Listed below are our current open calls. We are open for our chapbook contests from March to May, our open reading period for full-length poetry manuscripts from June to August, our broadside contest from September to November, and our open reading period for prose manuscripts from December to February. Our residency applications are open year-round. Other calls will be published here as they open.
Sundress Publications Open for 2023 Poetry Broadside Contest
Deadline: November 30th, 2023
Sundress Publications is pleased to announce that we are now open for submissions for our annual poetry broadside contest.
The contest will be open for submission between September 1st to November 30th, 2023. The winner’s poem will be letterpress-printed as an 8.5” x 11” broadside complete with custom art and made available for sale on our online store. The winner will receive $200 and 20 copies of their broadside.
To submit, send up to three poems, no longer than 28 lines each (line limit includes stanza breaks but not the title) by November 30, 2023. Be sure to include a copy of your payment receipt or purchase order number (see below for payment of fees). Please make sure that no identifying information is included in the submitted poems. You can submit poems online here.
The reading fee is $10 per batch of three poems, though the fee will be waived for entrants who purchase or pre-order any Sundress title. Entrants can place book orders or pay submission fees at our store. Once the purchase is made, the store will send a receipt with a purchase code. This code should be included in the submission, or you may forward the email receipt at the same time as you send the submission. This fee is waived for all writers of color.
Previously published material is welcome so long as you maintain the rights to the work. Let us know in your cover letter if any of your submitted poems have been previously published. Poems translated from another language will not be accepted. Simultaneous submissions are fine, but we ask that authors notify us immediately if their work has been accepted elsewhere; poems accepted for publication are still qualified provided the author retains the rights to the work at the time of printing.
This contest’s judge is Darren C. Demaree. Darren C. Demaree grew up in Mount Vernon, Ohio. He is a graduate of the College of Wooster, Miami University, and Kent State University. He is the author of twenty poetry collections, most recently Tongues Out in the Garden of Spectacle (August 2023, Newcomer Press). He is the recipient of a Greater Columbus Arts Council Grant, an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award, the Louise Bogan Award from Trio House Press, and the Nancy Dew Taylor Award from Emrys Journal. He is the Editor-in-chief of the Best of the Net Anthology and Managing Editor of Ovenbird Poetry. He is currently working in the Columbus Metropolitan Library system, and living in Columbus, Ohio with his wife and children.
Poets in Pajamas Seeking Readers for 2024 Line-Up
Deadline: December 18, 2023
Poets in Pajamas (PiP), a Sundress Publications reading series, is organizing a cohort of readers for 2024 and invites you to apply!
Poets in Pajamas is an online reading series which prides itself on producing high-quality poetry readings for an online audience. Hosted on Zoom and live-streamed to Facebook, two readers are paired together per reading to perform for twenty minutes each and answer audience questions for an additional fifteen minutes.
We are interested in hearing from all writers around the globe, but we particularly welcome writers that identify as being a part of disenfranchised communities (such as, but not limited to: persons of color, those from immigrant populations, native and indigenous people, LGBTQ+, d/Deaf and Disabled, non-binary folks, members of non-dominant religious groups, all women, Dreamers, the formerly incarcerated, and more). We want to promote you and your work.
This year, we are pleased to offer a $250 honorarium to each of our readers by way of the Poetry Foundation’s generous “Poetry Programs, Partners, and Innovations” grant.
To apply, submit three (3) poems or up to six (6) pages of flash fiction or micro fiction. Also submit a short video of you reading your work (note: please send a new video of you reading in a quiet place, such as at home, in your garden, in front of your computer, or in your living room). Read for no more than 1 to 2 minutes. Include in your submission a bio, a brief cover letter, and an author photo. Submissions must be addressed to: poetsinpajamas@gmail.com. Submissions close December 18, 2023.
Note: We’re NOT concerned with audio/video quality, nor your appearance. We are looking to get to know your reading style as a means of connecting your magical words with your personal flair! Don’t overthink, please apply! We would be honored to consider your work.
Sundress Publications Open for Microgrant Application for Palestinian Writers
Deadline: December 31st, 2023
Sundress Publications is open for submissions for grant applications from Palestinian identifying writers with a chapbook or full-length collection in progress. All eligible authors are welcome to submit during our application period which closes on December 31st, 2023. Applicants may apply for any genre.
The Sundress Microgrant for Palestinian Writers will award $500, a slot in Sundress’s reading series, a one-week residency at the Sundress Academy for the Arts in Knoxville, TN, and the potential for publication to one writer of Palestinian descent with a chapbook or full-length in progress to support the completion of said project.
All applications will be read by members of our editorial board. One writer will be selected, who will then work with Sundress’s reading series coordinator, residency team, and editorial board.
To apply, please send a sample of the work in progress along with a brief (no more than 500 words) artist/personal statement about what this grant would mean to the completion of said work. These items should be sent to our editorial board as DOCX or PDF files at sundresspublications@gmail.com. Please include the phrase “Sundress Microgrant for Palestinian Writers” in the subject line.
There is no fee to apply.
Sundress Publications Opens on 12/1 for Full-Length Prose Manuscripts
Deadline: February 29, 2024
Sundress Publications is open for submissions of full-length prose manuscripts in all genres. All authors are welcome to submit manuscripts during our reading period, which runs from December 1, 2023 – February 29, 2024.
Sundress is particularly interested in prose collections that value genre hybridization, especially speculative memoir; strange or fractured narratives; flash fiction; experimental work; or work with strong attention to lyricism and language. These collections may be short stories, novellas, essays, memoir, or a mixture thereof.
We are looking for manuscripts of 125-165 double-spaced pages of prose; front matter is not included toward the page count. Individual stories may have been previously published in anthologies, chapbooks, print journals, online journals, etc., but cannot have appeared in any full-length collection, including self-published collections. Manuscripts translated from another language will not be accepted. Simultaneous submissions are fine, but we ask that authors notify us immediately if their work has been accepted elsewhere.
From December 1st to 14th, submissions to this open reading period are free for the first submission for any and all writers. Beginning December 15th, the reading fee is $15 per manuscript, though the fee will be waived for all writers of color and entrants who purchase or pre-order any Sundress title. Authors may submit as many manuscripts as they would like, provided that each is accompanied by a separate reading fee or purchase/pre-order. Entrants can place book orders or pay submission fees in our store.
All manuscripts will be read by members of our editorial and reader board, and we will choose one manuscript for publication in 2024. We strive to further our commitment to inclusion and seek to encounter as many unique and important voices as possible. We are actively seeking collections from writers of color, trans and nonbinary writers, writers with disabilities, and others whose voices are under-represented in literary publishing. Selected manuscripts will be offered a standard publication contract, which includes 25 copies of the published book as well as any additional copies at cost.
To submit, send us a 20-35 page sample of the manuscript (DOC, DOCX, or PDF); the sample should include the author’s name and an acknowledgements page. The sample may include one story/essay or a number of shorter pieces. After our initial selection process, semi-finalists will be asked to send the full manuscript in the spring.
Submit your manuscript samples to us here.
Please note that we are unable to accept manuscripts from authors who reside outside of the USA or Canada as we are unable to adequately support books in international markets.
Any questions or concerns, as well as withdrawal notifications, can be sent sundresscontest@gmail.com.
Sundress Reads Looking for Recently Published Books to Review
Deadline: Rolling
As part of Sundress’ Publications’ ongoing commitment to service and the importance of highlighting work from other small presses, we are now accepting submissions for consideration for inclusion in our review series, Sundress Reads. We’re looking to feature reviews for any books published or to be published in 2023 or 2024.
We at Sundress champion writers whose work highlights human resilience and challenges misconceptions. We will not consider reviewing any book that promotes actions or includes language that contribute to oppression. Books by authors from LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, neurodivergent, disabled, immigrant, incarcerated, and otherwise marginalized communities are encouraged to submit. Recent titles we’ve reviewed include Alicia Mountain’s Four in Hand (BOA Editions), Teow Lim Goh’s Faraway Places (Diode Editions), and Noreen Ocampo’s Not Flowers (Variant Literature).
Authors or publishers of books published within this date range are invited to submit books, chapbooks, or anthologies in any genre for consideration by our reviewers who are standing by. Books must be published by independent presses, university presses, or small presses; we do not accept submissions from “the Big 5” or self-published collections. Submissions will be considered on a rolling basis.