This website is dedicated to celebrating diversity in literature! If you like to read work by new writers, please visit Short Stories & Poems. To lcheck out book reviews and to learn about the history of exclusion in film, television, literature, and comic books, visit Essays. On the Resources page, you will find a vast array of articles to help you explore new books and new ways of reading as well as a few articles for the writers among us. All are welcome to participate in the monthly writing contests. Visit Writing Contests to find out this month's theme and to find out how to participate. Visit the Submissions page if you would like to submit your work to be featured on this platform. And if you are an indie, self-published, or up-and-coming author or poet, consider contacting me about being featured in one of the Author Q&A posts or for your book to be included in the Book Release Radar. Underground Bookshelf is on Patreon for those who would like to help me keep this project going. You're also welcome to subscribe to the monthly newsletter to receive regular updates. May you find your next favorite book or author! Happy reading!
16 Jul 2026 15:25
I've got two events scheduled so far (and working on a third one), so if you happen to be in the area of Boston, MA, USA on the dates below, you're invited to join one (or more) of the events listed below. The events are FREE to attend!
15 Jul 2026 14:47
Welcome to the latest resource series by Underground Bookshelf. This series focuses on literature written by authors of Iranian heritage. War often comes with undermining the humanity of the people and cultures impacted. One way to reaffirm a people's humanity is to engage with the people, culture, and perspectives through literature and storytelling. In this series, you'll find fiction and nonfiction books for children, middle grade readers, young adults, and adult readers.
14 Jul 2026 16:06
Underground Bookshelf attended the Roxbury Poetry Festival on June 27th, 2026. Attendees were invited to participate in a one-day micro-poetry contest at our booth, and we received so many great submissions that it was hard to select the winners. But it was truly delightful reading what everyone submitted. I can't wait to do another contest like this at the other events we attend this summer. Below, you'll find one of the top three poems, ""Rainbows" by Juanita Cox. Thank you to everyone who submitted. Keep writing!
13 Jul 2026 13:47
Thank you to Alex Chan for allowing me to repost this book review of Love Expanded by Wren Burke. You can find this article in its original form (and so much more) on Alex Chan's website. It was originally posted on April 28, 2026.
9 Jul 2026 14:51
Welcome to the latest resource series by Underground Bookshelf. This series focuses on literature written by authors of Iranian heritage. War often comes with undermining the humanity of the people and cultures impacted. One way to reaffirm a people's humanity is to engage with the people, culture, and perspectives through literature and storytelling. In this series, you'll find fiction and nonfiction books for children, middle grade readers, young adults, and adult readers.
8 Jul 2026 12:58
Thank you to Alex Chan for allowing me to repost this article which discusses her non-fiction reading method. You can find this article in its original form on the author's website. It was originally posted on November 16, 2020.
7 Jul 2026 14:35
Hi everyone! Thanks so much for coming back to visit Underground Bookshelf. I love sharing these resources with you, and I hope everyone who visits finds something they're looking for - whether that's a little light reading, a writing contest, to find the next author or book to add to your TBR, or something else.
7 Jul 2026 13:33
Underground Bookshelf attended the Roxbury Poetry Festival on June 27th, 2026. Attendees were invited to participate in a one-day micro-poetry contest at our booth, and we received so many great submissions that it was hard to select the winners. But it was truly delightful reading what everyone submitted. I can't wait to do another contest like this at the other events we attend this summer. Below, you'll find one of the top three poems,, "Bumblebee Yellow Swimsuit" by Kristen (she/her). Thank you to everyone who submitted. Keep writing!
30 Jun 2026 14:12
What does that mean?
30 Jun 2026 13:43
Underground Bookshelf attended the Roxbury Poetry Festival on June 27th, 2026. Attendees were invited to participate in a one-day micro-poetry contest at our booth, and we received so many great submissions that it was hard to select the winners. But it was truly delightful reading what everyone submitted. I can't wait to do another contest like this at the other events we attend this summer. Below, you'll find the winners and honorable mentions for Saturday's contest. The poems themselves will be released in the following weeks. Thank you to everyone who submitted. Keep writing!
30 Jun 2026 13:42
Underground Bookshelf attended the Roxbury Poetry Festival on June 27th, 2026. Each person who visited our table had a chance to fill in one line of the following poem. Thank you so much to everyone who participated. It was so much fun to see what each new person added to the project. We will write our next group poem on June 25th at the Disability Pride Celebration at the Museum of Science. Members of the Underground Bookshelf community have access to free tickets through a discount code. Please reach out to me at contact.undergroundbookshelf@gmail.com or visit the Summer Events page to get the code. Booking your tickets in advance is recommended.
23 Jun 2026 16:21
Congratulations to Ri for winning the April contest. Four chapters of the book were submitted to this contest. You can find the story in full here.
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