We are currently not open for submissions. Please subscribe to be notified when we do open in summer 2025.
You need to purchase/have previously purchased an item from our shop to be eligible to submit (minimum cost £2*). Your purchase will cover you for submission to all future issues of the journal.
All of the profits we make contribute towards the cost of running the journals. We are a not-for-profit organisation and the project is managed by volunteers.
Please follow this guidance so that your poem can be considered.
1. Only send up to 4 poems per issue.
2. All poems must be unpublished - including on any websites or self-published.
3. You may send poems to other places too, but please notify us if your poem is published elsewhere.
4. If your poem is unsuccessful, you may send it again to future issue submissions.
5. Please send by filling out this form and using a word document attachment. Please do not use any other format or your work will not be considered.
6. Your poem MUST be related to your work in the public sector. This is crucial.
7. You must submit a receipt reference for a journal you have purchased for your poem to be considered (see above guidance).
8. You must write YES on your submission form when asked if you give permission for your poem to used for research purposes. This research aims to highlight issues in the sector and advocate for change. You can read more about the research here if you would like more information. We will not share your personal details in this research. This research abides by ethical guidance from the British Educational Research Association (2018) and the University of Northampton's ethical research guidance.
9. Please do not write your name on your poem/s as they will be allocated a number and judged anonymously for selection.
*If you are unable to afford this cost, please drop us an email as we are aware that many public sector workers are facing financial challenges at the moment and would like to offer a number of free submissions. Email admin@publicsectorpoetry.co.uk and let us know.
We also accept artwork for the journal from public sector workers. Please submit using the same guidance (above).
We are currently unable to pay poets for their contributions, although we hope to soon. However, we will promote your poem and your other work/social media.
Poets whose work is selected will become members of the Public Sector Poetry Collective and have the opportunity to apply for paid work; we recruit poets for research work, workshops and performances from our collective only. We will champion your work as you become part of our community.
If selected for publication we will give you the option to publish under your name or an alternative name/anonymously if preferred.
We value every poem sent to us. If your work is not chosen for an issue, whilst we appreciate you sharing your poem with us, we will not be able to provide any feedback. This is because we are very limited in terms of resources. However, you are welcome to resubmit work to future issues.