Poetry International

Poetry International Poetry International is a world class literary magazine based on the campus of San Diego State Unive

Submissions for our Winter 2026 Tiny Chapbook Contest are open until February 1!We are looking for chapbooks with consis...
01/11/2026

Submissions for our Winter 2026 Tiny Chapbook Contest are open until February 1!

We are looking for chapbooks with consistently strong poems that speak to one another lyrically and thematically. Winning chapbooks will receive publication in Poetry International

Details:
→ Length: 8-16 pages
→ Translations welcome!
→ Reading Fee: $20

🔗 Click the link in our bio to read full guidelines & submit!

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01/07/2026

We’re thrilled to share “Ex Libris” by Nathaniel Lachenmeyer, a video poem profound in its care for the quiet, intimate details of life. 

In his artist statement, Lachenmeyer shares: 

“‘Ex Libris’ is an exploration of time and being through the prism of an old book. It is inspired by my younger years scouring thrift shops in Manhattan, and the intrigue I always felt when I came across a bunch of books from one person’s library, especially when the books had ex libris stickers pasted into them, which suggested to me that their library had been important to them.”

📚Read the full Artist’s Statement at PI Online! (Link in bio) 

Full poem text below ⬇️

Ex Libris 

I am as surprised I’m sure
as you are Ethel Pepper

to find that we together
have done what countless

scientists have failed to do for centuries
overcome time and space

and death and entwine so easily
and artfully our two lives

and the minds that guided
and mostly governed them

and with something as concrete
and dusty and out-of-print as

Currier and Ives: Printmakers
to the American People

but the proof is my hands
holding it and this thrift store receipt

and not only your meticulous signature
at the top of the first page

Miss Ethel Pepper
but also your personal ex libris

perfectly pasted on the inside cover
so that there would be no doubt

when we finally and miraculously met
who each of us was and now will always be

together in the exalted annals
where improbable achievements are recorded.

I would ask what you think
of Plate No. 73 Gems of American Scenery
but of course I already know and I agree
it is one of my favorites too.

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12/19/2025

When we asked PI Online Editor-In-Chief for a recommendation on a recent poetry collection, he brought in The Breakup by .gabbert. 

The Breakup uses an inventive form that plays with erasure and repetition, demonstrating how limitation can often breed new and creative poetics in ways we might not expect.

Definitely grab a copy of this small but mighty chapbook if you can, and share a recent poetry collection in the comments that you think the PI community should check out! 💬

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community
 

12/12/2025

Sakinah Hofler reading her outstanding poem “Grieve, Goddess Sings, for the Dark Sons of America,” included in Issue 29 of Poetry International.

Sakinah originally recorded this video for our Issue 29 launch party last week. It was wonderful to have her in the room with us, in spirit and virtually, and now we’re happy to share it with you.

🔗📕To learn about Issue 29, read more selections, and get a copy of your own, make sure to visit the link in our bio.

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Thank you to everyone who came out to support the launch of Poetry International Issue 29 last week! It truly meant a lo...
12/10/2025

Thank you to everyone who came out to support the launch of Poetry International Issue 29 last week!

It truly meant a lot to be able to gather in community to celebrate this collection, including listening to wonderful readings from and of their poems included in Issue 29.

This issue features a formidable yet approachable array of work from poets from around the world offered in both the original language and English translation.

➡️🔗 Read selections from Issue 29 and grab a copy of your own at the link in our bio.

Your purchase supports the continuation of Poetry International and our championing of poets and translators from around the world.

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Join us tonight to celebrate the launch of Poetry International Issue #29 with contributors and editors who will share ...
12/03/2025

Join us tonight to celebrate the launch of Poetry International Issue #29 with contributors and editors who will share and discuss their work.

📍SDSU Love Library, Room 430, Dec. 3, 7pm

➡️ Can’t make it in person? Check out the live stream at The Hugh C. Hyde Living Writers Series om YouTube

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11/19/2025

It was a privilege hearing Elaine Sexton read from her latest book, Site Specific: New and Selected Poems, at the SDSU Living Writers Series last week.

Thank you, Elaine, for sharing your work with our community of poets and poetry enthusiasts!

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11/16/2025

Thank you, Carson, for bringing this collection to the forefront for our series!

As Carson mentions, Love is a Dangerous Word is a posthumous selection of poems from across Essex Hemphill’s career. We highly recommend picking up a copy if you can.

Our reading recs series is all about sharing and celebrating recent collections of poetry—and we want to hear from you, too. Let us know in the comments what poetry books from the last few years more people should be reading ⬇️⬇️

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In “Walking Backwards Home,” poet and mindfulness teacher David Keplinger reflects on his experience translating Rainer ...
11/13/2025

In “Walking Backwards Home,” poet and mindfulness teacher David Keplinger reflects on his experience translating Rainer Maria Rilke’s poem “Buddha in Glory” from German to English.

Rilke’s poem proposes enlightenment as a turning inwards to find something so infinite that it mirrors the ever-expanding cosmos. Keplinger discusses his application of the poem’s core elements to the translation process itself–by using translation as a form of meditation, it becomes a way of walking backwards home to find one’s true self from within.

To read more of Keplinger’s insights on translation and meditation, click the link in our bio 🔗

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11/05/2025

We asked the PI community to share recent poetry collections that stuck with them. Our podcast host Artrice Bennett spotlights Post Colonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz. Thanks, for bringing this must-read book to the table.

Is there a contemporary poetry collection you can’t stop talking about? Let us know in the comments!

Over the next month, we’ll be selecting one commenter to win a free copy of PI issue #29. Must be following to participate.

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It's giveaway time! Enter for a chance to win a free print copy of Poetry International Issue 29. How to enter: 1. Make ...
10/26/2025

It's giveaway time! Enter for a chance to win a free print copy of Poetry International Issue 29.

How to enter:
1. Make sure you're following us.
2. Tell us in the comments: What's a collection of poetry from the past few years that you can't stop talking about?

The winner will be picked at random in 3 weeks.

10/26/2025

Suzanne Frischkorn reads her poem “The Season: Contents,” inspired by a move to Central New York.

Make sure to watch until the end to hear how the poem ties into broader themes in Frischkorn’s upcoming manuscript.

Poetry text in English below.

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The Season: Contents

The runoff at the creek held tiny toads,
we crossed the bridge

to see ducklings. We are not swan eaters,
and memorial day has passed.

Who carved the stone steps into the gorge?
My knees shook when I began the trail

and I thought everyone noticed.
I tried not to look down,

but all the wonder was pooled at the bottom—
no that’s not it at all.

The weather broke at last
and the heat moved to a new glen,

breeze in the tree limbs,
breeze through the porch screen,

I sit on the porch when I can’t sleep—
a nocturne for another day.

The pines have an ailment that has no cure.
The pines are shaped like old men.

You’d be surprised what shows up
when you forgo w**d killer. Cardinal, crow,

yellow warblers—the robins wake me
on the sunporch. They are the first to sing.

Everywhere I look it is green, green, green.

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An Annual Literary Journal

Described by former U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera as a “one of a kind” collection, and by Fady Joudah as “diving for pearls in pearl-infested waters.”