Pushcart Prize Nominations from VPR for 2008

In December, Pushcart Press will be releasing its 33nd edition of small press literary selections, The Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses. Since 1976, editor Bill Henderson has brought added recognition to the many fine small presses and literary journals publishing quality material with his annual anthology distributed by W.W. Norton. Writers whose early works were first highlighted in the pages of the series’ volumes include Charles Baxter, Raymond Carver, Joshua Clover, Andres Dubus, John Irving, Philip Levine, Philip Lopate, Susan Minot, Paul Muldoon, Tim O’Brien, Jayne Anne Phillips, Mona Simpson, and many others.

In recent volumes the nomination process for the Pushcart Prize has been opened to online journals and their editors. I applaud this move, and I encourage further acknowledgment of the high quality of writing found in many electronic publications. Therefore, I am pleased to offer the half-dozen works listed below as the 2008 nominees from Valparaiso Poetry Review for the Pushcart Prize, perhaps again signaling one way to express VPR’s support for the inclusion of pieces from electronic magazines for consideration in the long-standing tradition of this fine anthology.

As I have mentioned in the past when nominating works from Valparaiso Poetry Review for the additional recognition of an award or further publication in any “best of” anthology, I value all the poems and depend on all the poets in VPR. In addition, as mentioned in a recent post (“Thanksgiving Leftovers: Woody Allen, Best Books Lists, and Name Games”), inevitably these sort of selections often are particularly subjective. Therefore, such decisions are not easy.

Yet, I welcome the admirable efforts of the Pushcart Press and Bill Henderson to bring attention to the excellent literary works found in small presses and journals, in print and online. Moreover, I am grateful when an opportunity arises for a few of VPR’s splendid poets to reach an even larger audience and find the greater recognition they deserve through possible inclusion in such an anthology.

A little more than two weeks ago I submitted nominees from this year’s issues of VPR to the Pushcart Press, but I have withheld announcement until after the Thanksgiving weekend. Today, I am proud to announce the six following poems represent the nominations from the 2008 issues of Valparaiso Poetry Review (Volume IX, Number 2 and Volume X, Number 1) to be considered for inclusion in the next volume by the Pushcart Press, The Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses XXXIV, which will be published in December 2009:

PUSHCART PRIZE NOMINEES FROM 2008 ISSUES OF VPR


J.P. Dancing Bear: “Chiroptera”

Mary Biddinger: “The Last Man She Ever Knew”

Jared Carter: “Dark Transit”

Lynnell Edwards: “Suite for Red River Gorge”

Patricia Fargnoli: “The Swankeeper”

Elise Paschen: “Cicadas”

I congratulate each of these poets, and I wish to express my appreciation to all the contributors whose works have appeared in VPR this past year.


—Edward Byrne, Editor of Valparaiso Poetry Review