Here’s an exciting no fee poetry chapbook contest! Check out my interview with Michele McDannold, founder/publisher of The Literary Underground—a grassroots collective doing important work to highlight marginalized and outsider voices.

HOPKINSON: Tell me a little bit about Literary Underground. 

MCDANNOLD: The Literary Underground is a loosely organized, informal grassroots collective founded in 2010. It has taken many forms but mainly seeks to bring light to marginalized writing and writers. Over the past year and a half, In Conversation, a literary arts journal has posted new work on the Literary Underground’s front page.

HOPKINSON: How/why was Literary Underground originally started? 

MCDANNOLD: The Literary Underground started as a wiki that compiled a shared knowledge base. It covered the history, production, distribution and culture of the underground press. Shortly after the wiki began, the website was expanded to include archives of defunct publications, some of which are still viewable either on our site directly or through the wayback machine.

HOPKINSON: Who is your target reader audience? 

MCDANNOLD: Independent writers operating outside mainstream literary institutions, small press authors and publishers, DIYers, Working-class and blue-collar writers, and the readers thereof.

HOPKINSON: What type of work are you looking for in submissions? 

MCDANNOLD: Bold, uncompromising work 

HOPKINSON: What do you wish you’d see submitted, but rarely comes in? 

MCDANNOLD: Artful, boundary-busting material 

HOPKINSON: What are some of your favorite lit mags/journals?

MCDANNOLD: Misfit Magazine, Hobo Camp Review, Trailer Park Quarterly, Chiron Review and you can’t go wrong with any books out from Citizens for Decent Literature Press (namely the ‘This Is Poetry’ series) or Roadside Press

HOPKINSON: What is your favorite part of being on staff with the Literary Underground?

MCDANNOLD: Getting to know and promote the work of outsider artists.

HOPKINSON: Where can we send submissions? 

MCDANNOLD: undergroundliterary@gmail.com  

HOPKINSON: If someone has a question, how can they contact you? 

MCDANNOLD: Email undergroundliterary@gmail.com 

HOPKINSON: Is there anything exciting coming up you’d like to mention? 

MCDANNOLD: June is open submissions for the Brian Fugett Memorial Prize, an annual poetry chapbook competition. Prize is publication by Citizens for Decent Literature Press with 25 comp copies going to the winner. There is no fee to enter. It is being judged blind. Final selections will be made by special guest judge Richard Modiano, formerly of Beyond Baroque.

Click here to read submission guidelines.

• SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Online: Always open. Print/Contest: June 1-30
• FORMAT: online and print
• SUBMISSION FEE: NO FEE
• PAYMENT: No payment for online publication, Memorial Prize pays 25 copies 
• ISSUE FREQUENCY: Online, daily. Print, annually. 
• AVERAGE RESPONSE TIME: Online: 1 month, Print: 2 months 
• SUBMISSION METHOD: Email
• SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS: Online: Yes. Print: No.
• FORMS: Online: All forms. Print: Poetry
• SOCIAL MEDIA: Facebook

If you like this post, please share with your writerly friends and/or  follow me on Facebook, Bluesky, or Instagram. You can see all the FREE resources my site offers poets/writers on my Start Here page.