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Submission details

Free submissions, now open! May 20-June 30, 2026

Our special theme for Issue 003 is Dedicated Poems & 鬼針草 (guǐ zhēn cǎo)

鬼針草 (guǐ zhēn cǎo), which literally translates to Ghost Needle Grass, is the Taiwanese name for bidens pilosa, or beggarticks, a common and highly invasive plant found across Taiwan. Ghost Needle seeds become projectiles Taiwanese children pluck to throw at each other; they land lightly and stick to clothing like velcro. Japanese colonizers introduced 鬼針草 to Taiwan, possibly as a supplementary food source for their troops, or for pollen to encourage beekeeping.

Ghost Needle Grass sticks to its object like a dedicated poem might adhere to the work or individual they honor. By pairing this invasive plant species with dedicated poems, we encourage poets to explore a multitude of sticky interactions and interpretations, such as spirits; emotions, memories, people, places, or anything that clings; childhood playfulness and reminiscence; invasiveness and coloniality; or simply poems written in response to others.

TPC Review showcases the future visions of our global community of writers. We want poetry that revels in being on the page, yet seeks to live outside of it. We like poems that express hope, take pleasure in the ordinary, embrace the weird. We like poems where it’s clear every word is considered. Short or long, we prefer detailed and polished; we encourage submissions from poets who pay attention.

We welcome all forms of poetry: blank verse, traditional, experimental, prose poetry, erasure poetry, concrete poetry, found poetry, etc.

Follow @taipeipoetrycollective on instagram for future open windows.

What we want from you
– 3 poems max (no more than 8 pages)
– Please include your entire submission in one file
– Blind review (do not add name to doc)
– Simultaneous submissions: Accepted, but please let us know ASAP if work is accepted elsewhere
– Resubmits: Not accepted, unless we explicitly ask for you to edit and resubmit
– Review period: 6-12 weeks
– Payment: Currently we cannot offer payment, but we will offer promotion on our social pages
– Nominations: Pushcart prize, Best of the Net
– Geographic eligibility requirements: none for submission
– Language: English, but glimpses of other languages are accepted when used with consideration
– Translations: Accepted, but only if you have consent from the original poet/publisher
*If your name is added to the doc or you do not comply with these specifications we don’t read you.

How we want it
Please submit your poems using this link.
Please upload your full submission (all your poems) in a single file
Send: .doc, .docx, .odt, or .pdf. We prefer .docx. if possible (.pdf is recommended in addition to the original file only if the submission contains special formatting)

Technical stuff
If your work is accepted by TPC Review, we ask for First Electronic Publication Rights, along with non-exclusive Electronic Archival Rights (this means we can showcase your work indefinitely on our site). These rights revert back to the author upon publication, and the author always retains the ownership of their work. If you republish the work elsewhere, all we ask is that you please credit TPC Review as the first home to your poem(s).

What we don’t want
– This should go without saying, but please don’t send us any nasty hateful shit, this isn’t the place for that
– AI work: No work that is written or assisted by AI writing programs will be accepted (this does not refer to spell-check, grammar-check, thesaurus, or prompt generators, where the writer is doing the writing)
– Previously published work: Not accepted (including work published on social media)

Got questions? Email taipeipoetrycollective@gmail.com with the subject line: ‘TPCReview Submission Question’

Thank you and happy submitting!