Submissions

Quail Eggs is a tanka journal, and publishes only tanka and closely related forms such as tan-renga and tanka prose. It is UK-based and welcomes submissions from around the world. It is published quarterly, online only.

Please send a maximum of 10 tanka per issue in one submission to quaileggstanka@gmail.com with your work in the body of the email, not as an attachment. Include your name as you would like it to appear and your country. Biographical information is not required.

Submissions should be your own original work, not previously published and not currently under consideration anywhere else. Please only send submissions when the submission window is open. Copyright reverts to authors after publication, please do not share accepted poems before publication.

Issue dates and submission windows

March issue - submissions Feb 1-28
June issue - submissions May 1-31
September issue - submissions Aug 1-31
December issue - submissions Nov 1-30

Submissions from new as well as experienced tanka writers are welcome but if you are new to tanka please take some time to explore what they are. Beware of dictionary definitions, tanka in English is not necessarily 5-7-5-7-7 in format. See the Tanka Resources page for some suggestions of places where you can learn more if you would like to and see the page on The Editor for my personal preferences.

I usually aim to reply to submissions within 2 weeks. If you have not had a reply after this please feel free to send a follow-up email. I know how frustrating it can be when submissions disappear into the void.

If your tanka are not accepted I would suggest you send them out again to another journal, there are plenty of editors, all with their own likes and dislikes.