Markets for long poetry?

[Bitter Irony]

Does anyone know of any markets for long poetry? Not epic, Illiad-style poetry, just poems that happen to run pretty long. If a market doesn't list a line limit, should I assume there is none--even if my poem is the length of a short story?

[Richard H. Fay]

Depends on what kind of poetry, and what kind of markets, you are talking about. I know several markets that take longer-length speculative poetry. I know many on-line venues have looser length guidelines than print zines, but some of these e-zines are "4 the luv" markets. Some markets that take longer-length poetry are looking for poetry with specific themes.

Some markets that take longer-length speculative poetry are:

Sorcerous Signals, paying token rate plus royalties, takes longer-length (50 - 70 lines at least) fantasy poetry.

Hungur, paying a token rate, takes longer dark speculative works (up to 100 lines), but these works must have a vampiric theme, more precisely, vampires in a science fiction or fantasy setting (although I did get away with a vampire from traditional alpine lore).

The New Bedlam Project, paying a semi-pro rate for poetry, takes dark poems up to forty lines, but those poems must be set in the fictional town of New Bedlam.

Niteblade, paying a token rate for poetry, takes fantasy and horror poetry, with no definite length limit posted in their guidelines (I had a forty-two line horror poem published in Niteblade, so they go at least that long.)

Aoife's Kiss, paying semi-pro for longer-form poems, considers fantasy, science fiction, or horror poetry up to 100 lines.

Sounds of the Night, paying a token rate, prefers poetry under 100 lines. They consider speculative poetry of a sensuous nature.

Illumen, paying a token to a semi-pro rate, considers speculative poetry up to 100 lines (perhaps longer).

Aphelion, a "4 the luv" e-zine, takes speculative poetry pretty much of any length, although they reserve the right to serialize a Beowulf-sized epic.

Bewildering Stories, a "4 the luv" e-zine, takes speculative poetry with no restrictions on length.

I've also had some longer poetry (sixty or so lines) published in the on-line version of Abandoned Towers. There is no monetary payment for material accepted for publication in the on-line version.

Some more mainstream markets I'm aware of:

The Pedestal Magazine, paying a high semi-pro rate, considers poetry of any length.

Strong Verse, a semi-pro paying market, considers poetry of any length.

There is always Poetry Magazine, paying pro-rate for poetry, apparently of any length.

All of the above markets are listed on Duotrope's Digest. Browse around on Duotrope's and you may find others.

Short story length, eh? How many lines? That might be a hard sell if it's well over 100 lines. Is it a speculative poem, or a mainstream piece? The topic of the poem may be as important to finding potential markets as its length.

[Bitter Irony]

Well, "short story" was a bit of an exaggeration, but definintely flash fiction length. Over 100 lines, speculative but not epic. Duotrope isn't very specific with lengths for poetry, which is fine, but I'm afraid I'm going to really annoy some editor if I sent a super-long poem.

[Richard H. Fay]

I'm afraid I'm going to really annoy some editor if I sent a super-long poem.

I don't know about annoying the editors, although some may simply turn down a poem over 100 lines. Others may be okay with a poem that long. With markets that don't specify a line limit, you never know until you try.