Lost Kite Chapbook Prize

LOST KITE CHAPBOOK PRIZE

The Lost Kite Editions Chapbook Prize is awarded to a chapbook of any genre (fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, etc.). Collaborative, hybrid, and multi-genre submissions are also welcome. The winning author will receive a $1,500 award and 20 contributor copies.

We take enormous pride in ensuring that the physical books we produce reflect the artistry of the writing they contain. The winning chapbook will be elegantly designed in a paperback, perfect-bound volume. LKE will publicize the winning chapbook widely and distribute it nationally through Itasca Books.

The contest will be open until May 15th, 2026. We accept submissions from all writers, but make a concerted effort to welcome submissions from incarcerated writers. To that end, incarcerated writers will be welcome to submit until August 31st, 2026. 

The winning manuscript will be selected by Hanif Abdurraqib and published in spring, 2027.

About Hanif Abdurraqib:

Hanif Abdurraqib is an award-winning poet, essayist, and cultural critic from Columbus, Ohio. His newest release, There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension is a New York Times bestseller and was Longlisted for the National Book Award for Nonfiction. His previous book, A Little Devil In America was a winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal and the Gordon Burn Prize. In 2021, Abdurraqib was named a MacArthur Fellow, and in 2024 was named a Windham-Campbell Prize recipient. He is a graduate of Beechcroft High School.

Guidelines:

• Please do not include your name anywhere within the manuscript itself. Along with your manuscript, please submit a cover letter with a brief biographical note and, if desired, a statement or description that contextualizes your submitted work. While we may consider publishing work under a pseudonym, please include your legal name in your cover letter.
• Chapbooks should be between 20 and 50 pages in length (this does not include title, section break, or acknowledgement pages). We won't turn you away if you are a few pages over or under, but please stay close to that limit.
• Manuscripts containing individual stories, essays, poems, or excerpts that have been previously published online or in print are eligible; please simply note previously published work in your cover letter. If your manuscript has been previously published as a whole (including publication with a press, self-publication, online/digital publication, and publication in a small, limited-edition print run), however, then the manuscript is not eligible.
• The submission fee is $5.
• Simultaneous submissions are accepted. Please withdraw your manuscript(s) from consideration immediately if you plan to publish it elsewhere.
• You are welcome to submit multiple manuscripts. The $5 submission fee will apply to each manuscript submitted.
• We do not accept work generated with artificial intelligence.

Accommodations for incarcerated writers

• Incarcerated writers and those submitting on their behalf are welcome to submit by postal mail (P.O. Box 6037, Minneapolis, MN 55406) or by email (submissions@lostkite.org).
• Typed submissions are preferred, but we will accept handwritten submissions from incarcerated writers.
• The $5 submission fee is waived for incarcerated writers and those submitting on their behalf.