Metonym Literary Journal

Submitting your work

Because Metonym publishes primarily through calls for poetry, artists should approach it as they would a sharp-eyed editor rather than a broad-themed anthology. Read several recent issues before submitting; the journal’s taste runs toward poems that are comfortable with silence, white space, and unresolved tension. Avoid cover letters that summarize themes or explain the poem’s occasion—the work should stand without scaffolding. Send 3–5 poems in a single document, with no more than one poem per page, and include a brief third-person bio. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but withdraw immediately upon acceptance elsewhere. Given the journal’s online-only, remote operation, response times can vary; a polite query after three months is reasonable. Most importantly, trust the metonymic principle: submit the part that implies the whole, not the whole that explains the part.