Published Works
Special Events and Happenings
>NEW CHAPBOOK! Stump–just released by Bottlecap Press in November 2025! Check out the details under the Chapbook section of this page. You can also click on this link for more details, and to see all my titles available through this unique indie press: https://bottlecap.press/products/stumak
>ON SHELVES. Stop in to The Pile Bookstore at 7117B Roosevelt Ave. and check out their robust local author’s section. My five chapbooks are among the mix of various established and emerging authors from the Chicago area. Thank you to proprietor Rebecca Lewis for her generosity in setting aside the space and for supporting the work of local writers. To learn more about this community-focused bookstore, visit https://www.thepilebookstore.com/
Chapbooks
>Yesterday’s Playlist / Bottlecap Press 2023
In Yesterday’s Playlist, Ann Kammerer propels a central character from trailer parks to bars to the hazy freeways of Los Angeles via Greyhound Bus. Spanning the late 1970s and early 1980s, Kammerer’s debut chapbook applies journalistic style to present mini-stories in free verse so readers can draw their own conclusions. While independent, each piece within this chorus of narrative poetry is connected by the common thread of Top 40 hits.
Yesterday’s Playlist invites readers to enter a detached post-industrial world that manifests in connections through casual acquaintance or random strangers, linked by the backdrop of song.
>>Available through Bottlecap Press: https://bottlecap.press/products/playlist
>Beaut / Kelsay Books 2024
Through a collection of 11 interconnected narrative poems, Ann Kammerer presents the emotional erosion of an American family in the 1960s. Told through the eyes of a child, Beaut depicts an angry and resentful wife who has grown tired of her husband’s crass criticisms of her family, even though she despises her own mother. Drawing on journalistic style, Kammerer takes readers to the harsh truth of the characters’ lives, played out through every self-medicating drink, cigarette, and argument. Set within an industrial, once-prosperous region in decline, Beaut employs the hopeful metaphors of old cars and baseball to examine American ideals and ambition.
>>Available through Kelsay Books: https://kelsaybooks.com/products/beaut-interconnected-narrative-poetry OR on Amazon
>Friends Once There / Impspired 2024
In Friends Once There, Ann Kammerer pays homage to high school friends who passed away, many before reaching the age of 25. Each of the 15 narrative poems in this collection examines the challenges that shaped the lives of teenagers and young adults in the 1970s, and the effects those forces had on their choices and opportunities. Told in a concise, objective style, these poems evoke the universal theme of youthful idealism gone astray.
>>Available on Amazon
>>To learn more about Impspired, visit impspired.com
>Someone Else / Bottlecap Press 2024
A woman wanders, handing out flower petals. A man mouths the words of pop songs, tapping out time on the bed rail. We hear conversations with ghosts of friends, family, and strangers, and watch preparations for a dinner that happened years ago. Meanwhile, two men anticipate a big game or a championship bout, while a woman reclaims her beauty, gazing at high school photographs.
In Someone Else, Ann Kammerer presents poetic sketches of people with dementia and chronic illness as they live in extended care. Her simple portraits invite readers to travel with each character into interior worlds of re-imagined glories that enliven late adulthood. Through this short, concise collection of nine narrative poems, Kammerer bears witness to overlooked men and women composing the coda of their lives.
>>Available through Bottlecap Press: https://bottlecap.press/products/someone
>At the Cleaners / Bottlecap Press 2025 NEW!
In At the Cleaners, Ann Kammerer spins the inner workings of a small-town dry-cleaning business as seen by a young counter clerk. Through a collection of mini stories in verse, Kammerer introduces us to a set of characters whose relationships with one another often mirror the dirty laundry they take in.
Set in the 1970s, At the Cleaners examines the roles of men and women during a time of societal change, and the perceived limitations of conventional lives. Kammerer’s interconnected narratives present portraits of desire and loneliness as everyday people look to redefine and elevate their circumstances, and to revitalize their lives as they might their finest clothes.
>>Available through Bottlecap Press: https://bottlecap.press/products/cleaners
>Stump / Bottlecap Press 2025 NEW!
After years apart, a young woman returns to visit her estranged mother. She meets her mother’s latest partner—a veteran pilot of World War II with his own history of loss, abandonment, and unmet expectations. Amid poverty and fractured relationships, the three struggle to connect.
Set in the late 1970s in Battle Creek, Michigan, Stump uses eight mini-stories in verse by Ann Kammerer to explore a broken mother-daughter bond, diminished hope, and the erosion of the American dream in a once-thriving Midwestern city.
>>Available through Bottlecap Press: https://bottlecap.press/collections/poetry/products/stumak
Anthologies
>Querencia Press / Quarterly Anthology
Three poems: “Skipping School,” “Three Years After,” “Behind Me” (Quarterly Anthology, Spring 2023)
Two poems: “Ribbon,” “TV Minutes” (Quarterly Anthology, Winter 2023)
One Poem: “Prize” (Quarterly Anthology, Spring 2024)
>>Visit Querencia Press at https://www.querenciapress.com OR available on Amazon
>Crow Woods Publishing / Visions of Life: Art-Inspired Short Stories / 2015
“Dress Up”
>Crow Woods Publishing / Visions of Life 2: Art-Inspired Short Stories / 2020
“Print Services”
>>Available on Amazon
>>To learn more about Crow Woods Publishing, visit https://crowwoodspublishing.com
Literary Magazines
>Fictive Dream
Multiple pieces of flash fiction: “Echo” (May 19, 2023); “Beaut” (Aug. 25, 2023); “Holding Hands” (Nov. 17, 2023); “Dried Spaghetti” (May 3, 2024); “Big Girls Things” (Sept. 1, 2024); “Almost There” (Aug. 18, 2025)
>>Visit Fictive Dream at https://fictivedream.com and search for Ann Kammerer
>One Art: A Journal of Poetry
Four poems: “Blackbird,” “Jaywalking,” Burnouts,” “But Beautiful” (Jan. 3, 2024)
Four poems: “Red Coat,” “Pancakes,” “Candy Counter,” “Fugue” (April 21, 2024)
Three poems: “Robin,” “Curation,” “Rookie,” (Dec. 17, 2024)
One poem: “Red Things” (Nov. 23, 2025) NEW!
>>Visit One Art at https://oneartpoetry.com and search for Ann Kammerer
>Chiron Review
“St. Christopher” Dec. 2024, Issue 135; previously published work
“Two Works: Roommates,” Higgins” March 2025, Issue 136
“Favorite Restaurant” (coming June 2026 )
>>Visit https://chironreview.godaddysites.com (new site is under construction); current and back issues available through Amazon by searching Chiron Review
>Bright Flash Literary Review
“Some Saturdays” (March 2, 2024)
>>Visit Bright Flash Literary Review at https://brightflash1000.com/2024/03/02/some-saturdays/
>Workers Write! Literary Journal
“Old Elvis, Young Elvis” April 2025, Issue 21
>>Visit https://www.workerswritejournal.com/
>10 by 10 Flash Fiction Stories
“Big Dates, Little Dates”, 10 By 10 Flash, October 2025, Issue 32 NEW!
>>Visit https://10x10flash.com/
>The Broken Spine / Poetry and Arts Collective: Rites & Trials Coming of Age Poetry Anthology
“Cul-de-Sac” NEW!
>>To learn more about The Broken Spine Poetry and Arts Collective visit: https://thebrokenspine.co.uk/about/
Slimline Poetry Anthology available on Amazon
>Cold Caller Magazine
“Envelopes” (coming Spring 2026)
>Persimmon Tree Magazine
“Scrappy” (coming Summer 2026)
>BlazeVOX: An Online Journal of Voice
“Spaghetti Night” Spring 2025, Issue 25
>> Cllck here for poem
>>For full issue, visit https://www.blazevox.org/blazevox-journal/blazevox25-spring-2025
>Major 7th Magazine
“Hot Rod Hearts / Robbie Dupree” (May 26, 2024)
>>Visit Major 7th Magazine at https://www.major7mag.com/post/hot-rod-hearts-robbie-dupree-by-ann-kammerer
>Defenestrationism.net / Finalist / 2025 Flash Suite Fiction Contest
“Once a Good Girl”
>>Visit https://defenestrationism.net/2025-flash-suite-contest/
>Open Arts Forum
Multiple works: 2019 through present
Most current:
“Hosanna” (December 2025)
“New Dishes” (May 2025)
“Forty-Fives” (January 2025)
“Delirium Dream #1: Choral Song” (December 2024)
>>Visit https://openartsforum.com and search for Ann Kammerer
>Thoughtful Dog
“The Beach” (June 2017)
>>Visit https://www.thoughtfuldogmag.com/beach-ann-kammerer
Awards and Contests
>Fallen Tree Press
Bare Roots Chapbook Contest 2025; Finalist: “Barbershop” (currently an unpublished chapbook)
>>Visit https://fallentreepress.com/
>Driftwood Press
In-house Poetry Contest 2023; short-list of Top 35; Five poems considered: “Red Coat,” “Japanese Rifle,” “Mamas and Papas,” “But Beautiful,” “Etching”
>>Visit https://www.driftwoodpress.com/
>Tishman Review (folded 2019)
Tillie Olsen Short Story Award 2018; Top 10 entries: “Kitty Love”
>Crow Woods Publishing
Art-Inspired Short Stories 2015; First Prize: “Dress Up”
>>Visit https://crowwoodspublishing.com
>Write Michigan
Semi-Finalist 2014: “Fluffy”
>>Visit https://www.wktvjournal.org/write-michigan-semi-finalists-announced OR https://writemichigan.org/
>Current Magazine, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Second Prize 2012: “Extended Visit”
>National Society of Arts and Letters, Michigan Chapter
Fiction Contest 1988 / Honorable Mention: “The Ride”
Writer / Fiction and Poetry 