2026 CHAPBOOK CONTEST
CONTEST RULES
CONTEST OPENS SEPTEMBER 1, 2025 – FEBRUARY 1, 2026
The Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets is dedicated to promoting poetry in Wisconsin and seeks to honor the best chapbooks published in the previous year by Wisconsin residents.
1. Contestant must be a Wisconsin resident 18 years of age or older. A resident is a person who maintains a permanent residence in Wisconsin or who has lived for at least six months in the state during 2025.
2. Contest opens September 1. Entry form must be completed in full, included with submission and entry fee, and postmarked by February 1, 2026.
3. Chapbooks must be published in 2025. Proof of publication date must be printed in the book.
4. Total finished length is not to exceed 48 pages.
5. Chapbooks may be entered by the author or the publisher, and may be self-published.
6. Chapbooks can be published in collaboration between multiple poets.
7. The non-refundable entry fee is $7 per chapbook for WFOP members and $15 per chapbook for non-members. Mail chapbook, entry form, and check (made out to WFOP Literary Fund) to:
Seth Copeland
Laurentide Hall, Room 3271
UW-Whitewater
237 North Prince Street
Whitewater, WI 53190
8. Prizes: 1st Place – $200; 2nd Place – $100; 3rd Place – $50. Prizes will be awarded only if there are sufficient entries and the contest judge determines that an entry warrants a prize.
9. The contest is judged by a writing professional who resides outside the state. This year's judge is John Graves Morris from Oklahoma.
10. Winners will be notified prior to announcement at the May 2026 Conference, and posted in the Summer Museletter and at wfop.org.
10. The 1st Place winner of the WFOP Chapbook Prize will be ineligible to enter that contest again for three years.
The WFOP is not responsible for lost books. Entrants will receive email acknowledgment of receipt. Entries will not be returned. Failure to follow any of the above rules may result in disqualification. Author retains all rights to his/her work.
Questions? Email Seth Copeland.