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WWPH WRITES, OUR BI-WEEKLY SPOTLIGHT ON POETRY & PROSE FROM THE DMV

POETRY

We are happy to consider never-published original poetry as well as reprints from recent or upcoming published full-length poetry collections or chapbooks (please indicate publication date and press) from writers living in Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Submit 1-3 poems not to exceed 5 pages. 12-point type, single-spaced. Please provide a cover letter addressed to the Poetry Editor with a biography of 50 words or less. FREE TO SUBMIT. Please submit here.

SHORT FICTION or CREATIVE NONFICTION

Submit 1000 words or less; 12-point type, double-spaced. We are looking for selections that could be considered flash or excerpts from longer works. We lean toward the voice, the story, and the spark of language that speaks to the particular as well as the universal. Stories that tell us something more about life in DC, Maryland or Virginia are especially welcome. We will also consider reprints from recent or upcoming published full-length works in order to celebrate writers from the DMV. Please provide a cover letter addressed to the Fiction Editor with a biography of 50 words or less. FREE TO SUBMIT. Please submit here.

We have over 1,000 readers/subscribers for each issue of WWPH Writes. We give editorial guidance on all the accepted work. We share each issue widely on our social media and nominate for Pushcart Prizes, Best of Small Fiction ( Read Borderland by Myna Chang), Best of the Net, and other awards. In 2023, we nominated Eve Cantler’s evocative flash fiction, The Day We Watched The Seagull Eat the Eel WWPH Writes 27, and it was accepted for the Best of Small Fiction collection! Unfortunately, at this time, we are not a paying market. Submit and subscribe to WWPH Writes.

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Please join us in congratulating our 2024 manuscript winners!

Our manuscript contests will be on hiatus until September 1, 2025. We will be seeking: Poetry, Fiction, and Works in Translation at that time. We have a very special announcement pending on a new anthology of poetry & prose, which will be open for submissions in September, 2024.

Critics Say

"Among the 111 pieces featured are a remarkable number of standouts — far too many to highlight here. But I was especially moved by the breadth of humanity on display in all its sadness, joy, rage, despair, and humor..."

—Washington Independent Review of Books on This Is What America Looks Like: Poetry & Fiction from DC, Maryland, Virginia

"This Is What America Looks Like is wildly diverse with short stories...and poetry speaking to relationships and experiences that redefine what identity means."

—Washington City Paper on This Is What America Looks Like: Poetry & Fiction from DC, Maryland, Virginia

"Refreshingly fearless and, like a subway's third rail, hums with electricity."

—Adam Ross, editor of the Sewanee Review on Adam Schwartz's The Rest of The World

"These brilliant poems stun the page..."

—Zakia Henderson-Brown on Steven Leyva's The Understudy's Handbook

"When I read the first poem in Words We Might One Day Say, I thought Holly Karapetkova was related to Gabriel Marquez. A surprise seems to appear in many of her poems. Some come close to being magical. I like how this woman writes about childhood. I want to grow old with this book."

——E. Ethelbert Miller on Holly Karapetkova's Words We Might One Day Say