Poem Submission: Poetry Vending Machine

Want one of your poems loaded into a public vending machine? Submit your work here and we will typewrite it onto a piece of genuine paper and load it into one of our vintage, coin-operated machines! Read more about the project here. (El formulario de envío de poesía en español está aquí.)

Guidelines: For now we ask that poetry you submit is no longer than 45 lines long (if single spaced), and with no greater than 45 characters in each line (including spaces, we’re typing these on a typewriter remember). Also we can't center justify. I mean we CAN, but we won't. Remember, these are being typed on a typewriter.

Categories: In our Poetry Vending Machines we usually have one slot for general poetry, and two or three slots for special categories. Please select the category that best fits your submission:

Wicked Short - (poems 10 lines and fewer)
[Gen] A to Z - (poetry from writers under the age of 18)*
Poesía en Español (Spanish language poetry)~
Spicy Poetry - (PG-13 & R rated content that may not be suitably for all audiences. This includes poetry with themes including but limited to the following: violence, trauma, sexually suggestive imagery, strong language, etc. Please refrain from submitting anything NC-17 or X rated, it will be rejected.)
Poetry - (general slot, no category)

Other important stuff: We do not reserve any printing rights, feel free to submit poetry that has appeared in publications. Simultaneous submissions are totally fine! That said, poetry submitted to the Poetry Vending Machine Project may be reprinted and restocked into the machines. So, if you would like us to stop using your poetry for any reason, please contact Attack Bear Press and we will discontinue printing your piece. However, given the nature of the project and the mechanics of the machines, we will not be able to assure you that an older printing of your poem would not still be in a machine at the date of your request.

Submitting this form does not guarantee that your poem will appear in a vending machine, and we reserve the right to reject poetry. Multiple submissions encouraged, please only one poem per form submission.

*Writers under the age of 18, check with your parent or guardian before submitting your work. Parents and guardians, please also remember to check with your writer before submitting their work. :)

Want to type your own poem? AWESOME! Please do instead of filling out the form below. The only guidelines for mail-in submissions are that all the information (title, your name, poem) fit on a 4” x 8.5” (10cm x 21.5cm) piece of paper. No limit on how many you want to send us.

You can mail poetry to:

Poetry Vending Machine
c/o Attack Bear Press
P.O. Box 268
Easthampton, MA 01027
USA

Full Name

Your full name (or for grown-ups submitting on your child's behalf, the poet's full name) as you would like it to be typed on the vended work.

Anonymize

If you would like your name left off your vending machine poem we will write "anonymous" instead.

I would like my name to appear with my poem.

Anonymize my poem, I don't want my name appearing.

Email Address

So we can email you to tell you your poem will be read by a stranger who somehow still carries change.

Where are you from?

You know, because grants. We may also group poetry by regions. For example, "Local Poets" or "International Poets" (we’re based in Massachusetts, USA).

Category of Poetry

Please select the poem slot that best fits this submission.

Author's Age (optional)

For the [Gen] A to Z category please list the author's age at the time of writing this submission.

Poem Title

Or write "untitled" if no title.

Poem Body

No longer than 45 lines (if single spaced) and 45 or fewer characters per line.

Any else?

Any additional instructions? How can folks contact you or find more of your work? Favorite joke you wanna share?