Have you heard of chapbooks—the little cousin to novels, essay collections, and short story collections? If not, you’re missing out on an entire series of short works from today’s writers.
Modern publishing was born back in 868 CE, when the shared written word began to shift from heavy tablets and scrolls to bound pages. Fast-forward through centuries of industrial growth, and publishing is now a massive global market, with more than a million books published per year—and that excludes self-publishing platforms.
Yet for all that scale, high literary work has somehow stayed locked in an ivory tower. Add in publishing’s persistent economic, racial, and gender barriers, and that literary divide has remained stubbornly entrenched. But writers have been pushing back against those barriers since as far back as the 16th century, looking for alternative ways to get their work directly to readers.
And thus, the chapbook was born. They’ve evolved in countless ways since then, but today chapbooks are often highly thematic, experimental, and offer a taste of an author’s voice rather than an entire meal.
Almost always under 75 pages, often much shorter, chapbooks are inexpensive to produce (and buy) and quick to read. They let small presses take real risks on emerging writers without having to worry about selling thousands of copies to stay afloat. For decades, the chapbook was primarily a vehicle for poetry, but over the past five years the format has expanded to include prose of all genres.
D.C. is no stranger to the chapbook. We have poets and short prose writers aplenty, and indie bookstores often carry local authors’ short collections and feature chapbooks at literary events. Whether you’re strolling the local author aisles at Solid State or ordering online, these mini books are an excellent option for a quick read.
Below you’ll find a roundup of recent collections from D.C. area authors, plus three upcoming titles to put on your radar.
In her latest work, local psychotherapist and poet Azalea Aguilar provides an intimate look at growing up in South Texas alongside family violence and addiction. In Foxhole, she pairs harsh memories (cigarette smoke, police lights, bloody knuckles, white powder on a mother’s nose) with moments of real warmth, like ice cream runs and fields of wildflowers.
Majda Gama is an award-winning Arab American poet who regularly publishes work about identity and personal geography in some of the world’s top literary journals. The Call of Paradise examines themes of home and displacement across Beirut, Saudi Arabia, Virginia, and California. Her poems, full of sharp, sensory details and a gorgeous exploration of family, stick with you long after you close the book.
Paul Jaskunas is a Maryland-based multi-genre author and professor who has published books of all lengths and styles. In the haunting poetry chapbook, Mother Ship, he explores our role on the planet with brave, warm intellect.
What is a love poem? Donald Illich answers with a series of short, heartbreaking notes from the bar, the train, the office, the phone, and more. This collection is sad-funny, occasionally raunchy, and ultimately charming and romantic.
Gregory Luce is known throughout the D.C. literary scene for both his well-crafted verse and his generosity to the writing community. In Smells Like Rain, he brings together personal and regional histories, a daughter surviving a farm-destroying tornado, a father nearing the end of his life, the Potomac, Luce’s own Confederate lineage, jazz, and so much more.
Told across 100 unhinged and compelling instructions, Mrs. Claus (yes, that one) spends her time pounding martinis, smoking in the bath, and considering plastic surgery, among other things. But underneath Emma Francois’ genre-defying narrative, we find a segmented portrait of a woman tired of being contained.
Beth Konkoski uses the suburban mom world of Loudoun County as a vehicle to unpack marriage, grief, and the complicated and sometimes maddening roles that parenting requires of us. She cuts through heavy themes with dry humor, like weighing John Muir’s ideas of freedom in the great outdoors against the hard reality of day care pickup. Hold Near the Middle is precise and beautiful.
This roller coaster of a poetry collection explores both the grief of lost love and the impact of poetic form itself. Katherine Gekker takes us down a path of healing and discovery, making excellent use of her wry sense of humor and intricate understanding of poetics. The collection ends at an uneasy, if deeply satisfying, finish line: We aren’t whole, but we haven’t been broken.
Chelsea Stickle has a gift for examining “normal” life and twisting it into unexpected shapes. In this dark, funny short story collection, hurricane shelters turn into mushroom cults, neighborhood streets get invaded by murderous peacocks, and dinner party guests unravel.
D.C. Arts and Humanities Fellow Dahlia Aguilar’s debut poetry collection moves through memory, migration, and resistance, balancing historical struggle with a clear-eyed hope for the present. This is a new addition to my TBR pile!
Another debut, Christina Tudor’s Call My Body a Cautionary Tale is a flash prose collection, made up of extremely short pieces that often defy genre. I had the great privilege of reading an advanced copy of this chapbook, and it was unhinged and brilliant, taking on body surveillance with surreal, dark humor. A sampling of Tudor’s work offers you a Medusa retelling, a girl with a third leg, and a ghost lingering in a grieving couple’s house.
Local writing teacher Hildie S. Block’s long-awaited forthcoming collection uses micro flash prose, each piece under 400 words, to focus on cooking and food as an anchor for self-exploration. Block has published in more literary journals than you can count, and has mentored half of the D.C. writing scene. I’m very excited for this little book.
Kiran Desai with Aminatta Forna
Booker Prize-winning author Kiran Desai discusses her new novel, The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, with novelist, memoirist, and essayist Aminatta Forna. The event begins at 6 p.m. on Sept. 26 at Politics and Prose at Union Market. Free, first come, first served seating.
Latine Heritage Through a Literary Lens
The Writer’s Center and Tintas DC present a free symposium exploring Latine heritage in literature and popular culture, with creative writing workshops, a panel discussion with featured writers Dahlia Aguilar (mentioned above), Raffi “DJ Raffi” Umanzor, and María Amelia Viteri, and a reception. The symposium starts at 1 p.m. on Sept. 27 at the Writer’s Center. Free, but registration is required.
A Writing Workshop with Washington Writers’ Publishing House
Washington Writers’ Publishing House celebrates its 50th anniversary and the release of its latest anthology, Capital Love, with a writing workshop at Lost City Books, co-hosted by Caroline Bock and Jona Colson. Copies of Capital Love will be available for purchase, and the event will include an open mic. The workshop starts at 5 p.m. on Sept. 27 at Lost City Books. Open mic is limited and first come, first served.
Launch Party for Welcome Calm, Silence Tyrants: Adult Lullabies with Melanie Weldon-Soiset
Melanie Weldon-Soiset hosts a launch party for her new book, Welcome Calm, Silence Tyrants: Adult Lullabies, at K Bird Bar. The party starts at 7 p.m. on Sept. 29 at K Bird Bar. $32.29–$54.16.
Rebuilding Palestinian Identity with the Inner Loop
Kramers and the Inner Loop welcome poet Lenna Jawdat and local short story writer Hasan Dudar for a talk exploring what Palestinians have lost and how they can rebuild, moderated by Zeina Azzam. The event starts at 7 p.m. on Sept. 29 at Kramers. Free.
Book Launch with K. S. Shay, author of Portrait of a Witch Undone
K. S. Shay celebrates the launch of her debut novel, Portrait of a Witch Undone, a contemporary fantasy about best friends, ambitious witches, and the Isabella Stewart Gardner art heist. The event begins at 7 p.m. on Oct. 1 at Old Town Books in Alexandria. Tickets from $11.49–$32.49.
1455’s Women Writers Anthology Reading
The Writer’s Center welcomes 1455 Literary Arts to celebrate the launch of its Women Writers Anthology, with a Q&A between 1455 executive director Sean Murphy and SpotLIT columnist Hannah Grieco, followed by readings from the anthology. The event starts at 2 p.m. on Oct. 3 at the Writer’s Center. Free, but RSVP required.
