Each issue of Eye to the Telescope has a different guest editor. The Issue 5 editor will be Stephen M. Wilson, who is looking for LGBT (Lesbian / Gay / Bisexual / Transgendered) themed speculative poems.

Submission Guidelines

From Stephen: I am looking for LGBT as well as gender-neutral and intersexual themed speculative poems for Issue #5 of Eye to the Telescope. As this can be a touchy subject matter for some, I’m not interested in poetry that is either overtly didactic or—this should go without saying—that perpetuates stereotypes (and although sensual poetry is fine, pure erotica will be a hard sell). That said, I am open to dark humor and poetry that provokes (I’ll trust the poets to figure out the fine line between didactic and provocative and between sensual and erotic).

I would prefer that the LGBT aspect of the poetry be subtle and organic to the poem. As I'd love to highlight as diverse a variety of poetry possible, I’m open to everything from formal/classical forms (haiku, sonnets, etc.) to concrete, Dadaism, abstract, postmodernism, avant-garde, surrealism, bizzaro, or whatever else you have to offer, just as long as the poem is speculative (see definition below) and includes the LGBT theme in some way.

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

• Please submit 1-5 poems (in body of email or attached as .rtf) to Stephen at eye.lgbt@rocketmail.com with "ETTT5 Sub" in the subject line.
• Deadline: June 15th.

Payment and rights

• Accepted poems will be paid for at the following rate: US 3¢/word rounded to nearest dollar; minimum US $3, maximum $25. Payment is on publication.
• The Science Fiction Poetry Association normally uses PayPal to pay poets, but can also send checks.
• Eye to the Telescope is an online publication. Therefore, First Electronic Rights (for original poems) or reprint electronic rights are being sought.

Who can submit?

Anyone writing speculative poetry.

What is Speculative Poetry?

Speculative poetry is poetry which falls within the genres of science fiction, fantasy, and horror, plus some related genres such as magic realism, metafiction, and fabulation. It is not easy to give precise definitions, partly because many of these genres are framed in term of fiction rather than poetry.

A good starting point is “About Science Fiction Poetry” by Suzette Haden Elgin, the founder of the Science Fiction Poetry Association. Despite its title, this article is applicable all forms of speculative poetry.

Tim Jones, editor of Issue 2, had a go at defining science fiction poetry on his blog, in two parts (These blog posts date from 2009, and the Voyagers anthology has since been published. These posts do refer specifically to science fiction poetry, rather than the broader field of speculative poetry.):

timjonesbooks.blogspot.com/2009/02/what-is-science-fiction-poetry-part-1.html

timjonesbooks.blogspot.com/2009/02/what-is-science-fiction-poetry-part-2.html

What Is the Science Fiction Poetry Association (SFPA)?

As the SFPA says on its website at sfpoetry.com, “The Science Fiction Poetry Association was founded in 1978 to bring together poets and readers interested in science fiction poetry. What is sf poetry? You know what they say about definitions—everybody has one. To be sure, it is poetry (we'll leave that definition to you), but it's poetry with some element of speculation—usually science fiction, fantasy, or horror. Some folks include surrealism, some straight science.”

See the SFPA site for lots more information—and please consider joining.