In honor of late editor and publisher Brian W. Fugett, the annual Brian Fugett Memorial Prize recognizes an outstanding poetry chapbook manuscript, with the winning manuscript selected for publication by Citizens for Decent Literature Press and awarded 25 contributor copies.
The Literary Underground is proud to announce acclaimed poet, editor, and arts advocate Richard Modiano as the 2026 special guest judge. Modiano has played a significant role in the American poetry community. While a resident of New York City, Modiano became active in the literary community connected to the Poetry Project where he came to know Gregory Corso, Allen Ginsberg, Anne Waldman, William S. Burroughs and Ted Berrigan. In 2001 he was a programmer at Beyond Baroque Literary/Arts Center, joined the Board of Trustees in 2006, and from 2010 to 2019, he served as Executive Director. The Huffington Post named him as one of 200 people doing the most to promote poetry in the United States. Modiano is the winner of the 2022 Joe Hill Prize for labor poetry and is a Pushcart Prize nominee.
Submissions for the 2026 prize will be open June 1–30, with the winner announced in August.
