Throw spaghetti at the wall
and see what sticks

About Us

Sledgehammer Lit publishes exuberant poetry and flash 4x daily.

We want to tear down the walls, shatter preconceptions, and break down barriers. We also want to showcase spirited poetry and flash. We want to be your Sledgehammer!

We appreciate technicolour imagery, acrobatic turns of phrase, and geographic settings brought to life. Show us the beauty within the ugliness. Peel back the layers of the onion to reveal inner truths. Bring us your contradictions. Give us gritty realism with a side dish of vulnerability. Be weird. Be a goofball. Give us sarcasm with sincerity. Make us laugh or make us cry, make us FEEL something. Be yourself, quirks and all. Be whatever you want to be. We adore surprises. Feel free to experiment. Throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks.

Sledgehammer Lit welcomes all, including BIPOC /LGBTQ+ /marginalised creators.

Sledgehammer Lit was launched on a whim in March 2021. Aside from a fairly nebulous vision of creating an inclusive space to showcase exuberant poetry and flash, our founding EIC had no idea what to expect from this fledgling literary magazine. Would anyone even answer the call for submissions?

In a few short months, Sledgehammer has grown beyond our wildest expectations. We received 2401 poems and 587 flash pieces during our initial 92-day reading period, returning the vast majority of decisions within seven days.

As Sledgehammer reopens for a brand new submission window, we are delighted to have a full editorial staff on hand to handle your submissions with care. Make sure to check out our new masthead page and meet the rock stars behind Team Sledge

Feeling generous? Donate to Sledgehammer and help us keep the lights on.

Submissions

CLOSED

Sledgehammer Lit accepts submissions of poetry and flash. We love our contributors, and we want to make submitting as hassle-free as possible. That's why created our new submission portal. We will only accept submissions through this form. Before sending your best stuff, please review our updated submission guidelines:

SUBMISSIONS CLOSED

questions about your submission? need to withdraw a piece? hit us up here.

POETRY: Easy peasy. Submit 2 to 5 poems in a single document. 10 pages max, not picky about fonts or spacing.

FLASH: This one is a little trickier, so read carefully:

• Submit up to 4 pieces in a single document

• Double-spaced

• Max 1000 words per piece

• Max 2000 words total per submission

(this means you can send us four 500 word pieces, three 600 word pieces, or two 1000 word pieces - get it?)

THEME: What theme? Our general submissions are a theme-free zone, but we may announce special themed submission calls from time to time. Follow us on Twitter for the latest on any special open calls.

SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS: Yes, but please be an upstanding citizen and let us know ASAP if your work is accepted elsewhere. We will be happy for you!

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED MATERIAL: Not accepted. This includes pieces published on social media or personal blogs. However, we may consider work from defunct journals on a case-by-case basis. If this is the case, please reach out to us before submitting.

PAYMENT & FEES: No fee, no pay.

COVER LETTER: We love a friendly hello, and maybe the name of your pet hamster (if applicable).

AUTHOR BIO: Keep it short and sweet - 50 words max, in 3rd person. Please include your pronouns (optional but encouraged) and your social media handles (so we cam promote the ever-loving heck out of your work online on publication day).

CONTENT WARNINGS: Please include a note if your pieces contain potentially triggering content. Sledgehammer may, at the discretion of its editorial staff, add or amend CW's before publication.

RESPONSE TIME: UPDATE: we are aiming to respond with decisions to every outstanding submission by on or around 5 November. Trying our best! We've earned a reputation for being quick AF. We are writers too, so we know how much waiting sucks. That's why we work super hard to return decisions in less than a week (and maybe even faster than that).

UPON ACCEPTANCE: Shout it to the rooftops! We're happy for you to share the great news with your networks if that's your style. Going forward we will also request an audio recording of your piece upon acceptance to enhance accessibility for Sledgehammer visitors.

EDITORIAL FEEDBACK (CLOSED): Our team of editors is standing by to give detailed feedback on your submission in exchange for a small donation. Click here for more details.

NEXT SUBMISSION: We know you love us and want to chase that Diamond Circle status, but we need our space, too. Please submit only once per calendar month per category (one flash, one poetry), and keep in mind that contributors will be limited to one publication in Sledgehammer per calendar month.

FORMATTING ISSUES: Due to the limitations of our strikingly beautiful website, some pieces with unusual or complicated formatting may not display properly. We always try our best, but in some circumstances it might not be exact. Most of the time, we will contact you first if we encounter any issues, but, in the event your piece displays incorrectly, bring it to our attention and we'll work through it as best we can.

PROBLEMS SUBMITTING? if you have trouble with our form or anything else, please let us know. drop us an email here and we'll be back with you in a hot Sledgehammer minute.

RIGHTS:

● By submitting to us, if accepted, you grant us first electronic rights and non-exclusive archival rights.

● All submissions remain the intellectual property of the artist. Rights revert to author upon publication.

● Please credit Sledgehammer Lit if your work is republished in the future.

RACISM, SEXISM, HOMOPHOBIA, ABUSE, ETC will never be welcome at Sledgehammer Lit. This should go without saying, but we're gonna say it anyway.