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 Full-Length Poetry Collections
Sundress Publications is open for submissions of full-length poetry manuscripts. All authors are welcome to submit qualifying manuscripts during our reading period of June 1st to August 31st, 2026, but we especially welcome authors from marginalized and underrepresented communities.
We are looking for manuscripts of forty-eight to eighty (48-80) single-spaced pages; front matter is excluded from the page count. Individual pieces or selections may have been previously published in anthologies, chapbooks, print journals, online journals, etc., but cannot have appeared in any full-length collections, including self-published collections. We do not consider AI-generated or AI-assisted writing or art. Single-author and collaborative author manuscripts will be considered. Manuscripts translated from another language will not be accepted. Simultaneous submissions are fine, but we ask that authors notify us immediately if their manuscript has been accepted elsewhere.
From June 1st through 14th, submissions to this contest are free for the first submission of any and all writers. Beginning June 15th, the reading fee is $15 per manuscript, though the fee will be waived for entrants who purchase or pre-order any Sundress title or broadside. Authors may submit as many manuscripts as they would like, so long as each is accompanied by a separate reading fee or book purchase. Entrants can place book orders or pay submission fees at our store. Please note that the submission fee is waived for all BIPOC writers for the duration of the reading period.
All manuscripts will be read by members of our editorial board, and we will choose at least two manuscripts for publication. We are actively seeking collections from writers of color, trans and nonbinary writers, disabled writers, and others whose voices are underrepresented in literary publishing. Please note that Sundress does not have a defined aesthetic and invites you to send your strange, unique, hybrid, beautiful, and hard-to-place work for us to consider. 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.
Submit your manuscript to us here.
Please note that we are unable to accept manuscripts from authors who reside outside of the United States as we are unable to adequately support books in international markets.
Sundress Academy for the Arts Now Accepting Residency Applications for Spring 2027
Sundress Academy for the Arts (SAFTA) is now accepting applications for short-term writing residencies in all genres—poetry, fiction, nonfiction, playwriting, screenwriting, journalism, academic writing, and more—for their spring residency period which runs from January 3rd to May 8th, 2027. These residencies are intended to provide writers with the time and space they need to finish their creative ideas in a peaceful environment.
Each farmhouse residency is $350/week, which includes a private room as well as access to our shared kitchen, bathroom, office, and living area, plus wireless internet. Writers Coop residencies are $175/week and include your own private dry cabin in addition to access to the farmhouse amenities.
Residents will stay at the SAFTA farmhouse, located on a working farm on a 45-acre wooded plot in a Tennessee “holler” perfect for hiking, camping, and nature walks. The farmhouse is a half-hour drive from Knoxville, a vibrant city with an engaged literary community. For writers seeking a rural retreat with urban amenities, SAFTA is ideal.
As part of our commitment to anti-racist work, we use a reparations payment model for our farmhouse residencies which consists of the following:
- 3 reparations weeks of equally divided payments for Black and/or Indigenous writers at $150/week
- 3 discounted weeks of equally divided payments for BIPOC writers at $250/week
- 6 equitable weeks of equally divided payments at $350/week
Black and/or Indigenous writers are also invited to apply for a $350 support grant to help cover the costs of food, travel, childcare, and/or any other needs while they are at the residency. We are currently able to offer two of these grants per residency period (spring/summer/fall). If you would like to donate to expand this funding, you may do so on our website.
For the 2026 Fall Residency period, SAFTA will be offering the following fellowships:
- Fellowship for Black & Indigenous Writers: one full fellowship for Black and/or Indigenous identifying writers
- Fellowship for LGBTQIA+ Writers: one full fellowship and one 50% fellowship for an LGBTQIA+ writer
- Smokelong Quarterly Fellowship for Trans Writers: one full fellowship for a trans writer
The application deadline for the spring residency period is September 1, 2026. Find out more about the application process at www.sundressacademyforthearts.com.
For those applying for one of our spring fellowships and who will need financial aid in order to attend, the application fee has been waived. All other application fees will go towards funding travel grants for Black and/or Indigenous identifying writers.
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 2025 or 2026.
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.