Speculative Poetry Mini Book Exchange 2026
Create a tiny universe
The Speculative Poetry Mini-Book Exchange invites poets to create handmade mini-books featuring speculative poetry in compact, inventive forms.
Participants will create chapbook-length mini-books using a single sheet of 8½ x 11 or A4 paper. Possible structures include — but are not limited to — the 8- or 16-page folded forms variously known as the zine, snake, or spiral; strip books; flag books; pocket books; or fortune-teller constructions.
Participants may include artwork, symbols, asemic elements, diagrams, collage, or decorative features if they choose.
The only requirements are:
• the mini-book format

• speculative poetry content
This exchange celebrates imagination, experimentation, portability, and handmade poetic objects.
Exchange Format

3 for 3 — send 3 mini-books and receive 3 mini-books in return.
Deadlines
The deadline for sign up is August 31, 2026. The deadline for books is arrival in NY by November 14, 2026, during National Speculative Poetry Month, allowing books to circulate before the holiday season.
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Postage
If you are in the U.S., enclose the same amount of postage it takes to send your book , and with a label with your name and address. If you are not in the U.S. or can't send stamps, email speculative poetry@gmail.com with your paypal information to pay your return postage
Instruction
Instruction links, templates, and mock-up examples are gathered and shared here for participants new to these forms.
For many participants, this may also become an additional publication credit or chapbook-length project for 2026.
For more information contact Akua Lezli Hope at speculativepoetry@gmail.com.
Small books for enormous visions
This is a form-based creative ritual demonstrating
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constraint as invention
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multiplicity without mass production
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tactile circulation in a digital age
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chapbook as artifact
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speculative poetry as object and encounter
MOCKUPS AND INSTRUCTIONS
Flag Books
The flag book is a very exciting form, originally created by Hedi Kyle, where layered pages crisscross each other when opening and closing, making the book a living, moving, interactive entity. The flags’ wonderful movement allows for multiple images and content. This structure can be enjoyed in a linear fashion, page by page, or it can reveal the entire story at one time; this experience is different almost every time the book is opened.
by Andrew Huot
Akua Lezli Hope's effort to make her first flag book! A 12-stanza speculative poem, 12 flags, each flag a stanza.
Strip Books
by Akua Lezli Hope
the same 12 stanza poem, now 12 pages
Online Instructions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB5CwFAs98o
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https://booklyn.org/how-to-make-a-mini-flag-book/
We love this book format in particular because the template can be printed out on (2) pieces of 8.5″ x 11″, which makes it more accessible for classroom teachers, or anyone with a basic computer and printer set up. Watch the video below, and download the template to make your own.
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Watch this step-by-step visual demonstration to see exactly how the paper folds and pops into its final booklet shape:
