Underground Bookshelf

What does that mean? The theme is poetry, but you can be as creative as you want as long as you stay within the format. Prose poetry, stories in verse (under 2,000 words), sonnets, acrostic poems, and every feasible rhyme scheme are all welcome. Please reach out if you have any questions.

Last year, I expanded Underground Bookshelf to include a traveling secondhand bookshelf. I bring the bookshelf to local community events, and anyone who visits my booth are invited to bring a book or two home with them for free. This is a small way for me to encourage free access to literature in the community. In the last couple years, Underground Bookshelf has attended the Trans Resistance MA Festival, Pride Worcester, the Roxbury Poetry Festival, Disability Pride at the Museum of Science, and Open Streets: Jamaica Plain.

Sarina Langer is a dark fantasy author of both epic and urban paranormal novels. Her characters knew she's queer (demi and pan) and has ADHD before she did (and they didn't say *anything* to her!).

Underground Bookshelf attended the Disability Pride Celebration at the Museum of Science on July 25, 2026. Attendees were invited to participate in a one-day micro-poetry or short story contest at our booth, and we received so many great submissions that it was hard to select the winners. But it was truly delightful reading what everyone submitted. I can't wait to do another contest like this at the other events we attend this summer. Below, you'll find one of the honorable mentions. Thank you to everyone who submitted. Keep writing!

Underground Bookshelf attended the Disability Pride Celebration at the Museum of Science on July 25, 2026. Attendees were invited to participate in a one-day micro-poetry or short story contest at our booth, and we received so many great submissions that it was hard to select the winners. But it was truly delightful reading what everyone submitted. I can't wait to do another contest like this at the other events we attend this summer. Below, you'll find one of the honorable mentions. Thank you to everyone who submitted. Keep writing!

Underground Bookshelf attended the Disability Pride Celebration at the Museum of Science on July 25, 2026. Attendees were invited to participate in a one-day micro-poetry or short story contest at our booth, and we received so many great submissions that it was hard to select the winners. But it was truly delightful reading what everyone submitted. I can't wait to do another contest like this at the other events we attend this summer. Below, you'll find one of the honorable mentions. Thank you to everyone who submitted. Keep writing!

My family and I just returned from some last-minute travel, so I'm a little behind on all-things Underground Bookshelf, but I'm working on catching up. It was so nice to get home to SO MANY contest submissions! Below are the winners and honorable mentions.

Welcome to the latest resource series by Underground Bookshelf. This series focuses on literature written by authors of Iranian heritage. War often comes with undermining the humanity of the people and cultures impacted. One way to reaffirm a people's humanity is to engage with the people, culture, and perspectives through literature and storytelling. In this series, you'll find fiction and nonfiction books for children, middle grade readers, young adults, and adult readers.

Underground Bookshelf attended the Disability Pride Celebration at the Museum of Science on July 25, 2026. Attendees were invited to participate in a one-day micro-poetry or short story contest at our booth, and we received so many great submissions that it was hard to select the winners. But it was truly delightful reading what everyone submitted. I can't wait to do another contest like this at the other events we attend this summer. Below, you'll find one of the honorable mentions. Thank you to everyone who submitted. Keep writing!

What does that mean? There are lots of options this month. Poetry, short stories, excerpts, and so forth are all welcome (the full list is below). The stipulation is that all submissions must be either works in the horror, thriller, paranormal, or supernatural genres or works that cross genres and include elements of the genres in question.

I've been feeling under the weather the last several days, but reading submissions for the September contest was a nice boost for my spirits. Thank you to everyone who participated. I enjoyed the creative directions each of you took to the prompt. We got submissions of poetry, memoir, and fiction.

Underground Bookshelf attended the Disability Pride Celebration at the Museum of Science on July 25, 2026. Attendees were invited to participate in a one-day micro-poetry or short story contest at our booth, and we received so many great submissions that it was hard to select the winners. But it was truly delightful reading what everyone submitted. I can't wait to do another contest like this at the other events we attend this summer. Below, you'll find the winners and honorable mentions for Saturday's contest. The poems themselves will be released in the following weeks. Thank you to everyone who submitted. Keep writing!