Deadline

March 1, 2025

Prize

One winner of Bicoastal Review's single-poem contest receives $200, a featured publication in Issue 10, a uniquely designed physical and digital broadside of their poem, publicity on our social media channels, free contributor copies (if we print the issue), and an optional interview. 

Finalists receive publication in Issue 10, publicity on our social media channels, contributor copies (if we print the issue), and are considered for interviews.

Check out our 2024 winner here, and read our interview with her here.

Meet the Judge
 

Blas Falconer is the author of Rara Avis (Four Way Books, 2024); Forgive the Body This Failure (Four Way Books, 2018); The Foundling Wheel (Four Way Books, 2012); A Question of Gravity and Light (University of Arizona Press, 2007); and The Perfect Hour (Pleasure Boat Studio: A Literary Press, 2006). He is a coeditor for The Other Latin@: Writing Against a Singular Identity (University of Arizona Press, 2011) and Mentor & Muse: Essays from Poets to Poets (Southern Illinois University Press, 2010). Falconer’s awards include a 2011 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, the Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award from Poets & Writers, a Tennessee Individual Artist Grant, the New Delta Review Eyster Prize for Poetry, and the Barthelme Fellowship. Born and raised in Virginia, Falconer earned an MFA from the University of Maryland (1997) and a PhD in Creative Writing and Literature from the University of Houston (2002). He lives in Los Angeles with his family. www.blasfalconer.com

Guidelines

1. Please submit one previously unpublished poem of any length, style, or form. You can submit up to 10 times, with one poem per submission. (Please read our past issues to get a sense of the writing we enjoy. We also encourage you to check out Blas Falconer's great poetry collections.)
2. Do not include any identifying information (name, email) on the file/document itself. This contest will be judged without the influence of the submitter's identity. Please do not include any identifying acknowledgements or dedications in your submission. 
3. We will ask the winning poet if they can record their poem as an audio file. Audio files help us expand the accessibility of poetry to anyone who prefers to listen to works. You can find example recordings in our digital issues.
4. Simultaneous submissions are accepted as long as we are promptly made aware of acceptance elsewhere. You can simply withdraw your poem(s) via Submittable.
5. If you win the contest, please respond promptly via email or Submittable (within a week or two) or we will defer to second-place winners.
6. Anyone from anywhere in the world can submit, though our journal tends to gravitate toward topics relevant to the U.S. west coast/east coast. Writing must be in English, with American spelling preferred.
7. Poems should in no way infringe upon any copyright or third-party rights. Writing must be entirely original and not plagiarized nor submitted without proper citations – including quotes by other authors, borrowed lines, etc. 
8. Bicoastal Review does not accept works created with the use of AI.
9. The winning poet will have time to make minor revisions if desired. Bicoastal Review reserves the right to reject revisions/submissions at any time, or to get approval from the judge if the revisions are significant.
10. Past or current students, immediate colleagues, family members, or close friends of the judge are NOT ELIGIBLE. (If you have only met the judge once or twice at a reading or event, this is not considered a “close friend.”) 

Bicoastal Review abides by the CLMP Code of Ethics. The Community of Literary Magazines and Presses, an organization of independent literary publishers, believes that ethical contests serve our shared goal: to connect writers and readers by publishing exceptional writing. To that end, we agree to 1) conduct our contests as ethically as possible and to address any unethical behavior on the part of our staff, editors, or judges; 2) to provide clear and specific contest guidelines — defining conflict of interest for all parties involved; and 3) to make the mechanics of our selection process available to the public. This Code recognizes that different contest models produce different results, but that each model can be run ethically. We have adopted this Code to reinforce our integrity and dedication as a publishing community and to ensure that our contests contribute to a vibrant literary heritage.

We charge a reading fee (per submission), as our journal is completely free to read online. If this is an economic burden for you, you can email us at theeditors@bicoastalreview.com.

Thank you 💙 We can't wait to read your poems.

Bicoastal Review is a journal of poetry, nonfiction, photography, and art. We aim to foster cross-genre conversations between readers and contributors, often on (but not limited to) topics related to the East Coast and West Coast. We publish writing that offers a lens into varied schools of thought and showcases epiphany and mastery of language. Our collective of voices circumscribes a study of American writing, highlighting the movements, ruptures, and allegiances happening simultaneously on opposite ends of the nation. Writers and artists from anywhere in the world are welcome to submit, though we prefer the American English spelling of words. If there is a fee posted that presents an economic burden to you, email us. 

We offer a Fast Response option if you would like to hear back from us in one week. If it has been 6 or 7 days, feel free to email theeditors@bicoastalreview.com. Thank you for your support!
 

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

POETRY

5 poems max, preferably in .doc or .docx. Please separate poems by page. Titles are preferred. No need to put your contact info in the document. If your poems are haikus or otherwise very short, feel free to submit more than 5. 

Please read our past issues to get a sense of our vibe. In addition to original writing, we welcome ekphrastic works that imitate, borrow from, challenge, or are in conversation with any piece we have previously published. Leave a note in your submission if you are referencing a piece previously published in our journal.

We accept translations (into English) with the permission of both author and translator. 

We particularly like political poetry, feminist or queer poetry, ecopoetry, love poems, poems about the body, and poems that engage with history, literature, art, or modern culture. No covid/quarantine poems, please.

While hybrid, experimental, or cross-genre submissions are welcome, we do not accept anything created with AI. We do not accept writing that espouses bigotry or hate toward any group. We value accessibility and social progress, and seek to represent a diversity of voices across the American literary landscape.

NONFICTION

We accept essays, book reviews, interviews, critiques, think pieces, and similar works. 1,000-3,000 words preferred, though this is not a hard rule. Occasional fiction may be considered if you think it matches the tone and themes of our publication.

PHOTOGRAPHY/ART

Submit up to 10 photos or works of art using the highest image quality possible. Include a "museum label" style paragraph explaining any materials, process, theory, or anything else you would like to share. No AI. Please don't select Fast Response if you're submitting art/photography. 

​Bios should be 100 words or less, beginning with "YOUR NAME is...."

Simultaneous submissions are fine. Notify us and/or withdraw your submission if your work is accepted elsewhere. We generally do not publish reprints. Upon acceptance with us, please withdraw your work from consideration elsewhere. Writers/artists featured in Bicoastal Review should wait six months to submit again.