Poetry Marathon Anthology 2022

We are so sorry for the delay!
The 2022 Poetry Marathon Anthology is now available for sale from a variety of retailers throughout the world. We expect it to slowly become available from more retailers, moving forward.
This year’s anthology includes 239 poets from many different corners of the world.
Here are some links where you can purchase the book:
Waterstones (UK)

I’m sorry for the delays in the release of the book! I’m not sure why Amazon is not carrying the book, but hopefully it will be available from them soon as well.

Thank you to everyone who contributed. If you have any questions please reach out to poets@thepoetrymarathon.com

Submission Guidelines for Full Marathoners

Submissions to the 2022 Poetry Marathon Anthology are open now and will stay open through Friday, the 22nd of July! For the first time the anthology will have two different editors. Make sure you submit to the right editor.

Ofuma Agali, is this year’s full marathon editor. He is a 44 years old writer and editor based in Lagos, Nigeria. His works have appeared in Nigerian publications – Post Express Literary Supplement, The Guardian, The Vanguard, and National Mirror – as well as in publications in other climes – Sentinel Literary Quarterly, Praxis Journal of Gender & Cultural Critiques, The Kalahari Review, and The Purposeful Mayonnaise. He has also written a full-length published collection of poems, If We Are Willing The Earth Will Listen (2017). A revised version of this is ready for publication later this year. He holds a first degree in physics from the University of Uyo and a post-graduate diploma in marketing management from the Lagos State University. He has written two unpublished collections of short fiction and has several works in progress, including a collection of poems and a collection of short fiction.

The following guidelines are for Full 24 Hour Marathoners only. Read the guidelines carefully before submitting. The anthology is only sustainable if people follow the guidelines.

When you submit you must include in the email the following:

  1. The subject line should state “Full Marathon Submissions”. (If you are a half marathoner, do not follow these guidelines. Instead, refer to the Half Marathon submission guidelines.)
  2. The body of the email should start with your location.
  3. It should also include the hour of the marathon the poem was written in.
  4. As well as a link to your poetry marathon page. If your poetry marathon name is different than your name, include both and make it clear which name you want to appear in the anthology.
  5. Two poems pasted into the body of the email. All submissions must include two poems, no more, no less.

 

All full 24 hour marathon submissions must be emailed to: poetrymarathonsubmissions@gmail.com

DO NOT email us at the email address we use for all other communications or to the half marathon address if you are a full marathoner!

Also take note of the following additional information:

  • DO NOT email us at the email address we use for all other communications or to the half marathon address if you are a full marathoner!
  • One poem will be chosen per poet to be featured within the anthology; the only exception to this is if your poems contain hate speech or are illegible.  In both cases, we will reach out to you directly.
  • Due to issues that happened in the past, no one is allowed to announce that their poem has been accepted for publication until Thursday, the 1st of September, unless notified otherwise. Announcements made on the marathon groups before September 1st will be deleted.  Please do not query about the status of your submission via email or the FB page until after September 1st.

Thank you for following the guidelines! I know they might seem strict but they make it possible to put together an anthology in a few months. The anthology should be published before Christmas. Last year a lot of people did not follow the guidelines and we experienced significant slow down because of this. The anthology is only sustainable if people follow the guidelines.

After the poems are published in the anthology, all rights return to you.

Digital copies will be made available for free to any contributor. Print copies will be available for a reasonable price and any money that is made from selling the anthology will go towards covering the cost of the marathon.

 

Submission Guidelines for Half Marathoners

Submissions to the 2022 Half Poetry Marathon Anthology are open now and will stay open through the 22nd of July! For the first time the anthology will have two different editors. Make sure you submit to the right editor.

This year’s Half Marathon Editor Cristy Watson is an award-winning author of eight novels for MG and YA readers. She loves entering writing contests and was thrilled to receive Editor’s Choice in the CV2, 2-Day Poem Contest in 2013. She also regularly participates in the Poetry Marathon in June, and she has a poem in an important and timely new anthology, ‘Worth More Standing’ (Caitlin Press; Christine Lowther, editor). She also volunteers at the Surrey International Writer’s Conference and was recently Committee Chair for Wise Words through the BC Federation of Writers. She completed a manuscript evaluation for an author through The Writers Union of Canada, as well as helping to previously judge their short fiction contest, and in the past few years, she has assisted writers of fiction, non-fiction, memoir, and poetry. You can find her here: cristywatsonauthor.wordpress.com

The following guidelines are for Half Marathoners only. Read our guidelines carefully before submitting. The anthology is only sustainable if people follow the guidelines.

All poems submitted must be written during the 2022 Half Marathon, and the writer must have completed the Half Marathon in 2022.

All poems should be completely edited and as much as possible contain no major grammatical errors. Revisions are allowed and encouraged before submitting. Please check your punctuation. All poems should be single spaced. Any extra space will probably be interpreted as a stanza break. The first word of every line should not have a capitalization unless it is intentional.

When you submit you must include in the email the following:

  1. The subject line should state “Half Marathon Submissions”. (Full 24 hour marathoners: see the guidelines here.)
  2. The body of the email should start with your location.
  3. Then include the hour of the half marathon the poem was written in.
  4. As well as a link to your poetry marathon page.
  5. Two poems pasted into the body of the email. All submissions must include two poems, no more, no less.

Please follow all these guidelines. Use the above list as a checklist for your email submission and only press send once you’ve reviewed it twice.

All half marathon submissions must be made via this email address: halfmarathonsubmissions@gmail.com

DO NOT email us at the email address we use for all other communications or to the full marathon address if you are a half marathoner!

One poem will be chosen per poet to be featured within the anthology, the only exception to this is if your poems contain hate speech or are illegible.  In both cases we will reach out to you directly. Please do not query about the status of your submission.

Due to issues that happened in the past, no one is allowed to announce that their poem has been accepted for publication till September 1st, unless notified otherwise. Announcements made on the marathon groups before September 1st, will be deleted.

Thank you for following the guidelines! I know they might seem strict, but they make it possible to put together an anthology in a few months. The anthology should be published before Christmas. Last year a lot of people didn’t follow the guidelines and we experienced significant delays because of this. The anthology is only sustainable if people follow the guidelines.

After the poems are published in the anthology all rights return to you.

Digital copies will be made available for free to any contributor. Print copies will be available for a reasonable price and any money that is made from selling the anthology will go towards covering the cost of the marathon.

 

Announcing the Finishers of the 2022 Poetry Marathon

Dear Poets,

Here’s our initial list of everyone who successfully finished the Full 2022 Poetry Marathon. These poets wrote 24 poems in 24 hours. Congratulations to everyone who achieved this incredible challenge! You are amazing!

Please note: This list contains errors. We need your help to correct those errors. If your name is in the wrong list, or missing, when it should be there, please let me know! This was in no way intentional. (There are so many participants, it is very difficult to create an accurate list.)

See the list of Half Marathon Finishers here.

Thank you to everyone who participated this year!

— Jacob

 

Full Marathon Finishers
Danielle Wong
DaybreakStations
rranson02
Bhasha Dwivedi
Se
Leonora Obed
Zeenat
dextajean
lakitagayden
givenqdaviswritesgmail-com
Ariel
dscoremans
Antonia
Linda Makkimane
Bollimuntha
chuksoluigbo
brettdyer
marg54
renee
SilverQuiver
Gypsie-Ami Offenbacher-Ferris
springevening
JoyceB
Shiloh Osheen
waldomaui
rarzackolaegbe
wrenx
kristynateach
LuvMiFreely
voldecurt
Ian Barkley
River E. Styx
Sara Anderson
Divya Venkateswaran
Koso
Ofuma Agali
afrose
Anne McMaster
elsalovesbooks
erinelise2184
Cindy Albers
sandraj631968
ekawuelizabethimaji
cinwhit
gmazul
Abena
Arthur Reynolds
Ivan Bekaren
Vijaya Gowrisankar
sage moondancer
sabinahadewole
Anjana Sen
mary
thepoetrajah
sacarroll1691
Mary Eugene Flores
apantilione
Aleta Nolan
wordsofbee
novamarie
Angie Mountain
Tracy Plath
yamalady
Mark Lucker
jonesy1922
efellows
ladymae
earth2joy
13-Shenanigans
Carol Prost
Meghana
Deborah Dalton
Jana O’Dell
jill1980
aditidixit21
sjduncan
presleytieman
JWALKthe15th
Aishwarya13
chukwumaekepacella
Katie Scholan
Cynthia Hernandez
Rebeli007
Angel Rosen
thebootlegbodhisattva
AndaM
cinzia
Simona FROSIN
Valkyrie Kerry
chidinebo
Roxann Harvey-Lawrence
michelle1
bluemuse
Erin Ushakov-Zhang
meganwrites
v-j-calone
eilidhstjohn
YuLan
Fiona
Amrutha
viviak
nandiya
jgershon1213
SincerelyBlueJay
jess
jrturek
blissfilledislandlife
hknutson
bjsteinshouer
autumnsonlyone
krobus1979
linst
trini
Donna
jarrodfouts
azli
shanvidwinsalways
Kore Black
tobett
janis
starlafahye
Renee A. Perkins
ngoziandrew
Kika Man
marathondaun
garethroi
mavschick41
gillygab
MelNeet
torrimbrown
micjowi
Margo
enscriptor
thryaksha
Bruha33
baaaaa
varenyas
Deanna Ngai
amlcrabtree
Blessing Ojo
djdelashmit
afeathers
aarthi77poetess

shirl

Anjum Wasim Dar

Santosha

The following poets came very close to finishing…If this is incorrect — please let me know!

 

Davita Joie
smeetha

 

Announcing the Finishers of the 2022 Poetry Half Marathon

Dear Poets,

Here’s our initial list of everyone who successfully finished the 2022 Poetry Half Marathon. These poets wrote 12 poems in 12 hours as part of the annual Poetry Marathon. Congratulations to everyone!

Please note: This list contains errors. We need your help to correct those errors. If your name is in the wrong list, or missing, please let me know! This was in no way intentional. (There are so many participants, it is very difficult to create an accurate list.) This is particularly important for those who are listed as writing just 23 poems — this is often in need of correction.

You can see the list of Full Marathon Finishers here.

Thank you to everyone who participated this year!

— Jacob

Half Marathon Finishers

mwspbsobsessed1
Solape Adeyemi
JitterbuggJH
heatherlyn
janiceraquelamendonca
foobar
AceShannon36
jill
Leila Martinez
MsAshay
pope
peaflowertea
adriana.c.grant
Double-AA-battery
willjxn
Jacob
ChelleA
sharonedge
Bonnie Katzive
Amana
bambinospinelli
haraselias
authorhj
Britton
MelT20
damoore943
angelatheresaegicwrites
shrehya1209
EliAk
debrathewriter
caroltalmage
tazeen
kathyun84
trishso
Wendie Donabie
tonet
SharonMitchell
dohamonde
chensky
robtericroy
KatrinaM
jvstanley
lindahallstrom
oxmtch11
incompletegenius
alenacasey
Dan
aquariangreen
smileyone
poetsm
Hafeezah
Jo
ManoshiBose
elnazgor
Tessa Mountain
aisha154
blur
valley2
Merry
Halle
msleah
Noodle
VidhiAshar
Sarah Dittmore
kv adams
Masha Sakharova
AnanyaPanwar
jdgbp
farzana
Sue Storts
rachellcarlyle
Stef
canyonwriter
James Featherstone
SarahW
Benita Olika
gitabharath
weliveaswedream
SashaS
Susan
treal1971
catfeather
coffeywrites
kriscleage
Jo
Diana Kristine
Anwar Suleman
Shloka Shankar
denisehill
ashaughnessy
dcommings1
Nancy Ann
jennifervera
Marion Lougheed
ncroney
laura-njpoetthefringe999
brianhasson
Erin Lorandos
evelynelainesmith
marathonpoet
siobhan
creatorj
Tammy
Nykki
rebecca resinski
McCarter
psarvasy
annasee
Mildred Achoch
Kevin J. O’Conner
THOMAS
drgprakash
fgarlands
Katelyn Dunne
tammibelko
Kat Kidder
Sandy Lender
nadiyah
vellaada
Aaron Conklin
supertina19
Lydia
karen
MaxineWiseWrites
annej
Harvey Schwartz
JMacKenzie
Vivian
sheilas
Caitlin Thomson
Daryl Curnow
charlesakanwesige
Colleen Schwartz
muhammedebrahimsuleman
Skay
rheakumar11
renaego
cristywatson
MahimaGiri
Kathleen Tighe
christinatangbernas
Jan Rog
Junior Knight
Maritza
miridillen
Diane Carmony
ajbostelman
Uditi
aclipscomb
rashmiskurup
Lexanne Leonard
Jill Egland
GranJan
davehirsh
zoonabee
friowords
Loneranger
please9
cgarrison
Nishant Jain
ramblewiter
genawilliams
davidhennessy
Erin
chris-klay
garnetrose
acechief
Dominique Russell
itedjere
The Begging Poet
Kim Smart
writeshears
deebuch
punkhippypoet
Thorne
soulsistah
anilynstone
jayc
iamteramarie
ginger
sundayt-saheed
brightwing
mallikaagnihotri
joeyjo
beckansonpoet
poet254-linford
spronks
EmeraldEmpress
Rachel Marco-Havens
eunice12
doomsdaybride
garciaspitz
juvairiya
ladybug90
Nasi .S
emmanuel
whalez
Jessica Swafford
arundhathi
meredithmcguire
DS Coremans

Davita Joie
smeetha

Congratulation Half Marathoners

Congratulations Half Marathoners! I am so happy that you have completed 12 poems in 12 hours! That is wonderful. Thank you for joining us in this madness.

In the past I have personally verified that everyone who applied for a certificate was eligible and then I would make a certificate. That is not possible this year and so we will be operating on the honor system.

If you completed the Poetry Half Marathon please consider the following certificate yours, to update with your name, to print if you choose to do so. If you need any help altering the certificate please email me at poets@thepoetrymarathon.com

Click on the link below, and save the PowerPoint file to your computer, add a text box. Type in your name, then save as a JPEG.

Congratulations again on your completion of The Half Marathon.

Click on the link below, and save the PowerPoint file to your computer, add a text box. Type in your name, then save as a JPEG.

Download the Powerpoint for editing.

(Note, for optimal formatting, you may want to add the fonts Nixie One, La Belle Aurore, and Cedarville Cursive to your computer.)

The visual example of what the certificate will look like is right below this text.

 

Also this year we will be putting together a 2022 Poetry Marathon Anthology.

Submissions will open July 6th and stay open till the 22cd.

Full anthology submissions details will be available on the 6th. All submissions must be written during the 2022 Poetry Marathon.

Digital copies will be made available for free to any contributor. Print copies will be available for a reasonable price and any money that is made from them will go towards covering the cost of the marathon.

Want to know what the 2021 Poetry Marathon Anthology was like? Pick up your copy here.

Congratulation Full Marathoners

You did it! Congratulations! I am very impressed! You wrote 24 poems in 24 hours. This is an achievement that few poets ever accomplish. Although, if you are a returning marathoner, some of you might be accomplishing it for the second or third time or fourth, fifth, sixth or even seventh time!

Now you should probably go get some sleep.

After every marathon I have participated in I have been filled with exhaustion but also a tremendous sense of achievement. I hope you have that too.

In the past I have personally verified that everyone who applied for a certificate was eligible and then I would make a certificate. That is not possible this year and so we will be operating on the honor system.

If you completed the full 24 hour Poetry Marathon please consider the following certificate yours, to update with your name, to print if you choose to do so. We will be taking feedback into consideration, so if you really feel strongly about this new state of affairs please email me at poets@thepoetrymarathon.com to explain your position.

Only use the link below to access the certificate if you have completed the Full Marathon.

Click on the link below, and save the PowerPoint file to your computer, add a text box. Type in your name, then save as a JPEG.

Download the Powerpoint for Editing

(Note, for optimal formatting, you may want to add the fonts Nixie One, La Belle Aurore, and Cedarville Cursive to your computer.)

The visual example of what the certificate will look like is right below this text.

Also this year we will be putting together a 2022 Poetry Marathon Anthology.

Submissions will open July 6th and stay open till the 22cd.

Full anthology submissions details will be available on the 6th. All submissions must be written during the 2022 Poetry Marathon.

Digital copies will be made available for free to any contributor. Print copies will be available for a reasonable price and any money that is made from them will go towards covering the cost of the marathon.

Want to know what the 2021 Poetry Marathon Anthology was like? Pick up your copy here.

Prompts for Hour Twenty-Four

Text Prompt

Write a poem that starts and ends with the same word. It can be short, but it has to be at least five lines long. If you can’t think of your own word to start and end with here are my suggestions: hope, stardust, cheese, sleep, and shoes.

Image Prompt

Photo by Nubelson Fernandes on Unsplash

Prompt For Hour Twenty Three

Text Prompt

Pick the title of a book that you love, that title is now the title of the poem. That poem can be about the book directly, or indirectly, or it can use the title as a jumping off point, and be about something else entirely.

Image Prompt

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