Congratulations to the winners and honorees of Tupelo Press contests for 2012.
Dorset Prize
Kimiko Hahn has selected Maggie Smith’s The Well Speaks of Its Own Poison as winner of the 2012 Dorset Prize.
Born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1977, Maggie Smith is the author of Lamp of the Body (Red Hen Press), winner of the Benjamin Saltman Poetry Award, and two prizewinning chapbooks, Nesting Dolls (Pudding House) and The List of Dangers (Kent State University Press). Smith’s poems have appeared in The Paris Review, The Gettysburg Review, Shenandoah, The Iowa Review, The Southern Review, Court Green, and many other journals. Her work has also been included in anthologies such as From the Other World: Poems in Memory of James Wright, The Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror 2008, Apocalypse Now: Poems and Prose from the End of Days, and The Helen Burns Poetry Anthology: New Voices from the Academy of American Poets University & College Prizes, Volume 9. With a B.A. from Ohio Wesleyan University and an M.F.A. from The Ohio State University, Smith has taught creative writing as the Emerging Writer Lecturer at Gettysburg College and has blogged for The Kenyon Review. A 2011 recipient of a Creative Writing Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, Smith has also received three Individual Excellence Awards from the Ohio Arts Council, two Academy of American Poets Prizes, and a fellowship from the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. She lives with her husband and two children in Bexley, Ohio, where she works as a freelance writer and editor.
Runners-Up (in alphabetical order):
Lillian-Yvonne Bertram of Salt Lake City, Utah for a slice of the cake made of air
Doug Ramspeck of Lima, Ohio for Original Bodies
Finalists (in alphabetical order):
Margo Berdeshevsky of Paris, France for The Breaking Book
Kara Candito of Madison, Wisconsin for Spectator
Lisa Fay Coutley of Salt Lake City, Utah for Errata
Chiyuma Elliott of Oakland, California for Still Life with Game, Champagne, and Vegetables
Rebecca Foust of Ross, California for Otherwise, Everything Was Brilliant
Julie Hanson of Cedar Rapids, Iowa for Charmed in What Regard?
Janine Joseph of Houston, Texas for Extended Stay
George Kalamaras of Fort Wayne, Indiana for Scraps of Said
Amy McCann of Minneapolis, Minnesota for Yes Thorn
Dan Murphy of Los Angeles, California for The Book of False Rhyme
Carol Potter of Corinth, Vermont for Packed in Dozens
Mark Rice of San Francisco, California for Covering
Juliet Rodeman of Columbia, Missouri for The Voice of That Singing
Helen Klein Ross of New York, New York for Days of the Saints
Molly Tennenbaum of Seattle, Washington for Mytheria
Julie Marie Wade of Dania Beach, Florida for D R I F T
Liz Waldner of Lowell, Arkansas for The Size of Her Namelessness
Sharon Wang of Queens, New York for Practice in the Shadow Room
Jonathan Weinert of Concord, Massachusetts for Replacement Heaven
Sarah Wetzel of New York, New York for A River Says Run
Congratulations to all, and our deep appreciation to the many, many poets who sent us so much terrific work, and also, of course and especially, to Kimiko Hahn.
July Open Reading Period
Tupelo Press is proud and honored to select The Book of Stones and Angels by Harold Schweizer of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, and the good dark by Annie Guthrie of Tucson, Arizona for publication from among those submitted during our July Open Reading Period
Harold Schweizer, (Ph.D. Zurich), is a poet, essayist and teacher. From 2006-2011 he held the John P. Crozer Chair in English at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, where he teaches courses in modern poetry, literary theory, holocaust studies, representations of suffering, and the comparative humanities. He has published poems in American Poetry Review, New Orleans Review, and Cincinnati Review, and more poems are forthcoming in Poetry International, diode, and Pleiades.
The Book of Stones and Angels — Schweizer’s first book of poetry — is achingly beautiful and sad in its Rilkean harmonies. There’s the unmistakable aura of Stevens about it, but Schweizer’s personal stamp is wholly earned, original, and compelling. The intelligence in these poems is so very awake and observant, yet their stanzas reach fully into the muscles of the heart. I’m reminded again of what Paul Klee writes in his Diaries, “One eye sees, the other feels.”— Jeffrey Levine, Tupelo Press Editor-in-Chief
Annie Guthrie, (M.F.A. Warren Wilson Program for Writers) who lives in Tucson, Arizona, is a writer, teacher, and jeweler. She teaches at, and is the Marketing Director of, the University of Arizona Poetry Center. She has published in Tarpaulin Sky, Ploughshares, Fairy Tale Review, Many Mountains Moving, H_NGM_N, The Destroyer, RealPoetik, Everyday Genius, Omniverse, The Volta, Spiral Orb, The Dictionary Project, 1913: A Journal of Forms, Drunken Boat, and elsewhere.
the good dark — Guthrie’s first book of poetry — is as spare on the page as Schweizer’s work is generous, but one has everywhere the feeling of needing every square inch of white space. This is poetry that wells up from deep within the unconscious, where each line claims a life of its own, and all weave together into a sustained sense of “here I am.” There are faint tremors of Gertrude Stein, but the work is entirely new. — Jeffrey Levine, Tupelo Press Editor-in-Chief
Although the July Open Reading Period at Tupelo Press is not a contest and therefore we don’t specify “finalists” or “semi-finalists,” we do want to single out those manuscripts that we felt deserving of special mention — the ones we had on the desk as the final decisions were made, which we’ll call “Honorable Mentions” and “Other Remarkable Work.”
Finally, please know that there were so many memorable and vibrant manuscripts that stake a serious claim of entitlement to publication, and so many, many manuscripts that had brilliant parts and pieces, yet hadn’t yet “jelled” as a book. We hope to see all of this work again. The Dorset Prize is on now. It’s read anonymously, and this year by an entirely new slate of terrific poets (see our upcoming announcement for what we hope you’ll agree is a stellar list).
Honorable Mentions:
Seth Abramson, Madison, Wisconsin, Thievery
Desirée Alvarez, New York, New York, Enchanted Ground
Geoffrey Babbitt, Geneva, New York, Appendices Pulled from a Study on Light
Hadara Bar-Nadav, Kansas City, Missouri, Lullaby (with Exit Sign)
Margo Berdeshevsky, Paris, France, The Breaking Book
Deb Casey, Eugene, Oregon, Mothertongue
Victoria Chang, Rossmoor, California, Dear P. and The Boss
Gary Hawkins, Black Mountain, North Carolina, Worker
Paul Hoover, Mill Valley, California, Gravity‘s Children / The Windows
Luisa A. Igloria, Norfolk, Virginia, Ode to the Heart Smaller than a Pencil Eraser
Diane Kirsten Martin, San Francisco, California, Hue and Cry
Juliet Rodeman, Colombia, Missouri, The Voice Of That Singing
Broc Rossell, Denver, Colorado, Cark
Martha Silano, Seattle, Washington, House of Mystery
Peter Strekfus, Northport, Alabama, Errings
Eliot Khalil Wilson, Golden, Colorado, This Island of Dogs
Sam Witt, Framingham, Massachusetts, Little Doomesday Books
Theodore Worozbyt, Covington, Georgia, Echo‘s Recipe
Gail Wronsky, Topanga, California, The World in Reverse
Other Remarkable Work:
Angela Ball, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, A Report on the Party and the Guests
Mary Buchinger, Cambridge, Massachusetts, my heart, and all the fields —
John De Stefano, New York, New York, Critical Opalescence and the Blueness of the Sky and Three-Body Problems
Marlon Fick, Wenzhou, China, The Tenderness and the Wood
Harry Griswold, San Diego, California, Under the Piano
Jessica Harman, Arlington, Massachusetts, Overflowing Inner Beauty TV
Judith Harris, Washington, D.C., Night Garden
George Kalamaras, Fort Wayne, Indiana, We Wore Monk Hair
Janet Kaplan, Brooklyn, New York, Chronicles
Jesse Lee Kercheval, Madison, Wisconsin, Extrajera / Stranger
George Looney, Erie, Pennsylvania, The Indefinite Clarity of Sky: Poems of Kinsale
Jacquelyn Malone, Lowell, Massachusetts, The Sedimentary Layer
Sawnie Morris, Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico, Her Infinite
Addie Palin, Chicago, Illinois, The Cautery
Linda Tomol Pennisi, Syracuse, New York, Miniscule Boxes in the Bird’s Bright Throat
Maud Poole, New York, New York, Purse Pistol
Carol Potter, Corinth, Vermont, DNA
Jendi Reiter, Northampton, Massachusetts, Bullies in Love
David Roderick, Greensboro, North Carolina, The Americans
Susan Roney-O’Brien, Princeton, Massachusetts, Thira
Helen Klein Ross, New York, New York, Because of Them
Dennis Schmitz, Sacramento, California, Intimacy
Tina Schumann, Seattle, Washington, Praising the Paradox
Gail Segal, New York, New York, Fault Lines
Peter Shippy, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, this theatre of honey and faded roses
Katherine Soniat, Asheville, North Carolina, A Fan of Bees
Page Hill Starzinger, New York, New York, Vestigial
John Surowiecki, Amston, Connecticut, Significant Others
Joyce Sutphen, Chaska, Minnesota, Sleight of Hand
Brian Swan, New York, New York, World‘s Shadow
Molly Tenenbaum, Seattle, Washington, Umbilical Travels
Christian C. Thompson, Broomall, Pennsylvania, Low Growth
Daneen Wardrop, Kalamazoo, Michigan, Cyclorama
William Wenthe, Lubbock, Texas, God‘s Foolishness
Congratulations to all, and thank you to all the poets who sent us their work. We appreciate your participation and continued support!
Tupelo Press 2012 First / Second Book Award
Tupelo Press is delighted to announce that Dan Beachy-Quick has selected Halve by Kristina Jipson of South Bend, Indiana as winner of the 2012 First / Second Book Award. The runner-up is Cark, by Broc Rossell of Denver, Colorado.
Kristina Jipson’s poems have appeared in American Letters & Commentary, At Length, Chicago Review, Colorado Review, DIAGRAM, and elsewhere. She is the author of two chapbooks: How Void of Miracles, published by Hand Held Editions, and Lock, Means, published by Dancing Girl Press. She lives in South Bend, Indiana.
Distinguished Finalists (in alphabetical order):
a slice of cake made from air by Lillian-Yvonne Bertram of Salt Lake City, Utah
Flirt by Noah Blaustein of Santa Monica, California
MotherTongue by Deb Casey of Eugene, Oregon
Certain Registers by Thomas Cook of Northampton, Massachusetts
The Bottle Tree by Ansel Elkins of Greensboro, North Carolina
The Good Dark by Annie Guthrie of Tucson, Arizona
vow by Rebecca Hazelton of Madison, Wisconsin
Pantry by Lilah Hegnauer of Charlottesville, Virginia
Rigging a Chevy into a Time Machine & Other Ways to Escape a Plague by Carolyn Hembree of New Orleans, Louisiana
Ghost and Pig by Byron A. Kanoti of Kirtland, Ohio
Moth on a Window Pane at Dusk by Steve Lautermilch of Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina
Mad Honey Arena by Sally Wen Mao of Ithaca, New York
Her, Infinite by Sawnie Morris of Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico
A Goat From a Distance by Jennifer Moss of Seattle, Washington
The Cautery by Addie Palin of Chicago, Illinois
The Americans by David Roderick of Greensboro, North Carolina
Clarkston St. Polaroids by Stephanie Ellis Schlaifer of Saint Louis, Missouri
Salt Flat by Holly Simonsen of Salt Lake City, Utah
Art’s Garage by Heather Winterer of Medanales, New Mexico
Empire of Grass by Tracy Zeman of Springfield, Illinois
Congratulations to all, and thank you to all the poets who sent us their work. We appreciate your participation and continued support!
Tupelo Press Snowbound Chapbook Award
Tupelo Press is especially delighted to announce that Christopher Buckley has selected Or, Gone by Deborah Flanagan of New York, New York as winner of the 2012 Snowbound Chapbook Poetry Award. The runner-up is Linda Tomol Pennisi of Syracuse, New York, for Miniscule Boxes in the Bird’s Bright Throat.
Deborah Flanagan’s work has appeared in journals including The Gettysburg Review, Ploughshares, FIELD, The Southern Review, The Laurel Review, and DIAGRAM, among others. She was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Deborah lives in the Lower East Side in New York City.
Other Distinguished Finalists (in alphabetical order):
Hadara Bar-Nadav of Kansas City, Missouri — Compose an Evening Sky
Margo Berdeshevsky of Paris, France — The Breaking Book
Lillian-Yvonne Bertram of Salt Lake City, Utah — machine gun villa
Lillian-Yvonne Bertram of Salt Lake City, Utah — personal science
Jennifer Bullis of Bellingham, Washington — Myths of Origin, Falling Away
Deb Casey of Eugene, Oregon — Spit & Purr
Gayle Ellen Harvey of Utica, New York — Touch
Karen Kevorkian of Culver City, California — Vivid Singular Acts of Small Scale
Iris A. Law of Lexington, Kentucky — Periodicity
Daniel Lusk of Burlington, Vermont — Kin: A Sort of Bestiary
Sally Molini of Omaha, Nebraska — Tiny Wry Marimbas
Alison Pelegrin of Covington, Louisiana — Dirty South: Poems
Amy Pence, of Carrollton, Georgia — [It] Incandescent: Poems, with Literary Biography and a Novella in Voices
Samantha Reiser of New York, New York — Tomas Simon and Other Poems
Chuck Rybak of Oneida, Wisconsin — What I Did During the Wars
Richard Scheiwe of Orland Park, Illinois — Linen, Heat
Charles Schubert of Aromas, California — End Transmission
Jim Tilley of Bedford Corners, New York — Cruising at Sixty to Seventy: Hamish’s Diary Poems
Congratulations to all, and thank you to all the poets who sent us their work. We appreciate your participation and continued support!