Philadelphia press offshoot of Moonstone Arts. 

Moonstone Arts Center began as Moonstone Readings at Robin’s Book Store. Although the bookstore closed in 2012, Larry’s connection to books and publishing created the opportunity to develop the Arts Center’s programs, which have brought writers into contact with each other and the reading public. Some notable Moonstone Arts Center programs were: The Celebration of Black Writing, which Moonstone presented for 18 years; The Paul Robeson Festival, presented for eight years; The Ink Programs (Philadelphia Ink, Women’s Ink, Children’s Ink, Red Ink, Poetry Ink) which remain ongoing. The Moonstone Arts Center strives to create a space where everyone has a voice. In recent years we have focused on poetry and history.  (See detailed information about notable Moonstone Arts Center programs.) 

Among the many distinguished writers and historians that Moonstone has presented to Philadelphia audiences are two United States Poet Laureates: Daniel Hoffman and Rita Dove; as well as all the Philadelphia Poet Laureates. We featured Pete Seeger twice, as well as Amiri Baraka, Howard Zinn and Nelson George.

Our Moonstone Gold Series has presented Major Jackson, Gregory Pardlo, E. Ethelbert Miller, Stephen Dunn, Samuel R Delany, Tim Seibles, Gerald Stern and Afaa Michael Weaver.

Moonstone Press

World Poetry Day is celebrated on March 21st every year, and was declared by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 1999, "with the aim of supporting linguistic diversity through poetic expression and increasing the opportunity for endangered languages to be heard". Its purpose is to promote the reading, writing, publishing, and teaching of poetry throughout the world and, as the original UNESCO declaration says, to "give fresh recognition and impetus to national, regional, and international poetry movements".
Submission Guidelines: Write one poem for our World Poetry Day anthology for 2026.
Keep this poem limited to 35 lines total. When determining the total line length for each poem, include spaces between stanza (ex: a poem of 5 couplets would equal 14 lines). Numbers or section breaks should also be included as lines when calculating the total line length. Count an epigraph as 3 extra lines. A line that has more than 60 characters (including spaces and punctuation) should be counted as two lines. If lines are staggered like a Ferlinghetti poem, estimate the width of the line.
The final book will be printed in 11 point Garamond font on pages that are 4.5 inches wide. Poems with lines longer than 4.5 inches may be changed or denied due to printing constraints.
For questions or inquiries, please email Larry Robin at larry@moonstoneartscenter.com

World Poetry Day

Every year, Moonstone honors International Haiku Day on April 17th. While this is the international recognition of Haiku, every day is Haiku day for us. Richard Wright wrote over 1000 haiku and Sonia Sanchez starts each day writing a Haiku.  Send us yours for our annual celebration.
Deadline: April 12th, 2026
Reading: April 19th, 2026
Haiku Anthology Submission Guidelines: Submit up to 5 haiku. A haibun is also encouraged.
Keep the submission limited to 35 lines total. Though we are open to experimentation with the traditional form of haiku, please note that our printing space is limited. When determining the total line length for each poem, include spaces between  stanza (ex: a poem of 5 couplets would equal 14 lines). Numbers or section breaks should also be included as lines when calculating the  total line length. Count an epigraph as 3 extra lines. A line that has  more than 60 characters (including spaces and punctuation) should be counted as two lines. If lines are staggered like a Ferlinghetti poem,  estimate the width of the line.  The final book will be printed in 11 point Garamond font on pages that are 4.5 inches wide. Poems with lines longer than 4.5 inches may be changed or denied due to printing constraints.
For questions or inquiries, please email Larry Robin at larry@moonstoneartscenter.com
Biography Submission Guidelines: Please include a biography between 50 to 100 words that focuses on your writing career and poetry itself.

Haiku 2026

Remembering Hal Sirowitz  Apr 5, 2026 
Tribute to Joy Harjo Apr 26, 2026
Remembering June Jordan Jun 14, 2026 
Remembering Dorothy Parker Jul 26, 2026<div>Tribute to Joy Harjo Oct 26, 2026 
Fighting Fascism: Remembering the Abraham Lincoln Battalion Dec 6, 2026</div>

Remembering/ Tribute

While Moonstone Arts Center and Moonstone Press started out as a Philadelphia based organization, the pandemic and zoom has made us international. We are open to submissions from everyone.
Please submit about thirty-five pages of material. Poems may have been previously published, but the work as a whole must be new.
Simultaneous submissions to other publishers are permitted, but you must promptly notify Moonstone Press if a manuscript is accepted elsewhere.
When determining total line length for each poem, include spaces between stanzas and number/section breaks. Divider pages or section titles should be included in the total page count.
The final, saddle-stitched chapbook will be printed in 11 point Garamond font on paper that is 4 ½ inches wide.
Include a separate cover letter with a biography statement and contact information (mailing address, email address, and phone numbers).
A $15.00, nonrefundable reading fee is required for us to accept and review your work.
All submissions must be sent through Submittable. Mailed, hard-copy manuscripts will no longer be accepted.
Moonstone is nonprofit organization largely run with the help of volunteers. The current review timeline for open submissions is about 6 months. This timeline is not reflective of your work; we are dedicated to giving each submission consideration with the resources we have.
If you have a problem or questions, contact Larry Robin @ 215-735-9600.

Open Chapbook Submissions (approx. 35 pages)

While Moonstone Arts Center and Moonstone Press started out as a Philadelphia based organization, the pandemic and zoom has made us international. We are open to submissions from everyone.
Please ready-to-publish material for a full-length poetry book (at least 80 pages). Poems may have been previously published, but the work as a whole must be new. Simultaneous submissions to other publishers are permitted, but you must promptly notify Moonstone Press if a manuscript is accepted elsewhere.
When determining total line length for each poem, include spaces between stanzas and number/section breaks. Divider pages or section titles should be included in the total page count.
Include a separate cover letter with a biography statement and contact information (mailing address, email address, and phone numbers).
If your submission is under 50 pages, please submit to our Open Chapbook Submissions form: https://moonstoneartscenter.submittable.com/submit/91032/open-chapbook-submissions
A $15.00, nonrefundable reading fee is required for us to accept and review your work.
All submissions must be sent through Submittable. Mailed, hardcopy manuscripts will no longer be accepted.
If you have a problem contact Larry Robin @ larry@moonstoneartscenter.com or 215-735-9600

Open Perfect Bound Books Submissions (80 pages or more)

A series for emerging poets between the ages of 10 and 25. A monthly reading series and a bi-annual publication which strives to bring together younger poets from various communities.
We tend to gather in our own communities. There is nothing wrong with that except we begin to sound alike, look alike, think alike. New Voices is our attempt to expand everyone’s experience, to introduce other ways of everything and to give a platform to the young writers of this generation.
Anthology Submissions: Please submit one poem for our Spring 2025 New Voices Anthology. This anthology is open to poets between the ages of 10 to 25.
Please limit your submission to one poem.
Keep this poem limited to 35 lines total. When determining the total line length for each poem, include spaces between stanzas (ex: a poem of 5 couplets would equal 14 lines). Numbers or section breaks should also be included as lines when calculating the total line length. Count an epigraph as 3 extra lines. A line that has more than 60 characters (including spaces and punctuation) should be counted as two lines of your total line count. If lines are staggered like a Ferlinghetti poem, estimate the width of the line.
The final book will be printed in 11 point Garamond font on pages that are 4 1/2 inches wide. Poems with lines longer than 4 1/2 inches may be rejected or changed due to printing constraints.
For any questions, please reach out to us at larry@moonstoneartscenter.com.

New Voices

Juneteenth, officially Juneteenth National Independence Day, is a federal holiday in the United States. It is celebrated annually on June 19 to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States. The holiday's name, first used in the 1890s, is a portmanteau of June and nineteenth,  referring to June 19, 1865, the day when Major General Gordon Granger ordered the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas at the end of the American Civil War.
Submission Guidelines: Write one poem for our Juneteenth anthology for 2026.
Keep this poem limited to 35 lines total. When determining the total line length for each poem, include spaces between stanza (ex: a poem of 5 couplets would equal 14 lines). Numbers or section breaks should also be included as lines when calculating the total line length. Count an epigraph as 3 extra lines. A line that has more than 60 characters (including spaces and punctuation) should be counted as two lines. If lines are staggered like a Ferlinghetti poem, estimate the width of the line.
The final book will be printed in 11 point Garamond font on pages that are 4.5 inches wide. Poems with lines longer than 4.5 inches may be changed or denied due to printing constraints.
For questions or inquiries, please email Larry Robin at larry@moonstoneartscenter.com

Juneteenth

The United States is a federal republic whose people benefit from a vibrant political system, a strong rule-of-law tradition, robust freedoms of expression and religious belief, and a wide array of other civil liberties. However, in recent years its democratic institutions have suffered erosion, as reflected in rising political polarization and extremism, partisan pressure on the electoral process, mistreatment and dysfunction in the criminal justice and immigration systems, and growing disparities in wealth, economic opportunity, and political influence. Write us a poem expressing your view of the current situation.
Submission Guidelines: Write one poem for our Freedom in the United States anthology for 2026.
Keep this poem limited to 35 lines total. When determining the total line length for each poem, include spaces between stanza (ex: a poem of 5 couplets would equal 14 lines). Numbers or section breaks should also be included as lines when calculating the total line length. Count an epigraph as 3 extra lines. A line that has more than 60 characters (including spaces and punctuation) should be counted as two lines. If lines are staggered like a Ferlinghetti poem, estimate the width of the line.
The final book will be printed in 11 point Garamond font on pages that are 4.5 inches wide. Poems with lines longer than 4.5 inches may be changed or denied due to printing constraints.
For questions or inquiries, please email Larry Robin at larry@moonstoneartscenter.com

Freedom 250

Black Poetry Day is celebrated every year on October 17th to honor all the talented African American poets, both past and present. If you’re a literature enthusiast, poet, or writer — no matter your race — you’ll absolutely love Black Poetry Day where you can celebrate black heritage and history. Black Poetry Day is celebrated in commemoration of the birth of the man popularly referred to as the father of African American literature, Jupiter Hammon, the first published black poet in the United States of America. Black Poetry Day is a day to recognize the contributions of black poets to literature and celebrate the black experience as retold in poetry.
Write a poem
About a Black Poet, about the importance of Black Poetry,
or a poem inspired by a Black Poet
Submission Guidelines: Write one poem for our Black Poetry Day anthology for 2026.
Keep this poem limited to 35 lines total. When determining the total line length for each poem, include spaces between stanza (ex: a poem of 5 couplets would equal 14 lines). Numbers or section breaks should also be included as lines when calculating the total line length. Count an epigraph as 3 extra lines. A line that has more than 60 characters (including spaces and punctuation) should be counted as two lines. If lines are staggered like a Ferlinghetti poem, estimate the width of the line.
The final book will be printed in 11 point Garamond font on pages that are 4.5 inches wide. Poems with lines longer than 4.5 inches may be changed or denied due to printing constraints.
For questions or inquiries, please email Larry Robin at larry@moonstoneartscenter.com

Black Poetry Day

Banned Books Week 2026



Banned Books Week is an annual awareness campaign promoted by the American Library Association and Amnesty International, that celebrates the freedom to read, draws attention to banned and challenged books, and highlights persecuted individuals. Held in late September or early October since 1982, the United States campaign "stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them" and the requirement to keep material publicly available so that people can develop their own conclusions and opinions. The international campaign notes individuals "persecuted because of the writings that they produce, circulate or read." Some of the events that occur during Banned Book Week are The Virtual Read-Out and The First Amendment Film Festival.

 

Deadline: Aug 30th, 2026

Virtual Event: Sept 20th, 2026
Submission Guidelines: Write one poem for our Banned Books Week anthology for 2026.
Keep this poem limited to 35 lines total. When determining the total line length for each poem, include spaces between stanza (ex: a poem of 5 couplets would equal 14 lines). Numbers or section breaks should also be included as lines when calculating the total line length. Count an epigraph as 3 extra lines. A line that has more than 60 characters (including spaces and punctuation) should be counted as two lines. If lines are staggered like a Ferlinghetti poem, estimate the width of the line.
The final book will be printed in 11 point Garamond font on pages that are 4.5 inches wide. Poems with lines longer than 4.5 inches may be changed or denied due to printing constraints.
For questions or inquiries, please email Larry Robin at larry@moonstoneartscenter.com

Banned Books Week 2026 — Poetry

The winter solstice occurs when either of Earth's poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the winter solstice is the day with the shortest period of daylight and longest night of the year, and when the Sun is at its lowest daily maximum elevation in the sky. Each polar region experiences continuous darkeness or twilight around its winter solstice. The opposite event is the summer solstice.
Submission Guidelines: Write one poem for our Winter Solstice anthology for 2026.
Keep this poem limited to 35 lines total. When determining the total line length for each poem, include spaces between stanza (ex: a poem of 5 couplets would equal 14 lines). Numbers or section breaks should also be included as lines when calculating the total line length. Count an epigraph as 3 extra lines. A line that has more than 60 characters (including spaces and punctuation) should be counted as two lines. If lines are staggered like a Ferlinghetti poem, estimate the width of the line.
The final book will be printed in 11 point Garamond font on pages that are 4.5 inches wide. Poems with lines longer than 4.5 inches may be changed or denied due to printing constraints.
For questions or inquiries, please email Larry Robin at larry@moonstoneartscenter.com

Winter Solstice

Armistice Day, later known as Veterans Day in the United States, is commemorated every year on November 11th to mark the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I. A formal peace agreement was reached only when the Treaty of Versailles was signed the following year. Armistice Day was a celebration of PEACE; Veterans Day is a celebration of WAR.
Submission Guidelines: Write one poem for our Veterans / Armistice Day anthology for 2026.
Keep this poem limited to 35 lines total. When determining the total line length for each poem, include spaces between stanza (ex: a poem of 5 couplets would equal 14 lines). Numbers or section breaks should also be included as lines when calculating the total line length. Count an epigraph as 3 extra lines. A line that has more than 60 characters (including spaces and punctuation) should be counted as two lines. If lines are staggered like a Ferlinghetti poem, estimate the width of the line.
The final book will be printed in 11 point Garamond font on pages that are 4.5 inches wide. Poems with lines longer than 4.5 inches may be changed or denied due to printing constraints.
For questions or inquiries, please email Larry Robin at larry@moonstoneartscenter.com

Veterans / Armistice Day

We want you all: published poets, unpublished poets, academic poets, street poets, poets who write Sonnet, Villanelle, Haiku, Ekphrastic Poems, Concrete Poems, Epitaph, Elegy, Epigram, Limerick, Ballad,  Ode, Free Verse. Join us for our 30th year of presenting 100 poets reading in alphabetical order.
Submit to our 31st Poetry Ink anthology and to read.
Anthology Submissions: Please submit one poem for our 31st Annual Poetry Ink Anthology.
Please limit your submission to one poem.
Keep this poem limited to 35 lines total. When determining the total line length for each poem, include spaces between stanzas (ex: a poem of 5 couplets would equal 14 lines). Numbers or section breaks should also be included as lines when calculating the total line length. Count an epigraph as 3 extra lines. A line that has more than 60 characters (including spaces and punctuation) should be counted as two lines of your total line count. If lines are staggered like a Ferlinghetti poem, estimate the width of the line.
The final book will be printed in 11 point Garamond font on pages that are 4 1/2 inches wide. Poems with lines longer than 4 1/2 inches may be rejected due to printing constraints
Biography Submission Guidelines:
Please include a biography between 50 to 100 words that focuses on your writing career and poetry itself.
For questions or inquiries, please email Larry Robin at larry@moonstoneartscenter.com

31st Poetry Ink

Please submit about thirty-five pages of poetry.
Include the following in a separate document:
Other Details
* additional copies will be available for purchase
For any questions, please reach out to Larry Robin at larry@moonstoneartscenter.com

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