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Lefty Blondie Press First Chapbook Award

OPEN TO SUBMISSIONS: JANAUARY 1 - MARCH 31, 2026

We welcome poetry chapbook manuscripts written by those who:

  • self-identify as woman or non-binary individual

  • are 40+ years old

  • write in English, & currently live in the U.S

  • have yet to publish a poetry chapbook, poetry collection, or full-length poetry book before September 30 of contest year​

The Lefty Blondie Press First Chapbook Award details

  • The 2026 winning manuscript will be selected by a guest judge 

  • Lefty Blondie Press will print 250 carefully edited, handbound, hand-cut, and hand-numbered chapbooks 

  • The poet of the winning manuscript will receive: 

    • $250

    • 10 (ten) author copies

    • 40% off any additional author copies

  • LBP will promote finalists and the winning chapbook widely on our website, social media, and other outlets

  • LBP will sponsor a public reading with this year's judge in Pittsburgh, PA (or online as necessary) 

  • Winner & finalists will be announced in June

  • ​​​​​Lefty Blondie Press holds first serial rights for work that we publish, and the right to reprint that work in other formats with your permission.

  • Upon publication, all rights revert to the author. 

  • Please cite Lefty Blondie Press if your poems published with LBP are published elsewhere in the future.

Details for formatting chapbook manuscripts 

  • 18-24 pages of poetry (not including title page, table of contents, endnotes)

  • Can be any form or topic, though we find a unifying theme works best

  • Begin each new poem on a new page

  • Your name should not appear anywhere in or on the manuscript

  • Individual poems may be previously published, with acknowledgements

  • Simultaneous submissions accepted. Please notify us at LeftyBlondiePress@gmail.com immediately if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere

  • Absolutely no submissions that are racist, homophobic, misogynist, discriminatory, or hateful.

  • No AI-generated texts nor AI-modified texts. Human-created poems only.

Pay-what-you-can reading fee via Duosuma tip jar!

  • We want to read your work! We don't want the reading fee to keep you from submitting.

  • ALL manuscripts are read by both LBP editors and readers with openness and attention, regardless of what you're able to add to our tip jar. 

  • We suggest $15-$20 reading fee per manuscript submission, but please feel free to submit and skip the reading fee. 

  • ​All tip jar donations support LBP's mission to promote the poetry of self-identifying women and non-binary people.

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