2026 SHP Chapbook Contest

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Eligibility

• The Slapering Hol Press (SHP) Chapbook Competition is open to all writers who have not yet published a collection of poems in book or chapbook form.
• Individual poems may have been previously published, but poems should not have been published as a group in any form, including self-published collections.
• Poems should be largely in English, though poets can, of course, incorporate phrases from other languages.

Formatting

• Manuscripts may consist of a collection of poems or one long poem, and should be a minimum of sixteen (16) and a maximum of twenty (20) pages. Page limits do not include a title page or table of contents). Do not include a cover letter in your manuscript file.
• Please use 12 point Times, Times New Roman, or Garamond font. All poems should be single spaced. No more than one poem should appear on a page.
• Manuscripts are judged anonymously. The author’s name should NOT appear anywhere in the manuscript or in the file name. Please name your file with the manuscript title only.

Acknowledgements

• If applicable, you may acknowledge the prior publication of individual poems in the "Acknowledgements" field of the Submittable form. If your manuscript does not contain previously published poems, please type "Not Applicable" in the "Acknowledgements" field. Do NOT include acknowledgments in the manuscript itself. Entries must remain anonymous to be considered.

Simultaneous Submissions

• Manuscripts may be under consideration elsewhere, but please withdraw your manuscript immediately if it is accepted for publication. Entry fees will not be refunded for manuscript withdrawal.

Reading Fee

• Each submitted manuscript must be accompanied by a $17 reading fee, to cover the costs of online submissions.
• SHP is committed to making this contest as accessible to its writers as possible. If the submission fee is prohibitive for you, please reach out to the email address below to request a one-time fee waiver. A limited number of fee waivers are available for each contest, and they will be distributed on a first come, first serve basis.

Deadline

• Entries must be submitted no later than June 15th, 2026. The winner will be announced in the fall. The winning chapbook will be published in spring of 2027, with a reading to follow.

Prize

• The prize for the SHP Chapbook Competition is a $500 cash award, publication, ten copies of the chapbook, and a reading at The Hudson Valley Writers Center (or on Zoom). Travel expenses of up to $500 may be offered to support an in-person reading in Sleepy Hollow, NY. Winning authors may suggest ideas for cover art, subject to the discretion of the editors and the terms of the publishing agreement. Likewise, winning authors may suggest a mentor with whom they would like to read at the chapbook launch.

Please direct any questions about this contest to: shpinfo@writerscenter.org.