Free the Verse
Free Poetry Submissions
Our magazine was founded in January 2022. Since then, we’ve published one issue every quarter, featuring contributors from around the world – and it’s totally free to submit.
Each issue has a distinct theme and a deadline for submissions, so make sure you keep the deadline in mind. If you’d like to be reminded or even inspired to submit to our issues, subscribe to our newsletter.
Poetry Competitions – with Prizes!
We announced our first poetry competition in April 2023, with a prize of $100 for the winning poem and publication as a standalone piece on our site.
Unlike our issue submissions, we accept multiple entries for the competitions; and there is a small fee of $3.49 to enter, which helps cover our operating costs.
Upcoming Competitions
Welcome to our second international poetry competition of 2025! We’re looking for all kinds of poetry on the theme of Hunger. As always, we encourage you to bend the rules with both content and form.
Deadline for entry: December 31st 2025
There will be one prize winner. The winning poet will receive a prize of $100 (USD), plus publication of their poem as a standalone piece on Free the Verse. Payment will be made via PayPal.
The entry fee is $3.49, and you may submit 1 poem per entry. Multiple entries are permitted. All fees are used to cover our operating costs.
All entries must be original work that is owned by the entrant. We accept poems which have previously been published, and simultaneous submissions are permitted. We do not accept poems previously published in our magazine, Free the Verse.
The winning poet will be notified by email within 2 months of the competition closing.
You will retain the copyright to your work. By entering the competition, you grant Free the Verse the right to publish your poem and name on our website and in any associated marketing materials.
This is an international competition – however, at this time, we only accept poems written in English. You are welcome to include words and phrases from other languages.
You must be over 18 years old to submit.