About

For the reader/listener:

The Night Heron Barks is an online poetry journal built on the belief that every poet has their sound. We run one issue a year. Each one is built like a book. The work we publish is diverse; the only criteria excellence. The experience is immersive. We build our stage with art and sound.

Separate from our issue work, we also house book reviews, essays on poetry, and a blog for urgent announcements and poems that are driven by current events and benefit from immediate publishing.

For the poet:

We do an open call. It is free, and we try to respond quickly. A majority of the poems we publish derive from unsolicited work. We like artistry and craft. We like risk. The Black-Crowned Night Heron prefers an open nest, often a dozen or more in a single tree. Don’t try and box us. Be yourself and bring your best. The finer points are found on the Submit page.