Thank you for your interest in HVWC's programming and scholarship opportunities!

Applications for the one-day June 24, 2023 intensive for LGBTQIA+ high school students are due on June 20th.

Applicants for the Limp Writst/LGBTQIA+ Scholarship must be LGBTQIA+-identifying high school students with the graduation years of 2023, 2024, 2025 or 2026 and have a current U.S. or U.S. territory resident address.

These 25 scholarships are awarded based on the strength of application and work sample. Please upload a work sample of 5 pages (poetry or prose), and in your cover letter, tell us why you want to study prose writing with Dustin Brookshire on June 24th, 12:30-4:30pm EST.

2023 Guidelines & Rules •The Slapering Hol Press (SHP) Chapbook Competition is open to all writers who have NEVER published a collection of poems in book or chapbook form.

Individual poems can be previously published, but poems should not have been published as a group in any form, including self-published collections.

Manuscripts can either be a collection of poems or one long poem and should be a minimum of sixteen and a maximum of twenty pages (not including title page, table of contents, or cover sheet). Please us 12 point Times, Times New Roman, or Garamond font. Poems should be largely in English, though poets can, of course, incorporate phrases from other languages.

All poems should be single spaced and printed in twelve point type. No more than one poem should appear on a page.

For those who submit using on-line Submittable (submittable.com), the author’s name CANNOT appear in the file or in the file name, which should be the title of the manuscript. Your Submittable profile will include your name, address, phone number, email, and in place of the cover letter, an acknowledgments page, which must include the manuscript title. The acknowledgments page cannot be included in the manuscript itself. Again, please do not include your list of publications anywhere in your word document or pdf! The editors reserve the right to disqualify the submission if there are ANY identifying materials in the document! This contest is read without looking at any acknowledgements or other identifying materials.

Please name your file as the manuscript title only. NO author names in the file name.

For those submitting hard copies, please include two title pages, one with contact information, including title, author’s name, address, telephone number, and email address. The second title page should be the title alone without contact information.

Manuscripts may be under consideration elsewhere, but please inform SHP immediately if a collection is accepted for publication. Entry fees will not be refunded for manuscript withdrawal.

Each Submittable manuscript should be accompanied by a $17 reading fee, to cover administrative fees for on-line submissions.  (For hard copy submissions, a $15 fee is required. Please make all checks payable to The Hudson Valley Writers Center.)
NB: All BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Person of Color) applicants can enter this contest for FREE via mail or for $2 (required to submit via Submittable). If you have questions, please email lizrmarlow@gmail.com

If you would like to order any of our SHP chapbooks at a reduced rate for constentants, you may use the code: shpsupporter for 30% off at this link: https://www.writerscenter.org/product-category/books/enter the coupon code shpsupporter in the coupon field, then hit apply, and proceed to checkout.

For the winner: please note that the SHP co-editors welcome ideas about artwork from SHP authors, but the co-editors and designer will make final decisions on all chapbook artwork and cover design.

The reading period for the competition begins on February 15. Entries must be postmarked by June 30th (extended deadline). Submissions will only be considered if received between those dates.


The prize for the SHP Chapbook Competition is a $500 cash award, publication, ten copies of the chapbook, a reading with your mentor at The Hudson Valley Writers Center (or on Zoom). If needed (and if the reading is in person) travel expenses not exceeding $500 are included.  Winning poets are also offered editorial and marketing advice.


Simultaneous submissions are accepted. Please notify SHP immediately if your manuscript is accepted for publication elsewhere so it can be withdrawn. • Questions and submissions can be e-mailed to Liz Marlow LizRMarlow@gmail.com.

Hard copies can be sent to: The Editors SHP Chapbook Competition The Hudson Valley Writers Center, 300 Riverside Drive  Sleepy Hollow, NY 10591