We publish: two issues of Passager Journal each year; books of poetry, short stories, and memoir; a biennial book prize for a new poet over 70; and the Pandemic Diaries.

Please see our guidelines for each series below.

Passager Journal | Poetry Contest Issue Guidelines
Poetry Contest

Submission period: February 15 – April 15
Publication: August/September
Accepted genres: poetry only
Up to 5 poems, 40-line max ea.
$20 reading fee, includes 1-year subscription to Passager*
Winner receives $1000 prize plus publication and featured interview.
All honorable mentions published.
Now accepting submissions!

New submissions policy:

Passager has always been about welcoming new voices and giving readers a broad range of the best work by older writers. We wish we could afford to print all the poems and prose we love. Since we can’t, we often (reluctantly!) must make hard choices.  

So, if you have had work in a recent issue of Passager, please read on. 

You may submit to the Poetry Contest without interruption each year. However, if your poem has appeared in the most recent Winter Issue (74) or Poetry Contest Issue (73), you will only be eligible to win the prize and become the new Passager Poet. You are not eligible for Honorable Mention (the publication of a single poem).

Writers must be age 50 or older by September 1, 2023 to submit.

We prefer hard copy submissions, but for your convenience, you may also submit online via Submittable.

Passager
7401 Park Heights Ave.
Baltimore, MD 21208

Include a cover letter and brief bio.

Include your name and contact information on each page (even when submitting online).

Checks for the reading fee should be made out to “Passager.” *Due to the costs of international shipping, submissions outside the U.S. will receive a 1-year digital subscription to Passager with their reading fee.

No previously published work will be considered.

Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere!

No email entries accepted.

Unfortunately, we are unable to return submitted work to you.

Work received outside of the submission period will not be considered.

We urge you to become familiar with Passager before submitting. Read samples of past issues or order sample copies.

All poets will be notified of a decision by June 1, 2023.

Have a question that wasn’t covered here? Please check our FAQs page.

Passager Journal | Winter Issue Guidelines
Winter Issue (Poetry & Prose)

Submission period: July 15 – September 15
Publication: January/February
Accepted genres: poetry, memoir, short fiction
Up to 5 poems, 40-line max ea. OR 4,000 words of prose
$5 reading fee for Submittable (hard copy submissions are free)
Not accepting submissions at this time.

New submissions policy:

Passager has always been about welcoming new voices and giving readers a broad range of the best work by older writers. We wish we could afford to print all the poems and prose we love. Since we can’t, we often (reluctantly!) must make hard choices.  

So, if you have had work in a recent issue of Passager, please read on. 

When submitting to the Winter Issue, please wait 2 issue cycles (a year and a half) before submitting again. If you were published in the most recent Winter Issue (74) or Poetry Contest Issue (73), you would not submit to the 2024 Winter Issue. We’ll be happy to see your work again the year after that.

Writers must be age 50 or older at the time of publication to submit.

We prefer hard copy submissions, but for your convenience, you may also submit online via Submittable.

Passager
7401 Park Heights Ave.
Baltimore, MD 21208

Include a cover letter and brief bio.

Include your name and contact information on each page (even when submitting online).

No previously published work will be considered.

Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere!

No email entries accepted.

Unfortunately, we are unable to return submitted work to you.

Work received outside of the submission period will not be considered.

We urge you to become familiar with Passager before submitting. Read samples of past issues or order sample copies.

Have a question that wasn’t covered here? Please check our FAQs page.

Passager Books Call for Queries

Passager will be accepting book queries during the month of February to select a new title for publication in the next year (2023-2024).

To be eligible for publication, you must:

• Be a U.S. resident
• Be age 50 or older by September 1, 2023
• Have already been published in a print issue of Passager Journal
• Have a completed, previously unpublished manuscript of poetry, short stories, memoir, or personal essays.

If we have already published a book of yours, you are not eligible to submit, unfortunately.

If you meet these criteria, please send:

  1. A query letter. In it:
    • Introduce yourself (more than as a list of publications)
    • Describe the book (50-100 words)
    • Explain why you’d like Passager to publish your book / why you think Passager is a good fit for your book
  2. A sample from the manuscript. Do not include piece(s) published in Passager Journal in your sample. Please see genre specifics below:
    • Poetry: 10 poems, single-spaced
    • Prose: 3,750-5,000 words, double-spaced. (Note: The prose sample does not need to be the first 5,000 words of the book.)
    • Please number the pages and include your name and contact info on each page.
    • Submissions of poetry or prose with illustrations are accepted.
  3. An acknowledgements page, if any of the pieces have appeared elsewhere
  4. A $15 reading fee (checks made out to “Passager”)
  5. A SASE or email address for notification only

Submit online via Submittable or mail hard copies to:

Passager
7401 Park Heights Ave
Baltimore, MD 21208

Postmark Deadline: February 28, 2023

We will review queries on a rolling basis. If yours is selected for further consideration, we will contact you to send the full manuscript. All writers will be notified of a decision by June 1.

Other requirements:

One submission allowed per person.

We consider a completed manuscript to be 50-60 pages of poetry, or 35,000-55,000 words of prose.

We are currently not accepting translations, posthumous submissions, or previously published books.

We consider previously published to mean:

• If a book has been for sale at any venue it is ineligible.
• If a book has been self-published and sold on the internet (Amazon, for example, or an author’s website) it is ineligible.

However,

• If some of the poems have appeared in a chapbook, of 25 poems or less, it is eligible.
• If the poems have been printed by a vanity press and given to family and friends, it is eligible.

Congratulations to Mark Elber,
The 2022 Henry Morgenthau lll First Book Poetry Prize Winner! 

Read from Elber’s winning manuscript Headstone and celebrate our honorable mentions, here.

The Henry Morgenthau III First Book Poetry Prize is awarded biennially to a poet 70 or older. Read more about Henry Morgenthau III and his legacy.

Reading Period Closed

All correspondence concerning the contest should be addressed to Passager, 7401 Park Heights Ave. Baltimore, MD 21208. Or email: editors@passagerbooks.com