The Poetry Duotrope
A poetry magazine duotrope is a single submission of 2 paired poems, sent together as one unit, and it is the standard format that 80+ literary magazines, including Poetry and Granta, ask you to follow. Building one is a 3-step process: pick a pair that belongs together, arrange them in the right order, and format them to the submission guidelines. This page covers the structure, the pairing logic, and the mistakes that get a duotrope rejected before it reaches the reading pool.
What a duotrope is and why magazines require it
A duotrope is a pair of poems submitted as a single unit, and the requirement exists because it lets editors judge range in one pass. A 1-poem submission shows you can write one poem, and a 5-poem submission is hard to weigh, but 2 poems, chosen deliberately, show both your strongest work and your ability to vary. The term comes from the same logic as a musical duotrope, a pair of tracks that define an artist, and magazines inherited the practice because it compresses a decision into one reading. When a magazine asks for a duotrope, it is asking you to make an argument about your own work in exactly 2 pieces. The practice is as old as the magazines themselves: Poetry magazine has been testing readers' range since October 1912, when Harriet Monroe founded it, and the duotrope is the modern compression of the same question it asks every month.
How to choose the 2 poems that form a pair
To build the pair, choose 2 poems that contrast in a way that defines you. The best duotrope pairs a poem that shows your signature with a poem that shows your range, so an editor sees depth and breadth in 4 to 6 pages. Avoid pairing 2 poems that are nearly identical in tone, length and subject, because the pair then reads as one poem repeated. A strong contrast might be a short, spare lyric of 12 lines next to a long narrative piece of 40 lines. The rule is 1 poem that proves you can do what you do best, and 1 poem that proves you are not a one-trick writer.
Pairing logic: the 3 tests a good duotrope passes
- Contrast test: the 2 poems differ in at least 1 major attribute, such as length, form or voice
- Cohesion test: the pair still feels like it belongs to a single writer, not 2 different poets
- Peak test: the stronger poem comes second, so the editor ends the reading on your best work
If a pair fails the cohesion test, the editor will wonder whether you actually wrote both, and that doubt costs you the acceptance. The pair should feel like a set, not a grab bag.
How to format a duotrope for submission
To format the duotrope, follow the specific guidelines of each magazine, because the requirements differ in small but deciding ways. Most magazines want 2 to 5 poems, with the duotrope at the low end, in a single document, 1 poem per page, with your name and title on the first page. Use a standard 12 point font, double or single spacing as the magazine specifies, and leave the line breaks and stanzas exactly as written, not compressed. A common mistake is sending 2 poems in 2 separate files, which some systems treat as 2 submissions and disqualify the pair. Check the guidelines page of each magazine before you paste, and match its font, spacing and title placement exactly.
| Element | Standard duotrope format |
|---|---|
| Number of poems | 2, in 1 document |
| Font | 12 point, a serif such as Times or a clean sans |
| Spacing | Per the magazine, often double or single |
| Titles | Each poem titled, name and contact on page 1 |
| Order | Weaker poem first, strongest last |
Where to submit a duotrope and what it pays
To submit, choose magazines that fit your work and check each one's payment and fees. Some journals pay nothing, many pay a modest honorarium, and a few pay a real rate for a 1-time submission. Granta and Conjunctions are 2 of the names that appear in Poetry publishing companies accepting duotrope submissions, and both publish 1 issue per quarter, so the pool is small and the bar is high. Granta Submissions close on a rolling basis and read in batches, while Conjunctions Submissions run open windows announced on their site, and the Poetry in Literary Magazines listings track which titles are open in any given month. Before you send, note whether a magazine charges a fee, because a 5 or 10 dollar fee plus a low acceptance rate can make a submission a net cost rather than a chance at publication.
Common duotrope mistakes and how to fix them
To avoid rejection, fix the 5 mistakes that sink most duotrope submissions. The first is pairing 2 near-identical poems, which fails the contrast test. The second is sending 2 separate files, which the system counts as 2 submissions. The third is ignoring the font and spacing rules, which signals carelessness before the editor reads a line. The fourth is putting the strongest poem first, which leaves the editor with a weaker final impression. The fifth is submitting to a magazine whose recent issues do not match your work, which means the pair is out of step with the publication's voice. Fix the pairing, merge the files, match the format, reverse the order and research the magazine, and the duotrope stands a real chance of acceptance.
The duotrope is 2 poems, but it is really a small argument about who you are as a writer, and the magazines that publish it want that argument to be sharp, contrasting and easy to weigh. Get the pair right, format it to the letter, and the submission does its job.