First Matter Press

First Matter Press is seeking a featured cover artist to collaborate on cover art for one poetry title during our upcoming 2026 production cycle.

🔗 Apply here: https://firstmatterpress.submittable.com/submit
Deadline is January 18.

We welcome artists working in all mediums. We are especially drawn to artists with a distinct visual language that carries clearly across their body of work.

Our 2026 poetry title is a collection centered on decolonization: dismantling colonial ideas and systems, and rebuilding through Indigenous-centered, collectivist ways of being that support the self, the community, and the environment.

This call is open to all artists, with particular interest in submissions from Latino/a/x, Chicano/a/x and Indigenous artists, and priority consideration for artists located in the Pacific Northwest. We can only accept applications from U.S.-based artists at this time; sorry no international submissions.

Our process is collaborative. The featured artist will select or generate the final cover artwork in dialogue with the author, the manuscript, and our editorial team. For examples of past cover art, please see book covers featured at firstmatterpress.org.in

Now for a 2026 update! FMP is excited to announce the selected author & title of our 2026 Prima Materia First Chapbook Award. Congrats, for A Casual Apocalypse in Acapulco ✨✨✨

We were so impressed by this year's submissions! We want to thank our finalists for considering us as a home for their work 💚

Thanks to all who visited us at the Portland Book Festival! It was a blast to see you!

Our next adventure is at the OMSI After Dark Art Lab November 12, 2025 | 6-10 pm. We'll be there with our latest titles and fun poem making activities. Please visit their website for details.

OMSI After Dark: The Art Lab Grab a drink and roam the museum at OMSI After Dark. This month, we're exploring the "A" in STEAM with the science of art.

LAUNCH EVENT - SAT, 10/4

Join First Matter Press in celebrating the launch of our 2025 titles: The Dying Room by Annemarie Eayrs, Brava by Violeta Garza, first you must destroy the world by Claudia Saleeby Savage, and waling waling palpitations by nawa angel a.h. Covers feature art by Pearlyn Tan. 

Readings begin at 6pm
Literary Arts, 716 SE Grand Ave
Free & open to the public 

We hope to see you there!

📣 Upcoming Event - SUN, 7/20 at 4:30pm Pacific 📣

Please join us virtually for our first installment of the annual Convos in Cohort series. This event will feature selected readings from our 2025 authors and their upcoming titles followed by a thematic discussion.

RSVP for Zoom access at the link on our bio.