The submission window for issue 102 of Oxford Poetry is open from 15 January – 31 March 2026. Note that the deadline is end of day (midnight) on 31 March in the time zone UTC.

We welcome submissions of poems by emerging as well as established writers, and all submissions are read by the editors. Our issues are not themed beyond focusing on poetry. We cannot offer individual feedback, but we do aim to respond to submissions within three months of the submission window closing. If you are interested in writing a lyrical essay, or article with a literary focus, please get in touch by email instead. If you are a low-income writer and would like to request free entry, please see our website for details.

 Submission guidelines 

• We will consider a maximum of 3 poems per submission. Send all poems together in a single document.
• We accept submissions as PDFs only. This is to preserve formatting.
• Work submitted must be unpublished. Simultaneous submissions are fine but please let us know (via Submittable) as soon as your work is accepted elsewhere.
• Writers are eligible for publication regardless of their nationality or place of residence.
• We only consider work in English. We do consider translations.
• Poems submitted must be the entrant’s own original work, and must not have been generated, in whole or in part, by a chatbot or other artificial intelligence.
• Include a short biographical note in your cover letter in the space provided. Do not attach an additional cover letter or include it in the poem file.
• If you need to withdraw a poem in your submission, please send us a message through Submittable only, saying which poem you would like to withdraw. Note that if you click Withdraw, you are withdrawing your entire submission from consideration, not just a single poem.
• Oxford Poetry and its editors cannot accept liability for any damage, loss, injury, or distress suffered by any person who has submitted their poem/s to the magazine.