The Athenaeum Press at Coastal Carolina University is now accepting submissions of chapbook manuscripts for our Sundew Chapbook Prize. In the face of ongoing local and global crises, we believe that stories that emerge from people's lived realities and experiences can be enlightening and offer hope and solace. We named this prize for the sundew, a small carnivorous plant that thrives in the bog of our coastal wetlands, where its dewdrops glisten as bait and cling to whatever it catches. We’re looking for writing that glistens with purpose and holds on, finding the remarkable in often overlooked topics and places. We are particularly interested in narratives that engage with the peripheral and the marginal, the ignored and the relegated; words and stories of peoples and experiences that have been hitherto untold and tucked away.   

Contest Details:  

• Accepting submissions Nov 1, 2026 - Jan 15, 2027. 

• We welcome poetry, prose, and hybrid manuscripts of 30-50 pages. (Front matter, acknowledgements, and section breaks are not included in the page count). 

• One winner will be selected to receive publication with The Athenaeum Press, a $400 prize, and 20 copies of their chapbook.  

• The contest entry fee is $8, which will help cover printing costs and help us promote the winning chapbook. Multiple submissions are allowed with a separate entry fee for each submission. 

• As an additional storytelling element to engage with and promote the author's work, The Athenaeum Press will create a digital companion using multimedia tools for the winning chapbook. We will work with the selected artist to identify how their work best translates into this digital form. 

• The judges for the Sundew Chapbook Contest are faculty and student editors at Coastal Carolina University. The selection process will adhere to the CLMP Contest Code of Ethics. Authors with a personal relationship to the judges should not enter the contest (for these purposes, we define “a close personal relationship” as someone you have been a student, teacher, or colleague of. Previous contributors to Waccamaw or The Athenaeum Press are welcome and encouraged to submit. 

• All manuscripts should include a title page, table of contents (if applicable), and an acknowledgements page listing previous publications. Individual pieces may be previously published, but the manuscript cannot have been published in its entirety.  

• Contest fees are non-refundable. Please notify us ASAP if the manuscript has been accepted elsewhere, by replying to your original email.  

• Winners and finalists will be announced by January 31, 2027.