As of the ninth of December 2024, Mediterranean Poetry has paused the opportunity to submit poetry indefinitely. The editor needs some time off and will, among other things, devote himself to travel and navigate the Mediterranean world!
THE IDEA
The general idea with Mediterranean Poetry is to publish poetry/prose (online) inspired in some way or another by the Mediterranean world. Not words depicting a tea salon in London, the mountains in northern Sweden, the Savannah in Africa, a jazz club in New York, a love affair in Tokyo, a hymn to this or that religion, political opinions or relations/situations/conversations that in no way tells us anything about the environment. The background has to be the Famous Blue and its surroundings!
This site is devoted to the Mediterranean world and impressions depicting not necessarily only the sometimes almost painfully beautiful side of this world. Still, your submission has to evoke some sense of citrus, cicadas, mountains, sea, kisses under an olive tree, conversations in a café, Apollo’s vaguely heard lyre, the smell of freshly brewed coffee … well, almost any colour that has been used on the canvas since Homer and his heirs!
(Yes, the editor admits that he is strongly coloured and inspired by the history, mythology, and poetry of the ancient Greek, and Roman world!)
WHAT TO SEND
If you would like to contribute with some poems or prose poetry (max 1,000 words) that you find – in some way or the other – illustrate your impression of the Mediterranean world, please send your words in English, a shorter bio and a photo* of you and your submission will soon be considered! Contributors who are invited to this literary Odyssey must understand that they take part without any compensation, since this is a non-profit odyssey with a voluntary crew.
*The photo will be cropped to a small, square size, 95×95 px – a “thumbnail” to illustrate the bio.
Submission address: submit@odyssey.pm
… and NOT TO SEND
Every week Mediterranean Poetry receive poetry inspired by Asian philosophy or some religious beliefs, writings depicting climate change, conflicts in the world, and immigrants’ destinies. Or poems that paint a love story just anywhere (alas, not set in the Mediterranean world) or even writings depicting something the poet loathe – his neighbouring country, the political system, his … Submitted despite the guidelines and the possibility to browse this site with 681 poets/writers to have a sense of what is desired! Consequently, Mediterranean Poetry must say NO to contributors who send poetry without any bearing on the IDEA.*
The poetry rejected can, of course, be very important. Not the least when the writing paints the destiny of the victims in saddening conflicts around the world and the hardships of immigrants with sometimes fatal endings. STILL – Mediterranean Poetry is not the arena for those images. There are many other sites/magazines that cover those themes.
*Mediterranean Poetry also decline submissions from time to time even though they paint the Mediterranean world, and usually because the poetry does not have the colours searched for.
COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER
Previous publication is not an issue, the only consideration is that any possible publisher, translator, or photographer with copyrights won’t object to the “material” (your words, your photo) being highlighted at this site! PLEASE NOTICE that Mediterranean Poetry never owns the copyright to your submission, your words, your poetry!
Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you would like to alter or append anything you see on the post once published. Rest assured that Mediterranean Poetry will not object if you would want to withdraw your words one day. Something that has happened once or twice for some reason (poetry contest).
The contributor must also be aware that Mediterranean Poetry reserve the right to remove the post if deemed necessary. One reason could be that Mediterranean Poetry is overwhelmed by requests for changes to the material once sent. Another could be that Mediterranean Poetry is informed that the contributor do not own the rights to the material once submitted.
FORMAT
As for the format, which is sometimes asked for, the answer is: Send your poem/prose directly in your mail or a Word file, Google Docs, odt, or plain text file. The editor is not keen on locked PDF files, photos with text from printed books, or handwritten manuscripts though – this will mean a lot of work if Mediterranean Poetry choose to highlight such submissions.
Those Mediterranean Poetry choose to “bring on board” must know that the formatting of the original can not always be reproduced. This since the words and line breaks are coded in HTML and the column reserved for the poetry may be too narrow. (A column that becomes even tighter in the mobile version.) So for poets who write rather long lines before pondering if it is the right moment to press “Enter” or use endless indents (until the line jumps below due to the limited width), it may be somewhat disappointing to see the outcome at Mediterranean Poetry!
ADVERTISING
If Mediterranean Poetry choose to publish your words, you may do some free advertising for one of your books – poetry or prose with some bearing on the Mediterranean world. A picture of your book cover (300×450 px) is placed in the post and link that to the web address of your choice – a publisher who sells your book or maybe Amazon or your website from where you distribute your book.