Submission Solicitation
In the Biblical Sense: An Anthology of Apocryphal Poetry
WANTED: Poems re-imagining or re-telling stories from the Bible. Ideally, we would have a poem for every book of the Hebrew and Christian Bibles, with few repeats, although a single poem could cover several books. Characters and stories that usually get less attention will be prioritized. The main focus of the poem must be the Bible story or character, although it can be placed in a modern setting.
Example:
Acceptable: Bible character speaks to Planned Parenthood protesters.
Unacceptable: Planned Parenthood protester quotes Leviticus a lot.
After assembling the collection, we will pitch the book to several poetry presses. We’ve been advised that this is the smartest way to go. All rights will revert to authors, always. Just let us know if you’ve managed to publish that piece elsewhere so we can credit it and congratulate you.
SUBMISSION INFO
Submit to:
inthebiblicalsenseanthology@gmail.comYour submission should contain:
- up to 3 poems, up to 90 lines each, pasted in the body of the email
- the alluded Bible chapter and verse, as well as what text you’re working from: original Hebrew, original Greek, King James, New Standard, Marriott, Hyatt...
- a subject line that follows the following format: name-title-submission (example: DaneKuttler-TheTreeOfKnowlege-submission) DO NOT put your name anywhere else in the submission. We're flying blind, and we like it that way.
We don’t want bios or cover letters right now. Isn’t that easy?
PROMPTS!
Rewrite a story from the perspective of minor characters, particularly women. Examples: Obadiah, Ruth, Naomi, Sarah & Hagar, Miriam, Mary & Martha, Jezebel, etc. . .You may make up names and backstories for unnamed characters.
Employ a well-known Biblical verse form in a context that is relevant to you (Lamentations, Song of Songs, Psalms, Job, the begats in Genesis)
Use a Bible story as an extended metaphor for a present-day phenomenon.
Focus on a specific moment. What did it sound like, feel like?
Resurrect a character in your city. How do they react? How do people treat them?
Put two characters or events in conversation with each other. In some cases, we might take a Biblical character in conversation with a non-Biblical character.
Write a haiku death match between two Biblical rivals.
