Laura Boss was a celebrated New Jersey poet who left us in 2021. In addition to her seven books and her founding and editing of Lips magazine for 40 years, she spent an enormous amount of time mentoring and inspiring other poets. As a tribute to Laura and in an effort to continue her mission of supporting poets and poetry, the Laura Boss Poetry Foundation will sponsor:
The Laura Boss Narrative Poetry Award - The winning manuscript will be awarded a cash prize of $5000 and book publication by NYQ Books. The submission period is January - March.
Lips poetry magazine - an annual publication. submissions are accepted September - November each year.
The Foundation is a 501(c)(3) corporation and all donations to support its work are tax-deductible.
- You must be age 13-18 in the year of your submission.
- The submission period is September 1 through November 30 for the annual issue to be published in the following spring. No submissions are considered at other times.
- There is no fee to submit.
- Send up to five poems. Poems must be your original work, not AI-generated, and previously unpublished online or in print.
- All poems should be in one document, and each poem should begin on a new page. The document can be a single .doc, .docx, or .rtf file.
- On the last page of your document, include a third-person biographical note of fewer than 100 words that includes your name as you wish it to appear in print if your work is accepted. Bios may be edited before publication.
- Acceptance or declined emails will be sent to you on or before January 31.
- Lips has first rights to the poems, and copyright reverts to the author upon publication.
- For accepted poems, payment is a single contributor copy of the magazine, which will be mailed after publication. Poets may order additional copies through Submittable.
- We accept simultaneous submissions. If any submitted poem is accepted elsewhere, please withdraw the poem(s) immediately. To withdraw all your poems, use the WITHDRAW link on your submissions page in Submittable. For individual poems, use the messaging feature in Submittable and indicate the title(s) to withdraw some poems from consideration.
- Poets included in the magazine will have the opportunity to participate in a contributor reading held in New Jersey when the issue is published.
- Lips generally publishes poems that are narrative in style. Some of our recent Pushcart nominees are posted on our website as samples. We recommend that you review them or a copy of the magazine before submitting poems. The current issue and selected back issues are available for purchase online using our Submittable website.
- The submission period is September 1 through November 30 (11:59 pm ET) for the annual issue to be published in the spring of the following year. No submissions are considered at other times.
- Send up to five poems, previously unpublished online or in print, in one document. Each poem should begin on a new page. The document can be a single .doc, .docx or .rtf file
- On the last page of your document, include a third-person biography note of fewer than 100 words that includes your name as you wish for it to appear in print if your work is accepted.
- There is no submission fee.
- Lips has first rights to the poems. Copyright reverts to the author upon publication.
- For accepted poems, payment is a single contributor copy of the magazine, which will be mailed after publication. Additional copies may be ordered separately through Submittable.
- Simultaneous Submissions: If any submitted poem is accepted elsewhere, please withdraw the poem(s) immediately using the WITHDRAW link on your submissions page in Submittable and note the poem(s) title(s) that you are withdrawing from consideration.
- Notification of submissions accepted or declined will be via Submittable and will use your account email. Please check your account inbox for the status. We use rolling acceptances and begin notifying poets in late December and throughout January.
Lips was founded in 1981 by Laura Boss. Now entering its fifth decade, it has published poems by Robert Bly, Allen Ginsberg, Ruth Stone, David Ignatow, Marge Piercy, Michael Benedikt, Nicholas Christopher, Anne Waldman, Ishmael Reed, Gregory Corso, Lyn Lifshin, Ted Berrigan, Paul Hoover, Jana Harris, Toi Derricotte, Joseph Bruchac, Alice Notley, Warren Woessner, Robert Phillips, Hal Sirowitz, Theodore Weiss, Alicia Ostriker, Maria Mazziotti Gillan, Stanley H. Barkan, Michael Weaver, Molly Peacock and Richard Kostelanetz.
We recommend that contributors review a copy of the magazine before submitting poems. You might obtain a copy at your library, or by purchasing a copy of the latest issue or a back issue here.