Chapbook Contest

Guidelines for the 2020 Autumn House Chapbook Contest

For the 2020 contest, the Autumn House staff serves as the preliminary readers, and the final judge is Danusha Laméris. The winner receives publication, 35 gratis copies, and a $1,000 advance against royalties. The submission period opens on August 1 and closes at 11:59 p.m. August 31, 2020 (Eastern Time).

  • Manuscript length should be approximately 15-30 pages
  • The reading fee for the Chapbook Contest is $20
  • Please don’t include your name anywhere on the actual manuscript
  • Include a brief bio in the “cover letter” section of Submittable
  • Feel free to include a table of contents and acknowledgments page
  • Simultaneous submissions permitted (*Please inform immediately of publication elsewhere by messaging us on Submittable)

If you have any questions, please check out our FAQ page. 

submit

Previous Winners of the Autumn House (formerly Coal Hill Review) Chapbook Contest:

2008 The Ghetto Exorcist by James Tyner
2009 Shake It and It Snows by Gailmarie Pahmeier
2010 Shelter by Gigi Marks
2011 Bathhouse Betty by Matthew Terhune
2012 Rooms of the Living by Paul Martin (co-winner)
2012 Prayers of an American Wife by Victoria Kelly (co-winner)
2013 The Welter of Me and You by Peter Schireson
2014 A Green River in Spring by Matthew Thorburn
2015 English Kills by Monica Wendel
2016 Herald by Roberta P. Feins
2017 American Parable by Sonia Greenfield
2018 Epithalamia by Erinn Batykefer
2019 Circle / Square by T. J. McLemore

View all of our previous winners here.