Hello poetry lovers!

January 2026 brought our annual open submission period. We were flooded with amazing manuscripts and spent all month reading. We were once again delighted and honored by everyone who submitted their manuscripts, who trusted us with their words. After reading (and re-reading!) we narrowed it down to 4 collections! Without further ado, here are the winners of the Riot in Your Throat 2026 Open Submission Period!

We are wildly excited for these poets to join the RIYT family! Be on the lookout in 2026/2027 for these amazing collections, we’re certain you’re going to love them as much as we do!

In other poetry news, AWP, the largest writing conference in the country, is just around the corner and in our backyard-ish: Baltimore! We’re excited for all the writers to descend on a city we love! Riot in Your Throat will be at the bookfair (table T865), many of our authors will be there to sign their books, and we’re once again partnering with Small Harbor Publishing for our offsite reading — we hope to see you there!

Prompt!

This newsletter’s prompt comes from Avoiding the Rapture by Karen J Weyant. (Click on image to read full poem!)

We can’t wait to share our forthcoming collections with you and we can’t wait to see you at AWP. If you’re attending, please swing by the bookfair and say hello!

See you in Baltimore!

Best,

Courtney LeBlanc

Founder & Editor-in-Chief of Riot in Your Throat