Annual SHP Chapbook contest

There are currently no calls for submissions. Please check back soon for our 2025 contest deadlines

Guidelines

The contest is open to all writers with the following exceptions:
 

• Writers who have published a collection of poems in book or chapbook form (this includes self-published collections). Individual poems can be previously published, but poems should not have appeared as a group in any form, including self-published collections.

• Employees, interns, or contractors of the Hudson Valley Writers Center or Slapering Hol Press.

• Relatives of Hudson Valley Writers Center employees or Slapering Hol Press Advisory Committee members.

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). All poems should be single spaced and printed in twelve point type. No more than one poem should appear on a page.
 
The author’s name should appear nowhere 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 should not be included in the manuscript itself.
Please name your file as the manuscript title. If your title is long, please use the first four words of the file name, or however many words fit on the allotted line.
 
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.
 
Poems should be largely in English, though poets can, of course, incorporate phrases from other languages. The press co-editors will consult with the competition winner about the cover, but will make the final decision about cover design.
 
Each manuscript should be accompanied by a $15 reading fee AND a $2 Submittable fee.
 
IF YOU ARE A BIPOC (Black Indigenous Person of Color) we will waive the $15 reading fee and you will only be charged the $2 Submittable fee.
The reading period for the competition begins on February 15. Entries must be submitted via Submittable by June 30. Submissions will only be considered if received between those dates.
The winner receives a $500 cash award, publication, ten copies, a reading at the Hudson Valley Writers Center, plus travel expenses up to $500 if needed and if reading is in person. Winning poets are also offered editorial and marketing advice.
SHP editors use an anonymous judging system and subscribe to the CLMP contest code of ethics. If a reader recognizes a manuscript, they shall recuse themselves from voting on it, and it will be sent to a different reader.

 
FAQs

1) If I have published a book in another genre, may I apply? 
Yes

2) Should I include acknowledgements?
The acknowledgements section of the cover letter should include a list of publications where individual poems have been published online, in journals, or in anthologies. It should NOT include dedications or private messages of appreciation. Most importantly, the acknowledgements MUST NOT be included in the manuscript, only in the cover letter on Submittable. It is crucial that you follow this requirement in order for us to follow the CLMP code of ethics for anonymous judging.
 
3) If I publish a chapbook, can I publish the same poems in a full-length collection?Under most current guidelines, it is possible to publish the same poems in a chapbook and in a full-length collection.