Fonograf Editions Mission
Fonograf Editions exists to take risks that push the boundaries of sound, text, and genre. We value the interdisciplinary, experimental, and unclassifiable, and we strive to bring to life works that resist, bend, and break expectations. We prioritize public access by making a component of each of our releases available for free to the public (such as streaming audio online) and by hosting multiple free community events each year.
About Fonograf Editions
Established in 2016, Fonograf Editions is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit press and literary record label based in Portland, OR. Places like The Paris Review Daily and Poets & Writers have previously written about our creation and development and our books and records have been featured, reviewed, and called best of the year at outlets such as The New York Times, Artforum, The New York Times Book Review, Frieze, Harper’s, and The London Review of Books, among others.
From September 1st until November 1st, Fonograf Editions invites submissions to its annual Open Genre Book Prize contest.
The winning writer receives $1,500, a standard royalty contract, a 3 week residency at The Rice Place (residency will take place in June 2026), and 15 free copies of their book. The press may additionally accept other manuscripts for publication.
Judge: Brandon Shimoda
Brandon Shimoda is a 2020 Whiting Fellow, and the author of books of poetry and prose, including The Afterlife is Letting Go (City Lights, 2024), Hydra Medusa (Nightboat Books, 2023),The Grave on the Wall (City Lights, 2019), which received the PEN Open Book Award, and Evening Oracle (Letter Machine Editions, 2015), which received the William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America. He is also the co-editor of To look at the sea is to become what one is: An Etel Adnan Reader (Nightboat Books, 2014) and an anthology of poetry on WWII Nikkei incarceration (forthcoming from Haymarket Books in 2025). He currently lives in Colorado Springs and teaches at Colorado College.
Submission Guidelines:
ELIGIBILITY: Any author writing in English. Previous book publication is not a consideration for eligibility. Work published in print or on-line periodicals, anthologies, or chapbooks may be included, but the manuscript itself must be unpublished. Original work only; translations are ineligible.
Friends, family members, and former students of Brandon Shimoda may not submit to the contest. Students do not include interactions at short-term residencies or fellowships.
FORMAT: 48 to 180 pages (suggested length, manuscripts may be longer or shorter), paginated. Please include title page, tables of contents, and, if applicable, acknowledgments page.
SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS: Simultaneous submissions are acceptable. Please notify Fonograf Ed. immediately if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere.
MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS: Submission of more than one manuscript is acceptable. Each manuscript must be submitted separately, each with a separate entry fee.
INTERNATIONAL SUBMISSIONS: We accept international submissions.
REVISIONS: The winner will have the opportunity to revise the manuscript before publication. No revisions will be considered during the reading period.
ENTRY FEE: $25. For $42, entrants can also receive a previously released Fonograf Ed. title of their choice. Making your selection from our current catalog, please note your choice and address in the comment field. (Note: This offer excludes the John Ashbery and Susan Howe/Nathaniel Mackey LPs, Eileen Myles's Bird Watching..., the A Mouth Holds Many Things anthology, Dao Strom’s Instrument, Alice Notley’s Early Works and The Speak Angel Series, and Mark Leidner’s Returning the Sword to the Stone. To select this option, visit https://fonografeditions.submittable.com/submit/331935/25-fe-open-genre-prize-contest-fe-back-catalog-selection )
We recognize that entry fees can be a barrier to access for many. If you are in need of a fee waiver in order to participate, please reach out to fonografeditions@gmail.com and we will provide an alternate submission method. (Capped at 25 submissions.)
In the event that the judge cannot select a winner, all reading fees will be returned.
Fonograf Editions is a proud member of CLMP. As such, we abide by the CLMP Contest Code of Ethics.
Fonograf Editions is small non-profit publication, unaffiliated with any institution providing financial security. We thus depend on writers, listeners, and readers like you. To become a Fonograf Editions Member please see this link: https://fonografeditions.com/membership/
To make a tax-deductible donation to the press please see this link: https://fonografeditions.com/donations/donate-to-fonograf/
Thank you for the support!
From September 1st until November 1st, Fonograf Editions invites submissions to its annual Open Genre Book Prize contest.
The winning writer receives $1,500, a standard royalty contract, a 3 week residency at The Rice Place (residency will take place in June 2026), and 15 free copies of their book. The press may additionally accept other manuscripts for publication.
Judge: Brandon Shimoda
Brandon Shimoda is a 2020 Whiting Fellow, and the author of books of poetry and prose, including The Afterlife is Letting Go (City Lights, 2024), Hydra Medusa (Nightboat Books, 2023),The Grave on the Wall (City Lights, 2019), which received the PEN Open Book Award, and Evening Oracle (Letter Machine Editions, 2015), which received the William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America. He is also the co-editor of To look at the sea is to become what one is: An Etel Adnan Reader (Nightboat Books, 2014) and an anthology of poetry on WWII Nikkei incarceration (forthcoming from Haymarket Books in 2025). He currently lives in Colorado Springs and teaches at Colorado College.
Submission Guidelines:
ELIGIBILITY: Any author writing in English. Previous book publication is not a consideration for eligibility. Work published in print or on-line periodicals, anthologies, or chapbooks may be included, but the manuscript itself must be unpublished. Original work only; translations are ineligible.
Friends, family members, and former students of Brandon Shimoda may not submit to the contest. Students do not include interactions at short-term residencies or fellowships.
FORMAT: 48 to 180 pages (suggested length, manuscripts may be longer or shorter), paginated. Please include title page, tables of contents, and, if applicable, acknowledgments page.
SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS: Simultaneous submissions are acceptable. Please notify Fonograf Ed. immediately if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere.
MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS: Submission of more than one manuscript is acceptable. Each manuscript must be submitted separately, each with a separate entry fee.
INTERNATIONAL SUBMISSIONS: We accept international submissions.
REVISIONS: The winner will have the opportunity to revise the manuscript before publication. No revisions will be considered during the reading period.
ENTRY FEE: $25. For $42, entrants can also receive a previously released Fonograf Ed. title of their choice. Making your selection from our current catalog, please note your choice and address in the comment field. (Note: This offer excludes the John Ashbery and Susan Howe/Nathaniel Mackey LPs, Eileen Myles's Bird Watching..., the A Mouth Holds Many Things anthology, Dao Strom’s Instrument, Alice Notley’s Early Works and The Speak Angel Series, and Mark Leidner’s Returning the Sword to the Stone.)
We recognize that entry fees can be a barrier to access for many. If you are in need of a fee waiver in order to participate, please reach out to fonografeditions@gmail.com and we will provide an alternate submission method. (Capped at 25 submissions.)
In the event that the judge cannot select a winner, all reading fees will be returned.
Fonograf Editions is a proud member of CLMP. As such, we abide by the CLMP Contest Code of Ethics.
Fonograf Editions is small non-profit publication, unaffiliated with any institution providing financial security. We thus depend on writers, listeners, and readers like you. To become a Fonograf Editions Member please see this link: https://fonografeditions.com/membership/
To make a tax-deductible donation to the press please see this link: https://fonografeditions.com/donations/donate-to-fonograf/
Thank you for the support!