The Madrid Review: Submissions Open – July 1st-13th

The Submission call is for 'Poems For Palestine'.

If you wish to submit on any other subject, please use the Creative Writing Group  page.

The Madrid Review invites poets from around the world to submit one poem only, in Word format, as an email attachment between July 1 and July 13, 2025, for Issue 5 of the magazine which goes to print in August 2025. 

We seek poetry addressed to the people of Palestine and Gaza, but we also welcome works speaking to humanitarian suffering and war in Ukraine, Iran, Russia, Yemen, Myanmar, Israel, and the United States. This is a humanitarian call - a plea for poets to bear witness, to speak truth to power, and to give voice to sorrow and hope.

Poems may be in English, Spanish or Arabic.

Haia Mohammed, a 22-year-old poet living in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, will be co-editing the poetry section this window. Haia’s striking debut pamphlet, The Age of Olive Trees, has just been published by Out‑Spoken Press.

Her collection captures both the devastation and indomitable spirit of her people, weaving together grief, defiance, and unexpected moments of joy. As Haia writes, “I carry on my shoulders the pain of a nation … and on my lips, the voice of defiance,” refusing pity and instead offering powerful testimony rooted in lived experience. 

Acclaimed writers including Max Porter and Zeina Hashem Beck praise her work as “miracles of language and spirit” that “defy death” and serve as a vital record of resistance and humanity. All proceeds from the pamphlet go directly to Haia and her family, supporting them amid ongoing hardship.

We ask you to be witnesses - observe and speak without fear. As Carolyn Forché wrote, this is “poetry of witness… testimonial rather than polemical”. Shelley reminded us that “poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world”. Neruda taught that “Poetry is an act of peace” and called on us to halt the “wars with gas, wars with fire… victories with no survivors”.

We ask for poems that are emotive, heartfelt, real - but not overwrought - poems that hold up a mirror to the suffering around us yet also carry resilience. 

Send your poem in Word (.doc or .docx) to themadridreview@hotmail.com, by July 13. 

One poem per person. Word. Attached to an email. No PDFS. No poems in emails. 

Let your words stand witness, offer solace, insist on humanity.

If you wish to submit on any other subject, or prose or flash or long fiction, use the Creative Writing Club page.