The Prize Is Open. The Book Is Almost Here. And We Have a Secret.
Our New Website Is Live
THE INKWELL · INK & RIBBON PRESS
There is a particular feeling that comes just before a book enters the world — not quite anticipation, not quite readiness, but something closer to the moment before a door opens, when you can already sense the light on the other side. Or maybe it’s just a drop!
We are in that moment now.
Our New Website Is Live
We are pleased to announce that the new Ink & Ribbon Press website is live at inkandribbon.org.
It is, we hope, a place that feels like the press itself: considered, unhurried, built for readers who take poetry seriously. You’ll find information about our publishing model, our poets, our books — and the pages will grow as the year does. Take a look, and if something moves you, tell someone.
The LemonLight Prize 2026 Is Open
We are proud to announce that this year’s LemonLight Prize will be judged by Leila Chatti.
Leila is the author of Deluge, published by Copper Canyon Press — a collection that arrived with the weight and precision of something genuinely necessary. She is a poet of rare honesty and formal intelligence, and we could not be more honored to have her read for us this year.
Submissions are open now through May 30, 2026. » Submit Here«
The prize carries a cash award of $3,000, publication consideration, and recognition through the press’s growing community of readers - as well as publication in our anthology. Entry details are available on our website. We read everything with care, and we mean that, and this year, so will Leila.
If you have been working on something — if you have a poem that insists on being seen — this is a worthy place to send it.
A Second Book Is Coming (with more on the way)
We have signed our second title and have shortlisted 2-3 more!
We are not ready to share the details just yet — the announcement deserves its own moment — but we wanted you, our closest readers, to know that the work of building this press is well underway. Two books. Two poets. More to come.
Watch this space.
The Book Is Taking Shape
Behind the scenes, Sesquipedalian Rain Chant is becoming a physical object. We are currently selecting paper stock — a decision that matters more than it might sound, because the way a poem sits on a page, the weight of it in the hand, is part of how it is received. We are getting proofs back and making the small, consequential choices that turn a manuscript into a book.
It is painstaking work. It is exactly the kind of work we exist to do.
Save the Date: Launch Party at Eagle Harbor Book Company
On the evening of Thursday, July 9th, we will gather at Eagle Harbor Book Company on Bainbridge Island to celebrate the debut of Sesquipedalian Rain Chant by Brooks Lampe.
There will be readings. There will be books in hand — real, made, limited-edition books. There will be community, of the kind that only gathers around poems.
Eagle Harbor Book Company has been a neighbor and a fellow believer in the long life of the book, and we are grateful to celebrate there. Full event details — including time and how to reserve your place — are coming soon.
How to Get Involved
This press runs on belief and community as much as anything else. Here are a few ways to be part of what we’re building:
Submit to the LemonLight Prize. If you write poems, send us your work. Deadline: May 20, 2026. Details at inkandribbon.org.
Pre-order Sesquipedalian Rain Chant. Limited to 250 copies. Pre-orders are open now. This is a book worth owning.
Make a donation. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, every gift goes directly into the work — into paper stock decisions, into honoraria for poets, into the long life of the books we make. You can give at inkandribbon.org.
Share this. If you know someone who cares about poetry the way we do — a reader, a writer, a teacher, a librarian — pass this along. The press grows one reader at a time.
A Note of Gratitude
This press was built by a community before it had a single book to show. You have been here through the essays, the editorial reflections, the quiet work of making something from nothing. That matters more than we can easily say.
The door is opening. Come through it with us.
With care,
G. K. Allum President & Founding Editor, Ink & Ribbon Press
Submit to the LemonLight Prize → Pre-order Sesquipedalian Rain Chant → Support the Press →
