Since 2009, Poetry Quarterly has published emerging and established poets side by side, chosen on the strength of the work alone. We publish beautiful issues in paperback, and e-issues online for our subscribers — four times a year, made to be kept and returned to.

Poetry is for everyone, and it’s my responsibility to put the readers first, followed closely by our writers, and then our staff.
— Glenn Lyvers, Editor

Our mission

Poetry Quarterly’s mission is to support poets and poetry by maintaining a professional venue for education and publication. We don’t give preferential treatment to poets based on popularity or past accomplishments — we are accessible to all who love poetry for the sake of the form and its message.

We pledge to publish only what we find most worthy. We never charge poets anything to be published, and we never demean the integrity of the form by including advertisements in our products or on our website.

What we publish

Poetry Quarterly proceeds with a focus on modern poetic style — we rarely publish rhyme — and we welcome work on any subject. We frequently spotlight a featured poet, and we reward our poets with a free online subscription and small cash payments. Above all, we reward our readers by being highly selective and passionate about everything we print.

The Rebecca Lard Award

Each year we present the Rebecca Lard Award for a single outstanding poem — named for Rebecca Lard (1772–1855), recognized as the first poet in Indiana. You can read every past winning poem on our website, and the current challenge is always open to poets everywhere. See the current award →

Guest editors

We welcome guest editors periodically. A guest editor oversees the selections for a single issue and helps solicit a portion of its poems; the Rebecca Lard Award is likewise chosen by a guest judge from time to time, though judging is typically performed by our editor.

The journal is edited by Glenn Lyvers and published as part of the Prolific Press family of journals.