- START A RIOT! CHAPBOOK PRIZE -
In response to rapid gentrification and displacement of QTBIPOC+ literary artists in the San Francisco Bay Area, and in celebration of these communities’ revolutionary history, Foglifter Press and Still Here San Francisco joined forces to create a poetry chapbook prize for local emerging queer and trans Black writers, indigenous writers, and writers of color. Each year, one poetry chapbook author is awarded publication, a $3,000 prize, and $1,000 to support their book tour/promotion.
Our 2025 winner is Reggie Edmonds-Vásquez, for their collection Ecology of the Hood, out in June 2026.
- current winner -
ECOLOGY OF THE HOOD
Reggie Edmonds-Vásquez (they/them) is a poet, educator, and cultural curator from Richmond, CA. Their work explores Black, queer, and gender-diverse identities and has earned recognition from Nomadic Press, Afro Urban Society, and the Museum of the African Diaspora. A two-time Berkeley Grand Champion and national finalist, they direct programming at Rich Oak Events.
- PAST WINNERS -
Grayson Thompson | Sand Bodied Florida Boy
Cianga | Congo, seen from the heavens
Edward Gunawan | The Way Back
Nefertiti Asanti | fist of wind
- prize guidelines -
ELIGIBILITY
> Submitter is a QTBIPOC+ literary artist
> AND is a current resident of the larger San Francisco Bay Area (Alameda, Napa, Santa Clara, Contra Costa, San Francisco, Solano, Marin, San Mateo, Sonoma counties)
> AND does not have a previous full-length poetry book publication
MANUSCRIPT DETAILS
> Poetry (Literally anything that falls under the verse genre—prose poetry, hybrid, etc. We want all your wild experiments!)
> 25 pages max; 15 pages minimum
> Remove all identifying information, including acknowledgments. There should be one title page with the name of the chapbook only.
> Microsoft Word doc preferred; PDF also accepted
IMPORTANT DATES
> Submissions: September 1, 2025 to December 1, 2025
> Results Announced: January 2026
> Chapbook Release: June (Pride Month) 2026