The Big Haiku Girl Summer Update
Spring is in the air, and while I always love this season, I’m also planning ahead to summer. Haiku Girl Summer has some big updates in store for 2026! This is a long update that covers two new developments for this year, guest editors, our submission calendar, and our upcoming anthology!
Note that in order to ensure these updates reach all poets and readers, I am cross-posting this on both Substack and Buy Me a Coffee. If you get notifications from both, just know that you can skip one, because they’re both the same.
New in 2026: Our Online Platform
In 2025, I was on the fence about moving Haiku Girl Summer off of Substack. This year, I’ve decided it’s time. Based on reporting from The Guardian about Substack’s business practices and a general desire to not be dependent on any specific platform, we’re getting our own URL and a fresh online space.
Here’s what’s staying the same:
If you were receiving Haiku Girl Summer via email, you will continue to get issues emailed to you in 2026;
Our entire archive will still be available on the new site
Here’s what’s different:
If you only got posts through the Substack app, you will now get them via email
The Substack site will no longer be updated after the new site is complete
So far I have migrated all posts to the new site, and imported all subscriber information as well. If June 1st arrives and you don’t get your expected issue via email, please let me know!
I will post an update with a link to the new site as soon as the process is complete.
New for 2026: Editorial Assistant Role
Haiku Girl Summer has grown to the point where I can’t realistically handle the administrative load by myself. To that end, in April I will be posting a call for an editorial assistant. The call will be posted on our new Haiku Girl Summer site as well as at the forthcoming 9 Square Press website and my Buy Me a Coffee page; it also will be emailed to all existing subscribers.
There are five components to the Editorial Assistant role:
Assist with submission management
Assist with issue formatting and publishing
Assist in communication with guest editors
Assist in communication with poets
Assist Managing Editor with award nominations
I am still finalizing the scope, tasks, and guidebook for the role. Full details will be available when the call goes live.
2026 Guest Editor Slots
I will put out a call for guest editors in April. The call will be posted on our new Haiku Girl Summer site as well as at the forthcoming 9 Square Press website and my Buy Me a Coffee page; it will also be emailed to all existing subscribers. Guest editor slots will be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis.
2026 Haiku and Senryu Submissions
Submissions for the 2026 Haiku Girl Summer season will open on May 15th and close on August 15th.
Returning contributors will notice a few changes to the form this year. The biggest difference is that we are no longer collecting website/social links to share. Tracking across the first three years of the anthology, I noticed a substantial drop in people including links to share. Ultimately, that created an unbalanced look to each issue when some people had lots to share, others had a little, and many had none. Ultimately, I’ve decided to do away with the website/social links following a poet’s name for the 2026 season.
The submission link will be posted on our new Haiku Girl Summer site as well as at the forthcoming 9 Square Press website and my Buy Me a Coffee page; it will also be emailed to all existing subscribers.
Our First Print Anthology
Past contributors already know that I am working on our first print anthology, to be released under my new micropublishing venture, 9 Square Press. This book will appear in physical and e-book formats, and will contain a selection of poems from our first three years. All poets who have been published in the journal will have work in this book.
At this point, I have contacted all poets requesting their permission to publish their work in the anthology. However, there are a few poets I haven’t heard from. If you have appeared in the journal but for some reason haven’t gotten an email from me, please reach out!
As far as the manuscript goes, I have:
Added all poems from poets who have sent their permission;
Finished all front matter except the copyright page;
Commissioned the wonderful Sarah Becan to handle cover design
I still need to:
Make a final decision about whether or not to include short poet bios and, if yes, get bios from the poets;
Write the introduction
I’m planning on a May/June release, with the final date to be determined after we have the cover art finished.
And yes, I have the title selected . . . but I want to save that for the cover reveal.
While there are a lot of big changes, most things are actually going smoother than expected. I already had good infrastructure for guest editors and submissions, so those only require minor updates for the year. And the process of switching to a new site, while incomplete, is moving along at a good pace. I’m excited to launch our new home in a few weeks.