About the Spoonfuls Chapbook Contest 

The Spoonfuls Chapbook Contest seeks two unpublished chapbooks of new poetry in English or in translation between 16 and 32 pages in length. The contest is open to new, emerging, and established writers. The winners will receive book publication, an award of $250.00 and twenty copies of the chapbook. Prizes are awarded on publication. 

Our chapbooks are saddle-stitched, feature thoughtful covers with a minimalist, abstract, geometrical design that emphasizes local typography and reflects contemporary trends in book cover design unique to the series, and are distributed through our website. We treat our chapbooks with care and aim to offer authors a unique small-press publishing venue that works to break down the barriers of traditional publishing between artists, publishers, and audiences. 

Contest Guidelines

• Spoonfuls accepts submissions and payment of the entry fee exclusively through our online submission manager, Submittable. 
• Entry fee: $25
• Entry dates: October 1, 2025–October 31, 2025 (cst)
• Entries are limited to the first 100 submissions during the contest period. Entries will not be accepted after we have reached 100 submissions.
• All manuscripts should include a cover letter with the following: name and full contact information (address, email, phone), brief bio, chapbook title, and brief description of the project. 
• Manuscripts should be paginated and formatted in an easy-to-read font such as Garamond or Times New Roman. Manuscripts should include a table of contents and an acknowledgements page, when applicable. 
• Individual poems may be previously published but the chapbook, as a whole, should be unpublished. 
• Manuscripts should be 16–32 pages in length, not including front and back matter. Spoonfuls abides by the CLMP Contest Code of Ethics found here.
• Editorial staff of SRPR; previous Spoonfuls authors; and current students, faculty, or staff in the Department of English at Illinois State University (and recent alumni, graduating 2015 to present) are not eligible to submit. 
• Each winner (or collaborative team) receives $250, publication in the following May, and 20 author copies of the print chapbook. Winners can purchase additional copies of their chapbooks at cost.
• Chapbooks published by Spoonfuls are typically letter-half trim size (8.5”x5.5”) and have a limited-edition print run of 100 copies, with 50 copies hand-stitched by Spoonfuls staff and 50 copies saddle-stitched at the printer.
• Winners will be announced in December 2025.
• Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but please notify us by withdrawing your manuscript on Submittable immediately if it is accepted for publication elsewhere. 
• Multiple submissions (the submission of more than one manuscript to the contest) are permitted. Additional submissions require a separate submission fee. 
• Collaborative collections are welcome.
• Translations are welcome and encouraged. Typically, we are limited to publishing only the English translation, and we are unable to also publish the source language. Please note that translators are responsible for obtaining permissions for publication. By submitting your work for publication, you indicate that you have permission from the author/foreign publisher to translate and publish the work. If Spoonfuls selects your work for publication, we'll ask you to provide proof of this permission. 
• We will consider submissions including visual art (i.e. interior illustrations or photographs), but please note we do not regularly publish chapbooks with interior art. If selected, artwork will need to be provided in acceptable format and resolution for print publication (300 ppi or higher at the dimensions intended for publication). Please do not include suggested cover artwork with your submission. 
• All chapbook entries will be considered for publication.
• At this time, we are unable to mail author copies internationally. International authors or collaborators will receive digital copies only.

How We Read

All manuscripts will be screened by the SRPR editorial staff to select a finalist pool, in conversation with the SRPR editor in chief. Finalist manuscripts will be sent to the Spoonfuls chapbook series editorial director, who will select the two winning manuscripts to receive $250 and publication. The judge may request to see additional manuscripts if necessary. The judge is not permissed to choose manuscripts that present a conflict of interest.    

The Spoonfuls Chapbook Series and SRPR, as a member of the CLMP, abides by its Code of Ethics.

SRPR considers all types of poetry, including translations, multilingual poems, and long poems up to ten pages. Our free reading period runs from September 1 to February 28 each year.

Please send up to five poems. Please include a brief cover letter with the titles of the poems in your submission and a short biography.

Simultaneous submissions are accepted.

Response times may take up to one year.

SRPR publishes new, previously unpublished poetry only and seeks first serial rights in North America (FNASR) for poems selected for publication, which revert to the author upon publication of the issue in which the work appears.

Please note that SRPR has a fixed letter half trim size, which means poems with long lines or complex formatting may not fit well into the journal. While we make every attempt to accommodate formally experimental or long-line poetry in the journal's pages, we may refuse work that would simply not be well served by the journal's size.

If SRPR accepts your work, you will receive a complimentary contributor copy* of the issue in which your work appears, as well as a complimentary 1-year subscription to SRPR. You will also have the opportunity to purchase additional copies at a discount. (*International contributors will receive a complimentary digital copy of the issue in which your work appears, as we are no longer able to ship print copies outside the USA.)

If for any reason you’d like to withdraw a poem, please send us a message through Submittable. Please do not send requests to remove poems from your manuscript through Submittable’s “Open Editing” option.