There is a first for everything. Afterimages is open for poetry but with a twist. They must be on a napkin. TW poet and author, Gardner Dorton, is ready to read until January 22nd, 2025 (1/22/25). Selected works will be published weekly in February and March. The frequency may increase if we receive a lot of awesome poems. Below are the guidelines. Ready to go? Click the Submit button at the end and send them on in!
We want to see your NAPKIN POEMS!
For a special 2025 submission call, Afterimages will be accepting poems for the first time.
Show me your tipsy scribbles written under blue lights at your favorite local dive. Let me see what you’ve been concocting when you grabbed a pen from the barista. What breakthrough did write down in a hurry? What came to you in a revelation? What thoughts did you take while soaring into the skies?
Send us poetry that fits on a single napkin (or is literally written on one) for this submission call. Sometimes your best work gets lost in your pocket during a rinse cycle, but not today. We want to see wit; we want to see larger-than-life poems that fold into your wallet. We want you to build a towering city on just one block. Give us your best work; just make it compact.
Remember, “Ozymandias” was a bar bet, probably written on a napkin.
This submission window opens on 12/18 and closes on 1/22/25 at midnight.
Selected poems will be published in February & March 2025.
What we're looking for:
Poems on a napkin. "If it fits, it sits."
Doodles can accompany these poems a la ekphrasis.
Very short prose poems.
Document details:
1-2 clear images + typed text is required. If we can't read the image, or there is no transcription, we can't publish it.
If you manage to go double-sided, please take 2 photos and start the 2nd side on a different page when transcribing the text.
The location of where the napkin poem is created is a plus, but not required.
If there are company logos & letterheads on the napkin, we may blur them if selected for publication.
.jpeg & .doc combo or a single .pdf (preferred)
As always, please consult our General Guidelines before submitting. We're looking forward to reading!
About the Guest Editor:
Gardner Dorton is a poet writing at the foothills of the Smoky Mountains in Knoxville, TN. His poems have appeared in journals and anthologies like Narrative, The Florida Review, Rattle, and The Greensboro Review. His chapbook, Stone Fruit, was published by Glass Poetry Press in 2021. His debut poetry collection, If I Were God I Would Also Start With Light, was published in 2024 by Thirty West Publishing. Gardner writes about queerness, bipolar disorder, and the South. Visit his website and say hello at www.gardnerdorton.com
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just submitted mine - thanks for the opportunity!
It didn't have the 12 line limit on this post...can I redo my 20 line submission?