#28 Welcome to Texas

ASSIGNMENT PURPOSE

The purpose of this assignment is to invite newly composed poems that might be posted on the “Welcome to Texas” signs at highway border crossings into Texas.

These poems may fulfill various intentions, including warnings, sites to see, persona poems, odes to Texas, elegies, Texas history, unsung heroes, and counterpoints to its portrayal in the media and the news. Other intentions are possible of course.

EXAMPLES

Poems published so far in this series will be linked here.

FORMAL INTERESTS

We are specifically interested in poems that demonstrate careful attention to the elements of shape, line, music, comparison, and balance, and especially how those choices contribute to the cooperative harmony of structure and sentiment in the poem.

Poems that do not meet these interests may be declined. For more on this perspective, see the five formal causes of beauty in poetry.

We also challenge you to consider new choices you might take in audience and poetic form as it pertains to aspects of narrative perspective, shape, sound, repetition, and enjambment.

HOW TO SUBMIT

Poetry submissions should be saved in Microsoft Word document format and composed in Times New Roman, 12-point font. They should be attached to an email to editor@texaspoetryassignment.org and include within the body of the email a brief cover letter and a 50-word biography.

ACCEPTANCE AND PUBLICATION

This call is open through August 14, 2022. Poems will be published as accepted through that date.

A reading event will also be dedicated to the poems published in this series.

PUBLICATION RIGHTS

Writers will retain all rights to their work published on this site.