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The Next Issue will be YM:CRASH edited by Charlotte Geater 

I’m writing to invite you to submit to YM: Crash. You’re probably reading this on a computer – they crash all the time. So does my phone (annoyingly). And sometimes so do cars, buses, trains… it’s the darker end of most modern electronics and machinery.

These are all things that a lot of poetry doesn’t bother discussing, but since they’re part of our lives, especially since you and I are part of the first generation that grew up with so many things with screens just waiting to stop working… you could well have a different set of concerns about technology than other people do, and it’s worth trying to write about that.

If you don’t want to address technology, though, then there’s much more to ‘crash’ than that. ‘Crash’ means a noise made by things smashing together or on the ground, as well as describing the action itself. It’s onomatopoeic, and it’s often used as a description of other types of harsh, loud sound too – it can be the sound of thunder, glass breaking, people running down the stairs… it’s up to you. If you’re interested in dissonance, or noise, then you can experiment with ‘crash’ as your starting point.

In case neither of these branches tickles you into picking up your pen or keyboard, then there are other areas that you can explore too. People use ‘crash’ to describe when they go to sleep after an exhausting day, a ‘stock market crash’ is often part of a financial crisis like the one a lot of the world is currently trying to climb its way out of, people ‘gate-crash’ when they go to parties or events that they weren’t invited to, people ‘crash and burn’ when their schemes or activities fail, someone spectacularly dull can be described as a ‘crashing bore’… there are so many meanings to the word, and idioms related to it, that we really hope you can find something to be excited about.

The word doesn’t have to be the focus of your piece – it could be a starting point, or a metaphor, or just a description of a sound. It’s up to you – and we can’t wait to see what you come up with.

If you want to send us an article or review rather than (or as well as) some poems, then get in touch too – we’d love to hear from you.

Charlotte Geater, Editor Issue 3 YM:CRASH

 

How to Submit Articles, Reviews and Images

YM aims to share articles from established poets and new young voices. Anyone can submit prose or an image for our front cover to: educationadmin@poetrysociety.org.uk
or by post to YM, The Poetry Society, 22 Betterton Street, London, WC2H 9BX.

 The Deadline for Issue 3 YM:CRASH will be 6th September.

 

How to Submit Poems

The space for poems is dedicated to Youth Members of the Poetry Society; members can be from anywhere in the world and are aged 11-18. If you would like to find out more about membership click here.

To submit poems please send your poems, name and membership number*, with the name of the issue in the subject field, to: educationadmin@poetrysociety.org.uk
or by post to YM, The Poetry Society, 22 Betterton Street, London, WC2H 9BX.

The deadline for Issue 3 YM:CRASH will be 6th September.

* Your membership number can be found on your membership card, if you have lost your card please call the Poetry Society on 0207 420 9880 to check your number.

If you are over 18 and want to submit your poetry for publication you can look to Poetry Review which is the Poetry Society’s printed quarterly and Britain’s oldest poetry magazine. Alternatively both younger and older members of the Poetry Society are invited to submit poems to Poetry News, where a theme is set for each issue and The Hamish Canham Prize (£300) is awarded annually for one of the poems featured.

 

Would you like to be the editor of YM?

NB. This opportunity is funded by the Foyle Foundation and is open to winners and commended winners of the Foyle Young Poets Award who are under 25.

Each edition of YM has a different guest editor who chooses the theme, elicits submissions and selects the featured work. We currently have a guest editor lined up for the next two issues however and we will be inviting applications to edit issues 5 and 6 in the autumn.  If you would like to be an editor of YM please note that it may help you application if you have shown dedication by submitting poetry, articles or illustration to previous issues.

Please send any questions about the guest editorship scheme  to hhopkins@poetrysociety.org.uk