Smartish Pace

the best poetry magazine in the world, objectively speaking - est. 1998

Current Issue

Smartish Pace

  the best poetry magazine in the world,
  objectively speaking - est. 1998

Current Issue


Poetry News

If you're at AWP in Kansas City, stop by our table, we'd love to meet you (or see you again)! If you've published with us, we'd love to video record you reading your poem from Smartish Pace. We'll have all 26 years of poems with us. : ) 26 years? 26 years!

So what is Smartish Pace?

Smartish Pace is an independent non-profit magazine in Baltimore that was founded by Editor Stephen Reichert in 1998. We've published over a dozen Pulitzer Prize winners and many poets for the first time. We've been the most fun at AWP for 20 years and hosted countless readings at over 50 venues and currently host a monthly reading series in Baltimore at Bird in Hand & The Ivy Bookshop. We also have a new baby website that is a bit of a mess but we're working on it and soon it will be as super as our old grown-up website so don't judge us too harshly right now. Just send us your poems.

Prizes

Erskine J. Poetry Prize (2023, published in 2024)

Deadline: January 1, 2024.

23rd annual prize.  We allow simultaneous submissions. All poems submitted for the prize will be considered for publication in Smartish Pace.

Click Here to Enter

Beullah Rose Poetry Prize (2023, published in 2024)

Deadline: January 1, 2024. 

20th annual prize. We allow simultaneous submissions. Women only. All poems submitted for the prize will be considered for publication in Smartish Pace. 

Click Here to Enter

Forthcoming Events

We host the monthly reading series THE HOT L every 2nd Sunday at 4 pm. In April, May, June, Sept & Oct at The Ivy Bookshop (5928 Falls Road, Baltimore, MD 21209) outside on a covered patio; and in Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb & March at Bird in Hand (11 E 33rd St, Baltimore, MD 21218) inside. Click here for event page and our next reading! Click here to view our past readings. Readings feature 1 to 3 poets and include the best open mic in Baltimore. No really, this is a rare great open mic, trust us. We take a break, with no readings, in July and Aug. Come join us!