Jimothy, the Seattle trash cat with short spine syndrome, has taken the internet by storm. We obviously love how adorable he is with his squished-up body and cheeky scamper, but also how incredibly determined he must be in the face of such difference. So for this special call, we’re dipping our raccoony toes into a new pond and looking for prose poems that celebrate tenacity and difference.
THIS SUBMISSION CALL HAS A SHORT TURNAROUND – WE’RE OPEN BETWEEN 1st and 10th SEPTEMBER – AND A SHORT WORD COUNT OF UP TO 300 WORDS
Our Guest Reader for this call will be Jude Potts
Prose Poetry is a hybrid form which looks like prose on the page, rather than using the line breaks in poetry. It makes use of the of the devices of poetic writing – lyrical language, compression symbolism, metaphor, fragmentation, repetition, rhythm and rhyme.
Narrative and implied storylines can be present, but plot is less important. The beginning, middle and end we hope to see in flash submissions are replaced by a paragraph that focuses on imagery and emotion. The focus may be on a moment rather than the movement used in flash to drive a story. There may be surrealism and magical realism used.
Examples free to read online
We have dug about and found some gorgeous prose poems in other lit mags.
- Agnes Martin, Fiesta, 1985 by Victoria Chang
- This is the Story by Donna Vorreyer
- Janet Joplin’s Ghost and I Shelter Before the Texas Twister by Elizabeth Muscari
- An introduction to some common British lichens by Sarah Royston
- The Shadows of the Trees by Amanda Chiado
As usual, we are happy to read any genre with this submission call.
We do want to read stuffs celebrating tenacity and difference. This could be people, animals, plants or something else altogether. Show us a determination to live and love, to survive and thrive, to bring joy. Like Jimothy.
Some Quotage
“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow.” Mary Anne Radmacher
“When you’re at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on.” Theodore Roosevelt
“Don’t let your luggage define your travels, each life unravels differently.” Shane Koyczan
“I have found that the people whom society has deemed to be the weakest are inevitably the strongest.” Michael Bihovsky
The Guidelines
- We’re looking for Prose Poems only up to 300 words (excluding title). Poetry using line breaks will not be considered.
- We’re only looking for new work for this call – so new reprints.
- You can submit two prose poems, using a new form for a second submission.
- Use simple formatting – 12pt, easy-to-read-font, double spaced – and no PDFs.
- No name etc. on the story doc – the filename should be the title only.
- Submission is via the Google Form linked below.
- For our Ts & Cs please refer to our Submissions Page
Ready to submit?
Click on the button to go to the Google Form – this goes live on 1st September at 9am. Once completed and sent, you’ll receive this confirmation message on the Google Form:
Thank you for submitting to Trash Cat Lit. We have received your work and will be in touch soon
We don’t do email confirmation but please be assured, that means we have your submission
TRASH CAT LIT 