About

tinywords (ISSN 2157-5010) is an international, daily magazine of haiku and micropoetry.

Our goal is to publish excellent poetry whose ambitions and effects far outstrip its small size.

Founded in 2000, we now produce two issues per year, each of which are published in serial form, one poem per day, on the web as well as via e-mail and SMS text message. More than 3,200 people subscribe to our daily emails, making us (as far as we know) the largest publisher of haiku, by circulation, in English.

You can subscribe or unsubscribe using our subscriptions form. It’s free!

Although tinywords is published daily, we group the poems into issues of 50 or more poems. Some of these issues are also available for purchase as printed books, and as free e-books: see tinywords in print for more details.

All the poems published on tinywords are available to read in the tinywords archives. Some of them are also available in print editions.

Submissions

tinywords accepts submissions only during February and August. We announce each call for submissions on the tinywords mailing list.

To submit work to us, please use our online submissions page (available only when we are actually accepting submissions). This makes the submissions easier for us to manage and also allows us to read each submission anonymously (so we can judge the work on its merits, not on the author’s name).

We accept submissions only during February and August.

In general, we give preference to work that has not been previously published in any literary journal, though we’ll occasionally republish poems that have appeared elsewhere. Appearance on Twitter, personal blogs or online poetry discussion forums is no impediment to acceptance.

We will respond quickly to all submissions, generally within a few weeks, so no simultaneous submissions, please.

Copyright: Poets published on tinywords retain copyrights to their work. We ask for nonexclusive permission to publish your work on this website, to distribute it via electronic media including email and SMS, and to republish it in print or online collections. Please do not submit work unless you have the rights to it.

We cannot pay for work published in tinywords.

See the listing for tinywords in Duotrope’s Digest and on Poets & Writers.

History of tinywords

d. f. tweney started tinywords as a simple e-mail and SMS mailing list in mid-2000, adding a basic website shortly thereafter.

From October 2000 until June 2008, tinywords published one original haiku nearly every weekday, totalling over 1,500 haiku by more than 300 contributors, including rank beginners as well as some of the leading lights of the haiku world.

We also published haiku on Twitter from early 2007 until May 2023. Over 3,700 people follow us on Twitter, but we’re no longer able to publish there due to Twitter’s restrictive policies on the use of its API.

After a break, tinywords returned to publication on November 30, 2009, with a broader focus on micropoetry and miniature poetry of all kinds, including but not limited to haiku. We will continue to publish one poem per day, most weekdays.

Starting with issue 12.1, Kathe Palka and Peter Newton assumed the helm as co-editors of tinywords. Founder d. f. tweney continues to publish the journal, provide technical support, and help read submissions.

tinywords is listed in the Haiku Society of America’s 2008 Guide to Haiku Publications, which called it the “largest-circulation journal of haiku in English.”

Want to know more? Read this conversation about tinywords between d. f. tweney and norbert blei, or listen to this 30-minute podcast about tinywords from Dave Bonta.

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trivia

tinywords is edited by Kathe Palka and Peter Newton. Direct comments or questions to editors at tinywords (dot) com.

All contents are, except as noted, copyright (c) by the creators named alongside each work.

Earlier versions of tinywords were powered by a custom PHP and MySQL-based content management system designed and built by d. f. tweney. That system is no longer running; for haiku from 2000-2008 see tinywords on the Wayback Machine.

Since 2009, this site has been powered by WordPress, whose motto is “Code is poetry.” The design is based on a theme by Rob Beschizza. All of the design infelicities and PHP bugs are by d. f. tweney.

How many people read tinywords? As of February 26, 2023, there are 3,288 subscribers to the tinywords daily email list, and 3,732 followers on the tinywords Twitter account.

54 Responses

  1. Joy Bennett Says:

    Good luck with your new focus, D.F! We'll be reading!
    Joy
    joybennett.com

  2. dorispearson Says:

    Hurrah! Yaaaaaaaaa Jumping up and down for joy! Hurrah! Can you tell I'm happy…

  3. bulk sms in jaipur Says:

    Your blog content is like a breath of fresh air in an otherwise polluted sea of confusing content.

  4. KarenRV Says:

    I'm not sure how you found my email address, I hadn't heard of tiny words but thank you, I love haiku, and small poems I'll look forward to reading new ones and I'll tell my friends about you.

  5. Founding Editor Says:

    How wonderful! I am ready to read and eager to submit! I will tell my twitter crew about your re-opening.

    Sincerely,

    Raquel, Founding Editor
    Lyrical Passion Poetry E-Zine

  6. John Stone Says:

    A breath of fresh air…Thank you.

  7. Alan Summers Says:

    It's great to have tinywords back! ;-)

    Alan
    With Words

  8. James Says:

    Big ideas
    and deep emotions —
    Tinywords

  9. Chris Moran Says:

    White sails
    and red roof gables
    long for summer skies.

  10. Chris Moran Says:

    White sails
    and red roof gables
    long for summer skies.

  11. Haiku Society Says:

    I am so happy to see more and more attention being paid to haiku on the Internet (or anywhere for that matter). We need more communities such as this to help spread the word about the simple beauty of haiku.

    haikusociety.com

  12. Stacy Post Says:

    I’m really enjoying the haiku in my inbox. Thank you for bringing it back!

  13. Dick Whyte Says:

    Hi-

    Love your site and love getting daily emails from you. A lovely way to brighten my day. I thought you might be interested to know we are running a daily haiku journal called Haiku News (http://www.wayfarergallery.net/haikunews) and I thought it might be something you would include in your daily poetry sites links. Of course, I totally understand if it isn’t – but I thought you might be interested to know about it.

    Again – thanks for the great daily poetry.

    All the best-
    Dick Whyte

  14. Bill Zimmer (2EmptyChairs) Says:

    What a daily thrill to see tinywords active again. LOVE the new format!

  15. Dan Baker Says:

    HI there,

    I have just subscribed to Tinywords, and am wondering how to submit poetry? I’m very much looking forward to being a member of this site!

  16. d. f. tweney Says:

    How to submit poetry to tinywords: Read our submission guidelines here. https://tinywords.com/about/

  17. Armando H. Corbelle Says:

    the guidelines are there but not the email address for sending submissions. :)

  18. d. f. tweney Says:

    As it says above: tinywords is not currently accepting submissions. The next window to submit will be in late Spring 2010.

  19. Wende DuFlon Says:

    The revamped site is exquisite (photo, font, hues) and it is delightful to find a poem a day to enjoy. Thank you.

  20. Carole Katsantoness Says:

    glad to see you back. when will you accept submissions?

  21. d. f. tweney Says:

    From the text of the page above: The next window to submit will be in late Spring 2010.

  22. Maggie Says:

    Are you including tanka in tw now? Maggie

  23. d. f. tweney Says:

    yes, we have published tanka. Take a look at our archives — here's a link to all the tanka published to date:https://tinywords.com/tag/tanka/

  24. Annabella Says:

    I'm not sure how you found my email address, I hadn't heard of tiny words but thank you, I love haiku, and small poems I'll look forward to reading new ones and I'll tell my friends about you.
    +1

  25. Martin Mikelberg Says:

    Great site – but not a clue on how to submit a haiku.

    onewe@aeitv.net

  26. d. f. tweney Says:

    Martin, if you read the copy above, you'll see that we only accept submissions during certain windows. When we do, we'll announce it on the site here, on the mailing list, and on our Twitter account.

  27. carrie lewis Says:

    Martin, I can’t agree more. I don’t have a clue either. Maybe they’ll improve how to submit a poem soon. I have several I’d like to share.

  28. d. f. tweney Says:

    As this very page says: "tinywords accepts submissions only during specified windows. tinywords is not currently accepting submissions. Our next window to submit will open in late summer, 2010."

  29. Gary Gach Says:

    some place called Haiku Corner shone a spotlight on you today : http://alturl.com/y2i89

    ( hope this brings a smile )

  30. d. f. tweney Says:

    Thanks for letting us know about that, Gary! Unfortunately I can't view it since it requires a login, and the site has some kind of technical problem that prevents me from creating a new account. Still, it's good to know people are talking about tinywords.

    Good to hear from you, btw!

  31. Mariana Says:

    How can I submit a short poem here? Thank you.

  32. d. f. tweney Says:

    Mariana, please read what I've written above. We're not currently accepting submissions, as this page says. When we are (soon!), there will be instructions here.

  33. d. f. tweney Says:

    You can always submit 4 haiku and then do the fifth in a second submission, if they don't all fit in the form at once.

  34. Sasa Vazic Says:

    Simply Haiku
    Autumn 2010, Vol. 8. No. 2

    Simply Haiku has a new home: http://simplyhaiku.webs.com/

    We have an all new look, and it's our best issue to date!

    W E L C O M E!

    Robert D. Wilson
    Saša Va?i?
    Co-Owners, Co-Publishers, Co-Editors

  35. Gloria Wimberley Says:

    Love tinywords!
    Its site address
    is shared often
    by connections on LinkedIn.
    …Enjoy tinywords immensely!

    ~Gloria Wimberley :-)

    ~My humble poetry blog –Dahlias.&.aChocolate.Typewriter– can be enjoyed at the
    following: http://www.dahlia-fl.livejournal.com

  36. halvat matkat Says:

    well i have a read one edition of tiny world magazine i thnk its quit good!

  37. Alvin Says:

    I'm attempting to a poem if that's ok

    In the pacific
    Rises the sun in summer
    Sand embraces me

    Alvin Young 8/22/11

  38. Patrice Hasbrook Says:

    I love all love this.

  39. Mutulu Kafele Says:

    The banner says "haiku and other small poems" and in the archives i see 9/13 syllable pieces being referred to as haiku. is there something i am not understanding?

  40. Jean Anderson Says:

    At NJ's Artists and Teachers Institute in the 90's there was a Haiku expert. It was said that because of the difference in the language they were not adhereing to the 5-7-5 count. The other elements of the Haiku were more important. However, I still try to produce Haiku with that count. Forms are fun because they're more challenging.

  41. pikavippi Says:

    Silkkaa asiaa! I love haiku!

  42. P K Padhy Says:

    Dear Editor,
    "TINYWORDS" is one of the best journals that I have ever come across. The poetic phrasing is full of life and aesthetic value. I wish to send some of my recent haiku if I get proper submission schedule and address.
    May I request to kindly correct a minor typo in the last but one line of ABOUT ( All the poems pub*ished on Tinywords …).
    Regards

    P K Padhy, India
    http://pkpadhy.blogspot.com

  43. Vippi Says:

    Serious error.

    All shortcuts have disappeared.

    Screen. Mind. Both are blank.

    :D

  44. @ddrucker Says:

    Dylan! So pleased to find you (through Scot Hacker's site, because he hosts you). Greetings from Vancouver, BC. It's been a long time since our days at ZDI, eh?

  45. Sähkötupakka Says:

    Part of my favourite poem, not my own though:

    A special world for you and me
    A special bond one cannot see
    It wraps us up in its cocoon
    And holds us fiercely in its womb.

  46. martin1223 Says:

    It's Back Again! Hooray for Tinywords!

  47. Cabo Fishing Says:

    It's not the tools that you have faith in – tools are just tools. They work, or they don't work. It's people you have faith in or not. Yeah, sure, I'm still optimistic I mean, I get pessimistic sometimes but not for long.

  48. telefonkatalogenbiz Says:

    I will be happy to announce more examples if I were you. It is running good so far. Just keep improving the features.

  49. payal aggarwal Says:

    dwindling daylight
    rain drumming on the roof
    writing haiku in candle light

  50. erickdaneil Says:

    Night fall with starts that
    Bursting with light and beauty
    That's Astronomy