We publish occasional poetry books and chapbooks, as well as San Pedro River Review, a biannual print journal of poetry and art founded in 2008. SPRR is included in the University of Wisconsin Special Collections Little Magazine Unit, the University of Arizona Poetry Center, and the University at Buffalo, New York. We are a member of The Council of Literary Magazines and Presses [CLMP].

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                                                   ISSN 1944-5

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Blue Horse Press poetry book and chapbook publications are found here:

             http://www.bluehorsepress.com/blue-horse-press-books-chapbooks

 

                      We are not currently considering unsolicited book or chapbook manuscripts.

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Our representative poets include Naomi Shihab Nye, Ellen Bass, Gary Soto, Afaa Michael Weaver, Joseph Millar, Jack Bedell, Marge Piercy, Alex Lemon, Cynthia Cruz, Reginald Dwayne Betts, Joe Wilkins, Tyree Daye, Nathalie Handal, Rose McLarney, Jack Ridl, Michael Bazzett, Christopher Buckley, and Sean Thomas Dougherty.​

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Here is our current issue.  Previous issues may be viewed toward the bottom of the page:​​​​

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Submissions to the Spring issue open January 1st 2025 and will close when we have enough submissions to go to press. The size of the issue will be limited due to our plan to accept color art and photography. The theme is Décolletage, outlined below.

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NOTE:

 

We appreciate all our poets and artists, and some of you have been with us for all seventeen years. But we need to introduce new people to SPRR — always in print medium, and never a cost to submit.

 

As such, submissions to the Spring 2025 Décolletage issue are limited to those who have never submitted to us before, with one exception:

 

· Those we’ve published for the first time in any or all issues from 2020 forward, may submit again.

 

To restate: If you have submitted to us before, do not submit again unless you meet the criteria just above.

 

Submissions that ignore these guidelines and those submitted outside the submission window will be deleted without reply.

 

For the Décolletage theme, we are not looking for poems and flash fiction about necklines — at least not per se. Décolletage is an overarching term: we seek subtly sensual literature that weaves emotions and sensations through evocative language that explores eros and alienation, themes of desire, intimacy, and nuances of human connection. We look to embrace diverse expressions of passion but don't want cliched scenes or images, nor Dear Penthouse-type work. We seek rich and immersive experiences that go beyond the surface, resonating on emotional levels, deeply or subtly.  To get a wider idea, you may want to check out the About section of Rogue Agent:

https://www.rogueagentjournal.com/​

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*  ONLY ONE SUBMISSION PER SUBMISSION PERIOD. The exception would be when poems are submitted in one email, and art in another. However, except by invitation, we do not usually consider writings paired with art, if accepting the writing must include the art it is paired with.

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*  Simultaneous submissions are fine.

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*  Please keep cover letters simple.  

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*  No previously published work. But we're okay with prior publication on blogs or social media, or your mom's refrigerator.

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*  We rarely, if ever, comment on work we decline.

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*  Email your submission to: sprreview@gmail.com

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POETRY AND PROSE

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* For this issue: Submit up to 5 poems, or one piece of flash fiction of no more than 1200 words. ​Do not inscribe poems or flash fiction in the body of your email. No pdf. or .dat files. Nor do we use Google docs.

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*  No AI generated poems. Those we determine created AI work will not be considered in the future.

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* We seek poems and flash fiction that employ a sense of concision -- an economy of language that produces keen images. We appreciate a touch of Lorca's duende and Kant's "crooked timber of humanity." 

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* We consider prose poems as well as the usual poem formats. Prose poems need rhythmical continuity, and like other poems, an economy of language, not simply be aborted fiction. ​

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All work must be in English, excluding, of course, the case where a non-English word or term is intrinsic to the poem. Non-English poems may be submitted if accompanied by their English translations.

 

  ART

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* Submit up to 8 pieces of art, hi-res if possible (~ 250 to 400 DPI).

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*  We will not consider art or photography created by AI. Post-processed art/photography is fine, if post-processing removes blemishes, clarifies, or corrects lighting or distortions in the original work.

 

*  For this issue we are considering b&w as well as color art. Up to 8 pieces pieces. Submit as separate jpegs in a single email. See our guidelines above for this particular issue. Art may include photography, collage, drawings, and hybrid forms thereof. 

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NOTE: Nude art or photography is welcome but it must adhere to strict artistic standards. You must query us first before submitting nude photography or art. When you do, we will send you the separate guidelines. Your query must include an artist statement, even a brief one.

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*   Please do not give your art trite, cliched, cute, or overly descriptive titles. Don't lead the witness. Let the imagination of the viewer compose the piece's narrative. Even single words for titles would be fine.

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By submitting to us you grant us permission, if we select your work, to publish it. No separate author's consent form or proof will be sent out.

 

All work must be that of the submitter. Plagiarism will be reported.

 

Payment is one contributor copy. Under certain circumstances, contributors outside the US may need to purchase their own copies due to customs fees, taxation, etc. 

 

San Pedro River Review acquires first serial rights to accepted pieces. Copyright reverts to the author after publication.

 

Contributors may purchase additional copies at reduced rates. Discounts are only available through us, not the regular Amazon site. Otherwise, copies for non-contributors are available on Amazon at the regular retail price. 

 

You do not need a Facebook account to access our public Facebook page. This is where we often broadcast updates, such as publication timing and when contributor copies are mailed out. Our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/san.review

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THE EDITORS

 

JC Alfier is a poet and collage artist-photographer. He was a finalist for the Missouri Laureate Prize in 2021. He is 2018 winner of the Angela Consolo Manckiewick Poetry Prize, from Lummox Press. In 2014 he won the Kithara Book Prize, judged by Dennis Maloney. Publication credits include Blue Mesa Review, The Carolina Quarterly, Copper Nickel, Emerson Review, Faultline, Kestrel, Hotel Amerika, Los Angeles Review, New Delta Review, New York Quarterly, Notre Dame Review, Penn Review, Poetry Ireland Review, River Styx, South Carolina Review, and Vassar Review. His latest collection of poems is The Shadow Field (Louisiana Literature Journal & Press, 2020). 

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Tobi Alfier writes poetry, flash-fiction, and the odd blog. Publication credits include Louisiana Literature, Anti-Heroin Chic, Arkansas Review, Atlanta Review, Chiron Review, Hawai’i Pacific Review, Fourth River, Gargoyle, KGB Bar Lit Mag, Los Angeles Review (chosen by the late Wanda Coleman), Nerve Cowboy, Permafrost, Southwestern American Literature, Spoon River Poetry Review, Suisun Valley Review, The American Journal of Poetry, The Chaffin Journal, War, Literature & the Arts, Washington Square, and other print and online journals in the US and overseas. Her latest full-length collection is Symmetry: earth and sky (Main Street Rag, 2020), and her latest chapbook is Grit & Grace (The Orchard Street Press, 2021). Slices of Alice & Other Character Studies (Cholla Needles Arts & Literary Library) will always remain one of her favorite books. If you want to know why, ask her. She’ll send you a copy.

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Truly imaginative writing can bring us back to the living presence of the grass, to the fields that feed us, to the cities we live in and the nature of the men and women among whom we live.

 

       — Phillip Levine

 

 

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