetry.org.

Phillip and Katy
Editors, OccuPoetry