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[SUBMISSIONS NOW CLOSED] Call for contributions – Magma 59 on the theme of ‘breaks’

‘fine black thread
still crimped from the strain and snap
when it broke and he got away.’ – from The Fish by Elizabeth Bishop

Magma 59 is being edited by Roberta James with Alex Pryce and we are inviting poems on the theme of ‘breaks’.   We want to explore how one word that can be understood in so many ways can set free your creative ideas and inspire a diverse range of the best poetry.

‘Breaks’ can mean so many things:  breaks with lovers or family, lucky breaks, breaks with tradition.  Or breaks of precious items, machinery that’s broken, or broken bones.  Break ins, break outs, ‘Breaking Bad’.  Real breaks, metaphorical breaks, breaks for the good and the aching…

‘City of sad foghorns and clapboard ziggurats,
of snakes and ladders streets and cadged cigarettes,
city of pelicans, fish bones and flaking paint,
of underfoot cable car wires strained to breaking point …’ –  from Avalon by Simon Armitage

Or send us your best poems even if they are not on the theme, as the issue will break out in a rash of poems off-theme too. 

The deadline is 31 January 2014. Please see the Contributions page for details of how to submit your poems.

Roberta James
Alex Pryce

This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. Dear sir,

    Please let me know –
    1 – Is there any limit of lines of a poem.
    2 – Do you require poem in a format or free verse ?
    3 – I am Indian, I am please by knowing that I can be a participant.
    4 – I will follow Webster dictionary for diverse meaning for the word ‘Break’.

    Thanks With regards
    sujuan

  2. Hi Sujan

    1. There’s no line-limit. But, if your poem is incredibly long, it would have to be exceptionally good to get in.
    2. Poems can be in form or in free verse.
    3. We get submissions from all over the world and have published several writers from India before, so no problem.

    Good luck!

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