Submissions

Cover of California Quarterly Vol. 52, No. 1, Spring 2026, 

edited by Konrad Tademar Wilk, with photo by Maja Trochimczyk

This page contains information about submissions to the California Quarterly, Monthly Poetry Contests, Annual Poetry Contest 2021, and the Poetry Letter. Please scroll down to find the information you seek. 

CSPS President Maja Trochimczyk with CQ Editor Bory Thach, September 2021.

CALIFORNIA QUARTERLY SUBMISSION GUIDELINES 

The flagship publication of the CSPS is the California Quarterly, which  it has published continually since 1972. We accept poems literally from around the world. The California Quarterly is published four times a year and only accepts unpublished poetry.  Foreign language poems need an English translation.

One page poems work best, and two-page is the maximum size. There are no theme or style restrictions, though some editors prefer to ask for poems on a theme of their choice. Submit one to six poems in a single .doc or docx file labeled with Poet Last Name, Poet First Name, Number of poems and Date submitted. Each poetry page in the file should start with a header containing the following poet information: Name (last name first), Mail Address, e-mail, Telephone, Date submitted.  Poem Title should appear on each page of poem.  Each file should include the poet's last/first names in the title.

Notification is sent in 3-5 months. Payment is one copy of the CQ and all rights remain with the poet. Poems considered for a given issue are generally collected during the previous calendar quarter. Send only one set of at most six (6) poems per calendar quarter.

CQ 46:2 (Summer 2020) with artwork This Wave by Kathryn de Laszlo

PREFERRED ONLINE SUBMISSIONS:

Please submit your poems online, using Submittable.com, and the following link:

https://californiastatepoetrysociety.submittable.com/submit. If you cannot do so, you may submit by email with a Word attachment that includes all poet information mentioned above to: CaliforniaStatePoetrySociety@gmail.com. 

You might want to share information about acceptance of your poems on our FB Group:

fb.me/CaliforniaQuarterly 

OPTIONAL HARD-COPY PRINT SUBMISSIONS:

If you do not have access to Submittable or experience serious computer troubles, AND/OR if you do NOT have an email account to submit your poems by email, you can submit hard-copy of your poems, by mailing a set of poems to our Post Office Box:

CQ Editors

Post Office Box 4288

Sunland, California 91041-4288

As print submissions create a hardship for our volunteer editors, these are not allowed for poets with emails and/or internet access. Only poets without recourse to such modern technology may submit by regular mail. Requirements for the print submissions are as follows:

• Name, address, telephone number, and email address, on each page of your submission
• One-page poems are best, but an 80-line (two-page) maximum in any case
• A SASE with sufficient US postage (whether domestic or foreign) if response is requested prior to mailing of the CQ 
• No biographies or résumés, as only the poems are judged
• The poems must be the original, unpublished work of the poet
• Foreign language poems must be accompanied by translations into English
• Simultaneous submissions are NOT acceptable as of January 1, 2023
• Poems are not returned, so keep copies if you submit through the Post Office Box! 

Konrad Tademar Wilk, Maja Trochimczyk, Nicholas Skaldetvind, 2023

EDITORS

The California Quarterly is edited by a group of five poets, each responsible for one issue, on a rotating schedule, so each editor works on her issue every 15 months.  Currently, the editors include: Bory Thach, Maja Trochimczyk and Konrad Tademar Wilk. 

The Editor has the exclusive responsibility for the content of the CQ, including the selection and order of poems, selection of artwork for the cover (with advice from the Art Panel), and correspondence with poets. In accordance with the Bylaws, there can be a maximum of eight editors. The CQ occasionally invites distinguished poets as Guest Editors, for instance Deborah P. Kolodji edited CQ vol. 48 no. 4 (winter 2022).

 

                          Maja Trochimczyk    Nicholas Skaldetvind

   
Bory Thach                          Konrad Wilk

The recent and forthcoming editorial schedule is as follows:

• Spring 2018, 44:1 - Maja Trochimczyk
• Summer 2018, 44:2 - Pearl Karrer
• Autumn 2018, 44:3 - Terry Ehret
• Winter 2018, 44: 4 - Margaret Saine

• Spring 2019, 45:1 - Maura Harvey
• Summer 2019, 45:2 - Nancy Cavers Dougherty
• Autumn 2019, 45:3 - Maja Trochimczyk
• Winter 2019, 45: 4 - Pearl Karrer

• Spring 2020, 46:1 - Margaret Saine
• Summer 2020, 46:2 - Maura Harvey
• Autumn 2020, 46:3 - Terry Ehret
• Winter 2020, 46:4 - Maja Trochimczyk

• Spring 2021, 47:1 - Bory Thach
• Summer 2021, 47:2 - Maja Trochimczyk
• Autumn 2021, 47:3 - Konrad Wilk
• Winter 2021, 47:4 - William Scott Galasso

• Spring 2022, 48:1 - Maja Trochimczyk
• Summer 2022, 48:2 - Margaret Saine, Guest Editor
• Autumn 2022, 48:3 - Bory Thach
• Winter 2022, 48:4 - Deborah P Kolodji, Guest Editor

• Spring 2023, 49:1 - Konrad Tademar Wilk
• Summer 2023, 49:2 - Maja Trochimczyk
• Autumn 2022, 49:3 - Nicholas Skaldetvind
• Winter 2022, 49:4 - Maja Trochimczyk

• Spring 2024, 5500:1 - Beverly M. Collins, Guest Editor
• Summer 2024, 50:2 - Nicholas Skaldetvind
• Autumn 2024, 50:3 - Maja Trochimczyk
• Winter 2024, :4 - Marlene Hitt, Guest Editor and Konrad Wilk
• Spring 2025, 51:1 - r.g. cantalupo (Guest Editor) and Maja Trochimczyk
• Summer 2024, 51:2 - Nicholas Skaldetvind and Maja Trochimczyk
• Autumn 2025, 51:3 - Maja Trochimczyk
• Winter 2024, 51:4 - Bory Thach 
• Spring 2026, 52:1 - Konrad Tademar Wilk
• Summer 2026, 52:2 - Nicholas Skaldetvind and Maja Trochimczyk
• Autumn 2026, 52:3 - Maja Trochimczyk

CQ 44:1 (Spring 2018) with artwork Yucca by Abby Diamond

COVER ART SUBMISSIONS 

CQ welcomes submissions of unpublished original art for its covers. Submit the art as a JPEG attachment with a resolution of 300 dots/inch or better to print an image 5” high x 3.75” wide, one image at a time.  CSPS reserves the right to post selected artwork on its website.

Submissions can be made via email to CaliforniaStatePoetrySociety@gmail.com.  You can also submit the artwork to individual editors. 

CQ 44:2 (Summer 2018) with artwork 

ORDERING OF EXTRA COPIES OF CQ 

Order extra or sample copies of the CQ through the CQs page on the CSPS website (CaliforniaStatePoetrySociety.org) or send $10/copy to:

Maja Trochimczyk, CSPS President

PO Box 4288, Sunland CA 91041-4288

CQ 46: 3 with artwork: Mléčná dráha/Milky Way by Andrea Smišková Ehret

CSPS ANNUAL POETRY CONTESTS

DEADLINE: Submissions Accepted March 1st – June 30th each year

AWARDS: $100, $50, $25 awards for 1st, 2nd and 3rd Places Plus Publication in the California Quarterly  (Winter issue of the contest year). Winners will be announced in September

SUBMISSION: Please submit unpublished poems, written in English, with a limit of 80 lines (two pages) per poem, with reading fees - using one of two payment and mailing options. 

READING FEES: Members of California State Poetry Society $3.00/poem; Non-members of the CSPS, $6.00/poem. 

• Upload your poems and pay reading fees at our website:

http://www.californiastatepoetrysociety.org  

• OR

submit your reading fees via PayPal with a note stating "Annual Contest Reading Fees" with your name and contact information, including State Poetry Society you are a member of, to  PayPal account for CaliforniaStatePoetrySociety@gmail.com, 

• AND 

send a cover letter with all poet information and a list of the submitted poems, plus one copy of each poem with no poet identification to:

Dr. Maja Trochimczyk

CSPS Annual Contest Chair

PO Box 4288 Sunland CA 91041-4288

REQUIREMENTS: The length of poems should not exceed the limit of 80 lines (two-pages) per poem. Up to April 2026, we did not have a limit on the numbers of poems submitted, but, the CSPS Board approved the Annual Contest limit of 7 poems.  

CONTEST JUDGES: The poems are adjudicated anonymously by one Contest Judge each year. In recent years the following poets were invited to serve in that role: Kaecey McCormick (2020, California), Georgia Jones-Davis (2021, New Mexico), Frank Iosue (2022, Arizona), Anna Maria Mickiewicz (2023, London, UK), Marlene Hitt (2024, California), Robert Hammond Dorsett (2025, California), Mary Langer Thompson (California).

CQ 46:4 with artwork by Julian Stanczak - Constant Return II

JulianStanczak.com

CSPS President Maja Trochimczyk and Alice Pero, Monthly Contest Chair, September 2021.

 MONTHLY  CONTEST SUBMISSIONS GUIDELINES

California State Poetry Society encourages poetic creativity by organizing monthly poetry

contests. The contests are open to all poets, whether or not they are members of the CSPS.

Reading fees are $1.50 per poem with a $3.00 minimum for members and $3.00 per poem with a $6.00 minimum for non-members. Entries must be postmarked during the month of the contest in which they are entered. They must consist of a cover page with all contact information (name, address, telephone number and email address) as well as the month and THEME on cover page, and the titles of the poems being submitted. Please also put all contact info on each poem. Starting in January 2023, we are accepting previously published poems for our Monthly Contest. Please note the publication where it first appeared on any such poem.

There are two ways to submit:

(1) By regular mail (enclosing check) to: California State Poetry Society Monthly Contest,

PO Box 4288, Sunland, CA 91041 Put MONTHLY CONTEST with the appropriate month on

the envelope.

(2) By email, using PayPal to pay (CaliforniaStatePoetrySociety@gmail.com) and email the

poems to CaliforniaStatePoetrySociety@gmail.com

The monthly contest winners are notified the month after they are awarded. All of the winners

for the year are listed in the first CSPS Newsbriefs and published in the first Poetry Letter of the following year. Prize- winning poems are also posted on the blog, CaliforniaStatePoetrySociety.com. The 1st prize winner receives half of the prize pool for pools

less than $100. Please note: Do not send SAEs. We do not return poems. If you win, we will let

you know. Otherwise, there are no notifications.

CSPS Monthly Contest Themes (Revised)

• January        Nature, Landscape

• February      Love

• March          Open, Free Subject

• April            Mythology, Dreams, Other Universes

• May             Personification, Characters, Portraits

• June            The Supernatural

• July             Childhood, Memoirs

• August        Places, Poems of Location

• Sept             Colors, Music, Dance

• October       Humor, Satire

• November   Family, Friendship, Relationships

• December   Back Down to Earth (Time, Seasons)

To find out more about our Contest Judge read ALICE PERO's Interview on ShoutoutLA website:  https://shoutoutla.com/meet-alice-pero-flutist-poet-poetry-teacher/

CQ 46:1 (Spring 2021) with artwork: Manoscritto di una vita  

(Manuscript of a Lifetime) by Enzo Patti (2018)

CSPS POETRY LETTER SUBMISSIONS

Starting in 2021, CSPS Poetry Letter publishes poetry book reviews and continues to publish poems awarded prizes in the Monthly Contests, as well as previously published poems submitted by authors to reprint. We feature one to three amazing poet each quarter. 

Please send your book reviews, with publication information (ISBN, number of pages, paperback, price, link to where it can be ordered), as well as poems by email to CaliforniaStatePoetrySociety@gmail.com, or to the attention of the Poetry Letter Editor, Dr. Maja Trochimczyk at maja@moonrisepress.com. 

CQ 45:3 (Autumn 2019) with artwork by Debby Beck