Welcome to ComstockReview.org

The Comstock Review is proud of its long-established reputation of publishing the finest known and unknown poets throughout North America.

Our current Co-Managing Editors are Carolyn Ostrander and John Bellinger beginning in January 2024.

Comstock Review, Inc. was formed in November 2019 as a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization to support the writing community. CR,Inc became the umbrella press for The Comstock Review, a poetry journal with a 30-year heritage, in 2020.

CR,Inc oversees the journal, associated poetry contests and Chapbook publication. We are committed to promoting a sustainable future for poets, poetry lovers, and poetry through these and additional literary and educational projects.

The Comstock Review  publishes a print issue twice a year, with an Open Reading Period from Jan 1 to Mar 31. No fee is charged by CR,Inc for submissions during the open reading.

The annual Muriel Craft Bailey Poem Contest accepts submissions from April 1 to July 15 (fee-based submission). In addition to prizes that are awarded, the prize-winning poems, honorable mention poems and poems of special merit appear in the Fall/Winter issue of the journal. In 2024, the Muriel Craft Bailey Poem Contest will be judged by Charles Rafferty.

In addition, The Comstock Review sponsors two chapbook contests with fee-based submissions in alternating years: the Jessie Bryce Niles Chapbook Award and The Comstock Review Chapbook Contest, each of which accepts submissions from August 1 to October 31 in the year they are open. In 2023, the Jessie Bryce Niles Chapbook Award will be judged by Katherine Bryce Niles-Overton.

THE COMSTOCK REVIEW OPEN READING PERIOD     January 1 to March 31

Contributor’s Guidelines:

We have two methods of submission:  Most submissions are sent online through Submittable,

but it is also possible to send in a submission by mail.  Please note that we no longer accept any e-mail submissions of any kind.

We accept but do not encourage simultaneous submissions. If your work is accepted for publication elsewhere, please let us know immediately that you are withdrawing it from consideration.

Our Editors appreciate: Well crafted verse, either traditional or non-traditional;
Consistency of metaphor;
Refreshing, distinctive imagery and diction;
Effective use of poetic devices and sonic qualities;
Theme or approach that casts new light on the world and the human condition;
and/or a poem that tickles your brain long after the page has turned.

All poems are screened by at least three editors before acceptance.  All of our editors are volunteers and poets in their own right. Our screening editors are John M. Bellinger, Peggy Sperber Flanders, Raphael Kosek, Michael McAnaney, Peggy Miller, Kathleen Bryce Niles-Overton, Carolyn Ostrander, and Martin Willitts, Jr.; guest editors for 2023 are Tim Carter, Clare Chu and Amanda Russell.

We choose our poems solely on the basis of what we consider to be their artistic merits.
We are not swayed by long publishing histories.
We do like a short bio (under 50 words) with your submission to aid us as we put the magazine together.
We do not publish single haiku, and rarely publish anything over two pages unless we find it exceptional and deserving of so much space. We are not afraid of the avant-garde, but shy from the overly obscure, the patently religious, and the needlessly graphic.
Replies are sent up to 3 months after close of reading period.

For USPS (printed poems sent by mail), we include the following instructions:

Please send 4-5 poems maximum with a SASE (Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope).  We will reply to poets outside the continental United States by e-mail. We will sometimes contact you about accepted poems by e-mail.  However, if you need a return response in writing, you cannot count on hearing from us without an SASE.

Send to: The Comstock Review, 4956 St. John Drive, Syracuse, NY 13215

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