Conduit is a biannual literary journal that is at once direct, playful, inventive, irreverent, and darkly beautiful. Despite common sense and the laws of economics, Conduit has been thwarting good taste, progress, and consensus for over twenty years. Conduit publishes distinctive voices of literary merit—experimental to accessible, established to emerging—in snazzy volumes, featuring work that demonstrates originality, intelligence, courage, and humanity. Conduit champions a fresh mix of writers. If that isn't enough, Conduit reaches beyond the literary by interviewing astronomers, ethno-botanists, artists, graphic artists, and historians, et cetera, believing a vigorous imagination is one that is cross-pollinated by diverse areas of human inquiry.

Conduit has published hundreds of poems that were later anthologized in places like Best American Poetry or were included in books by their authors. John Ashbery, Heid Erdrich, Terrance Hayes, Bob Hicok, Brenda Hillman, Noelle Kocot, Henri Michaux, Eileen Myles, Alice Notley, Charles Simic, Matthew Rohrer, Bianca Stone, James Tate, Dara Wier, Wendy Xu, and Dean Young have appeared in our pages.

Grant Free Since 1993.
$3.00

Conduit is looking for previously unpublished poetry that demonstrates originality, intelligence, courage, irreverence, and humanity. Please send 3-5 poems). Reporting time is 9 weeks to 9 months. Payment in copies. Future issues include What in the World (Wonder) and Bad Connections (Fun of Forgetting). These titles are primarily for our own amusement. Submissions are evaluated at the nexus of their merit and our taste, rather than whether or not they match any theme. If you haven't seen or read Conduit before, we recommend you sample our mad concoction before submitting.

If another journal has seduced you with promises of fame and glory, please notify us immediately to withdraw your submission.

(Writers outside the United States who would like to purchase a sample copy must use the International Poetry Submissions form.)

$3.00

Conduit is looking for previously unpublished poetry that demonstrates originality, intelligence, courage, irreverence, and humanity. Please send 3-5 poems). Reporting time is 9 weeks to 9 months. Payment in copies. Future issues include What in the World (Wonder) and Bad Connections (Fun of Forgetting). These titles are primarily for our own amusement. Submissions are evaluated at the nexus of their merit and our taste, rather than whether or not they match any theme. If you haven't seen or read Conduit before, we recommend you sample our mad concoction before submitting.

If another journal has seduced you with promises of fame and glory, please notify us immediately to withdraw your submission, including the date the piece was submitted.

$25.00

Awarded annually and open to any poet writing in English, regardless of previous publication record, the prize seeks to represent the best contemporary writing in high-quality editions of enduring value. Prospective entrants are encouraged to familiarize themselves with Conduit, which champions originality, intelligence, irreverence, and humanity. All manuscripts are welcome, be they first books or last books. 


Because the prize is judged anonymously, the author’s name should not appear anywhere in the collection, i.e., neither on the title page nor in the body of the manuscript. If applicable, please include an acknowledgments page, listing any previous publication for the individual poems in the collection.


The winning poet will receive $1,500 and 30 author copies. The Conduit editorial board will select the winning manuscript. Current and former employees and interns of Conduit are not eligible.


Manuscript Length: 48-90 pages. Previously unpublished manuscripts only.


Submission period: August 2-November 3, 2024.

Conduit