The Long Level

What We're Looking For

Mostly poetry — but we read narrowly on form and widely on subject.

The Long Level takes its name from a canal engineer's term: the long, unbroken stretch of waterway between locks, where the water sits still and even, and a boat can simply move — no rising, no falling, just steady passage. We think a good poem works the same way: it holds its water. It carries you without needing to announce the machinery underneath.

We're especially interested in hearing from new voices and writers who are early in their publishing careers, though we welcome submissions from anyone with a poem worth reading. Our first reading period opens January 1, 2027, and our inaugural issue will publish in June 2027.