CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
SNOWFALL AND STARLIGHT: A Christmas Haiku Anthology

Website: https://sites.google.com/view/freshwordsmagazine/announcements

Submissions: specialanthologyfreshwordsmag@gmail.com

Deadline: November 28, 2025

Publication Date: December 5, 2025

Fresh Words invites poets, dreamers, carolers, and quiet observers of the season to submit original Christmas-themed haiku for our special holiday anthology: SNOWFALL AND STARLIGHT

Seventeen syllables of hush, wonder, warmth, and winter magic

Whether sacred or silly, nostalgic or new — if your haiku captures the flicker of candlelight, the crunch of snow, the ache of absence, or the joy of gingerbread chaos — we want to read it.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Format:

Traditional 3-line haiku: 5-7-5 syllable structure

Slight creative flexibility allowed if seasonal essence and emotional resonance are strong

No illustrations, photos, or formatting beyond plain text

Theme:

Christmas, broadly interpreted: Nativity, Santa, family, food, faith, frost, gifts, grief, gratitude, glitter — if it belongs to the season’s spirit, it belongs here.

Submission Limit:

Maximum of seven haiku per poet

All submissions must be included in one email as a single PDF or MS Word attachment

Rights Note:

Authors retain full copyright.

Fresh Words requests one-time non-exclusive publication rights for inclusion in the digital and/or print anthology. Rights revert to author upon publication.

HOW TO SUBMIT

Send to: specialanthologyfreshwordsmag@gmail.com

Attachment: One file (.docx or .pdf) containing all haiku plus required info (see below)

Subject Line:

[Your Full Name] – SUBMISSION FOR SNOWFALL AND STARLIGHT ANTHOLOGY

REQUIRED INFORMATION (Include in your submission file):

Cover Note (brief, 1–2 sentences welcome)

Legal Name

Pen Name (if applicable)

Postal (Snail Mail) Address

Short Literary Biography (approx. 60 words, written in third person)

High-Resolution Photograph of yourself (JPEG, attached as separate file)

Example Bio:

Maria Chen writes by candlelight in Vancouver, where rain often stands in for snow. Her work has appeared in Northern Haiku Review and Winter Bells Journal. She believes tinsel is a spiritual experience.

CONTENT POLICY

We do not accept submissions that promote or glorify:

Violence, abuse, or hate speech

Racism, sexism, or discrimination

Political propaganda or extremist ideologies

All work must be respectful, original, and artistically focused.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

Simultaneous submissions are permitted — please notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.

No submission or participation fees — ever.

Global voices welcome — we celebrate diversity in culture, language (English only for this anthology), and interpretation of the season.

Selected contributors will be notified by December 1, 2025.

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“In seventeen syllables, we hold the season.”

Let your quietest winter moments echo in our pages.

Submit by November 28, 2025.

Let the snowfall begin.

Fresh Words — Where small poems hold big magic.