Hole In The Head Review is committed to offering compelling contemporary poetry from both emerging and established artists and writers. We look for poems that reframe the ordinary, make the personal universal, and transcend the singular "I".

Hole in the Head Review was founded as a quarterly journal of art and poetry in 2019 by Bill Schulz. In 2025 Bill passed it to Mike Bove, its current Editor. Now a biannual journal, HITHR continues to feature some of the strongest work by established and emerging poets. 
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In times of struggle and uncertainty, we turn to words and images to order the chaos, bring light to the darkness. Here you'll find poems that celebrate the collective human voice: our struggles and victories, our enduring spirit. 

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A comprehensive guide to journals that regularly nominate work for the Pushcart Prize.

Literary Magazines That Nominate for the Pushcart Prize

Discover the all-time most popular poetry literary magazines. These outlets have maintained a significant presence in the world of poetry.

Most Popular Poetry-Only Literary Magazines of All Time

Discover the all-time most submitted-to poetry literary magazines. These publications have consistently attracted a high volume of poetry submissions.

Most Submitted-To Poetry-Only Literary Magazines of All Time

Highlights publications that regularly put forward essays, memoirs, and other creative nonfiction for Pushcart consideration.

Nonfiction Magazines That Nominate for the Pushcart Prize

Focuses specifically on poetry journals with established histories of Pushcart nominations.

Poetry Magazines That Nominate for the Pushcart Prize

Hole In The Head Review

General call

Poetry:

Please send up to three previously unpublished poems during a submission period. Upload them as a single file, no more than one poem per page. We accept simultaneous submissions; please inform us immediately via Submittable if you need to withdraw part of your submission. Submissions for poetry cap at 125 per reading period.

Prose Poetry: 

From Jefferson Navicky, Prose Poetry Editor: "I am looking for prose poems that help us define and redefine what a prose poem is and can be. Show me your cast-iron airplanes that can fly, show me your chunky buckets, your jewel boxes, your charming paragraphs longing to be poems, show me the incidental, the thunderstruck, the syntactically impossible or only possible in the world of your prose poem. That is the world I want to live in."

Send up to three prose poems in one document. Please remove all identifiers: submissions will be read blind. Send your submission early. We suspect we will fill up quickly.

(Prose Poetry)

We currently publish one to two pieces of cover art per issue. Please submit no more than three images, no smaller than 5"x7". If you can set the resolution, use 72 pixels per inch. Submissions for visual art cap at 25 per reading period.

Visual Art

In memory of Charles Simic, 1938 -2023; beloved poet, friend, mentor.
 
The Charles Simic Poetry Prize is awarded annually to a single poem of exceptional vision and quality. It is judged by a  poet of note each year. 
The 2025 judge is poet and Hole in the Head Review founder, Bill Schulz
 
One winner receives $1000 and publication in the spring issue.
One Editor's Choice receives $200, a signed first edition of Charles Simic's "Night Picnic", and publication in the spring issue.
Three finalists receive regular payment and publication in the spring issue.
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The Charles Simic Poetry Prize is open for submissions from November 1 to December 1.
 

  Please submit a single, previously unpublished poem in any style and any length.
  Submissions are read blind; please do not include any identifying material in your submission file. 
  Submission cap is 200.
  Submission fee is $15.00. Fees are used to pay contributors, web fees, and organization member fees. The editorial staff is unpaid and the journal does not turn a profit. 
  25 of the 200 submissions are free and first come, first served. We ask that these free submissions be reserved for poets in financial need.

The Charles Simic Poetry Prize 2025 (no fee)

In memory of Charles Simic, 1938 -2023; beloved poet, friend, mentor.

 
The Charles Simic Poetry Prize is awarded annually to a single poem of exceptional vision and quality. It is judged by a  poet of note each year. 
The 2025 judge is poet and Hole in the Head Review founder, Bill Schulz
 
One winner receives $1000 and publication in the spring issue.
One Editor's Choice receives $200, a signed first edition of Charles Simic's "Night Picnic", and publication in the spring issue.
Three finalists receive regular payment and publication in the spring issue.
​
The Charles Simic Poetry Prize is open for submissions from November 1 to December 1.
 

  Please submit a single, previously unpublished poem in any style and any length.
  Submissions are read blind; please do not include any identifying material in your submission file. 
  Submission cap is 200.
  Submission fee is $15.00. Fees are used to pay contributors, web fees, and organization member fees. The editorial staff is unpaid and the journal does not turn a profit. 
  25 of the 200 submissions are free and first come, first served. We ask that these free submissions be reserved for poets in financial need.

The Charles Simic Poetry Prize 2025

Tip Jar

The Charles Simic Poetry Prize is awarded annually to a single poem of exceptional vision and quality. It is judged by a  poet of note each year.
The 2026 judge is Lily Brown
One winner receives $1000 and publication in the spring issue.
One Editor's Choice receives $200, a piece of memorabilia signed by Charles Simic, and publication in the spring issue.
Five finalists receive $20 payment and publication in the spring issue.
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The Charles Simic Poetry Prize is open for submissions from September 15 to October 15.
Please submit a single, previously unpublished poem in any style and any length. Absolutely no AI use during any stage of the process.
Submissions are read blind; please do not include any identifying material in your submission file.
Submission cap is 200.
Submission fee is $20.00. Fees are used to pay contributors, web fees, and organization member fees. The editorial staff is unpaid and the journal does not turn a profit.
25 of the 200 submissions are free and first come, first served. We ask that these free submissions be reserved for poets in financial need.

Hole In The Head Review

Highlights

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Featured Call

The Charles Simic Poetry Prize

Appears in collections