Submissions


  • We accept only haiku.  We're proud of you for writing a sestina, but you need to submit it somewhere else.  And by "haiku," we mean anything as long as it's got three lines and follows a syllabic pattern* of 5-7-5.  We're pretty anal retentive about this, even if rigid formalism is passé.
  • Meditative haiku about nature are bullshit**.  We want to laugh our asses off.  Be clever.  Or be raunchy.  Or horrific.  Or even make a cutting observation about human life (senryu-style).  But "cherry blossoms" aren't likely to get you published here, that's all we're saying.  Unless we're talking about a different kind of cherry.
  • Submit a handful. We'll probably only pick one to three to post, though, so don't get pissy if you don't see 'em all (or any of 'em) enshrined in glory here.  Just paste the poems into the body of an e-mail and send them to highcoupjournal {at} gmail.com.  Also include your current town.  If you have a Web site (gallery/facebook/reptilian conspiracy fan page) that you'd like us to link to, let us have that as well.  No bios at this point, though.
  • Simultaneous submissions are fine.  We know how it is.  Just let us know ASAP when your work gets placed somewhere else.  You know the drill.
  • Issues come out every month, with 17 submitted haiku per issue.
  • None of those issues are in print.  However, if you can find us a rich great aunt or sugar mama/daddy (we're not too particular on which at this point), we might start printing.  That would be sweet as hell.
  • If you don't get an e-mail after about two or three months, assume the worst.  That being said, especially while we're getting started we'll probably hold a few in the haiku slush pile-- so never give up hope (until it's legitimately time to give up hope)!  We will, however, always (-ish) make sure to notify people we accept, usually right before the new issue comes out.  Haiku Scouts' Honor.


Upcoming Contests/Themes

Hella Cherry Blossoms: We want to take your cherry (-blossom-themed poems and publish them in our April 2012 issue)!  If you've followed the Journal for any period of time, you'll know that the cherry-blossom haiku is basically the bane of our existence.  So we're soliciting an entire issue of them in protest!  We're looking for the witty, the raunchy, and the wonderfully, fun-derfully weeeeeeird.  Impress us in 17 syllables.  Winner gets a whole gift box full of cherry-flavored things!


Please submit these poems with "HELLA CHERRY BLOSSOMS" in the subject line.  Thanks!

Deadline: March 15, 2012










* Yeah, yeah, we know that syllables aren't the same thing as on.  But this is English, and though it's weird and long and chewy, strength has one syllable.
** Okay, they're not bullshit, per se. They have their place. But I'm sick and goddamned tired of being told that a witty haiku "isn't a haiku." Sure, it might be a senryu, but nobody in English uses that term outside of academia and Japanophiles. So shove it up your self-righteous asses until you choke.