Chapbook Explorations into Culture, Gender & Identity

Once the venue of “chap men” who sold 8-12 page “penny” books on 16th century streets, chapbooks are no longer just the poor (wo)man poet’s stapled “wanna-be” book.  While chapbooks do serve as important segues for young poets into first book publishing, they also offer established poets opportunities for focused, impassioned explorations into familial and cultural landscapes. There are distinct and proven routes to creating fully-realized and beautifully-wrought chapbooks. We’ll look at how three women poets, winners of 2021 chapbook contests, shaped and focused their chapbook to illuminate issues of gender, sexual identity, and culture: Elizabeth Metzger, winner of the Juniper Prize for Poetry and poetry editor for the LA Review of Books, in her chapbook, , and Maura Stanton, winner of  the Yale Series for Younger Poets, in her chapbook,, and SJ Sindu, author of two novels and previous chapbooks, in . Ultimately, whether you are a poet with…