Indolent Books and publisher/editor Michael Broder invite your submissions to our Poetry Pro-Ukraine print anthology (that’s a working title only; it may change). The impetus for this project was the Oval Office meeting on February 28, 2025, between Volodymyr Zelensky, Donald Trump, and J.D. Vance. Many of us watched in horror on live video as Trump and Vance piled on Zelensky in a painful and revolting display of crass betrayal, craven capitulation, and flagrant abandonment not only of an embattled ally, but of 80 years of United States leadership of the post World War II alliance of free, independent, and democratic nations across the globe. The plan is to allow about one month for submissions, edit a volume of 75–100 poems, and publish it later this spring.

We will donate all proceeds net of production and distribution costs to an appropriate pro-Ukraine charity. That includes donations as well as sales, and those donations include your donations in lieu of submission fee—Keep that in mind when deciding on your donation amount at the time of submission.

Ambitious! Let’s do this!!

Submission Mechanics

We do not use Submittable at this point, so pay careful attention to these instructions:

1. FIRST, In lieu of a submission fee, use the form in the online version of these guidelines to make a tax-deductible donation (minimum $1.00, suggested $3.00) to Indolent Arts, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit fiscal sponsor of Indolent Books.
2. SECOND, Attach a Word document with up to three (3) poems and a brief bio and email the document to michael [at] indolentbooks [dot] com. Again, that’s michael [@] indolentbooks [.] com.
3. NOTE: We will not review a submission for which we have not received a donation in lieu of submission fee. We will reach out and remind you about the fee.

What we are looking for

As in our past and current online poem-a-day series including What Rough Beast and Second Coming, we seek poems that convey the human (and non-human 🐶) lived experience of national and geopolitical circumstances—In this case, with specific reference to the issue of Ukraine and the US abdication of democratic values at home and abroad.

What we will immediately REJECT

We do not want political treatises or diatribes. We do not want soapbox rants and ravings. We do not want childish schoolyard invective hurled at even the most heinous national and world leaders. This anthology is not the place for that kind of writing. If that is what you write, that’s fine, but this anthology is not the place for your work.