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!

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.

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.

Originally posted to Wattpad, "The Second Trial" by Twixie is a poem that explores the trauma that comes with society's treatment of sexual assault survivors. The poem is part of a collection called, Symphony of Wings & Hearts.

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.

"Broken Friendship" by Palak Taneja is a poem about the way deep friendships can be lost as people drift apart. The poem was originally written in Hindi, but an English translation is also available. Click here to read this poem in English.

"Broken Friendship" by Palak Taneja is a poem about the way deep friendships can be lost as people drift apart. The poem was originally written in Hindi. Click here to read this poem in its original form.

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.

"The Nightmare" by Arushi Kashyap is a spooky tale of a dream gone wrong. It is told in eight parts, with each part whisking the reader into a new dreamscape. This is Chapter Eight.

"Little Henry" is a short story by Gökdeniz Ustabaş. Deniz's work has previously appeared in the magazine, Merhaba Canım.

"How Did Yo...Never mind," is a story by Ri and one of the winners of the March Writing Contest. You can find the story originally posted to Wattpad.

"How Did Yo...Never mind," is a story by Ri and one of the winners of the March Writing Contest. You can find the story originally posted to Wattpad.