The 2025 Massachusetts Poetry Festival

Join editors of contemporary literary organizations as we engage in frank discussions about common questions, concerns, and myths of the submission game. The process of submitting creative work is a stressful and lengthy maze which is only made more stressful by gatekeeping practices that exasperate both emergent and seasoned writers. Together, we seek to offer tools for finding the right home for your work. We also aim to dispel popular assumptions about publishing and curating while identifying toxic practices often normalized and espoused by top tier journals and magazines. As multiply-marginalized queer people, we promote equity and inclusion and aspire to dismantle gatekeeping practices that limit the caliber and variety of written work that makes it to publication.