Backwaters Press
The Backwaters Press was a small press based in Omaha, Nebraska. It was a 501(c)(3) non-profit devoted to publishing poetry and literary fiction, with a special emphasis on the literature of Nebraska.{{cite web
|title=Nebraska Arts Council
|url=http://www.artscouncil.nebraska.gov/artists/individual_artist_fellowships/little_bluestem_book_award.html/title/about-the-backwaters-press
|work=online
|accessdate=2015-08-20
|url-status=dead
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141104113949/http://www.artscouncil.nebraska.gov/artists/individual_artist_fellowships/little_bluestem_book_award.html/title/about-the-backwaters-press
|archivedate=2014-11-04
|title=Indie Spotlight: The Backwaters Press |url=http://blog.pshares.org/index.php/indie-spotlight-the-backwaters-press/
|work=Ploughshares |date=2015-09-09 |first=Kate |last=Flaherty |accessdate=2015-09-11 }}
The press was acquired in 2018 by The University of Nebraska Press and continues as a general interest imprint of UNP.[https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/the-backwaters-press/ "About The Backwaters Press"], nebraskapress.unl.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-07. The Backwaters Prize continues under UNP's auspices.[https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/the-backwaters-press-prize-in-poetry/ "The Backwaters Prize in Poetry"], nebraskapress.unl.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-07.
History
The press published numerous award-winning titles, including the anthologies Times of Sorrow, Times of Grace (2003) and Nebraska Presence: An Anthology of Poetry (2007), which won Nebraska Book Awards. In all, the press has been awarded seventeen Nebraska Book Awards {{cite news
|title= The Nebraska Book Awards
|url= http://www.centerforthebook.nebraska.gov/awards/winners/nebook.html/
|accessdate= 2015-08-18
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150812174937/http://centerforthebook.nebraska.gov/awards/winners/nebook.html
|archive-date= 2015-08-12
|url-status= dead
}}{{cite web|title=Backwaters Press|url=http://thebackwaterspress.com/|website=thebackwaterspress.com|publisher=Backwaters Press|accessdate=2 September 2015}} since 2000 for anthologies, design and individual author's collections of poetry. According to Project MUSE, "Each year, the small Omaha press publishes two or three titles by Heartland writers, bringing the often stunning but sometimes forgotten voices of the Midwest to the literary world."{{cite news
|title= Project MUSE
|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/prairie_schooner/v077/77.4ibister.html
|accessdate=2015-08-18 }}{{unreliable source?|date=November 2020}}
In 2011, Greg Kosmicki, the editor, and the press were awarded the Jane Geske Award
|title= The Jane Geske Award
|url= http://www.centerforthebook.nebraska.gov/awards/winners/geske.html/
|accessdate= 2015-08-18
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150923201716/http://www.centerforthebook.nebraska.gov/awards/winners/geske.html/
|archive-date= 2015-09-23
|url-status= dead
}}{{Failed verification|date=August 2015}} for "exceptional, long-term contribution" to books in Nebraska. Backwaters Press has published approximately 90 authors in independent volumes of poetry. Authors published by Backwaters Press include: long-time Nebraska State Poet William Kloefkorn (1982-2011), current Nebraska State Poet Twyla Hansen (2013-),{{cite web|title=Twyla Hansen |url=http://mockingbird.creighton.edu/NCW/thansen.htm |work=humanities.nebraska.org |accessdate=2015-08-20 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160207030907/http://mockingbird.creighton.edu/ncw/thansen.htm |archivedate=2016-02-07 }}
Kansas State Poet Denise Low (2007-2009),{{cite web |title=Denise Low |url=http://www.pw.org/content/denise_low_1
|work=pw.org |date=28 May 1981
|accessdate=2015-08-20 }} and the multiple award-winning authors: Charles Fort,{{cite web |title=Charles Fort |url= http://redhen.org/authors/?author_UUID=34AA6DEA-3199-AA75-9F4F-4317BA4D49EC |work=redhen.org |accessdate=2015-08-20 }} Marge Saiser,{{cite web |title=Marge Saiser |url= http://poetmarge.com/ |work=online |accessdate=2015-08-20 }} Lola Haskins,{{cite web |title=Lola Haskins |url= http://www.pw.org/content/lola_haskins |work=pw.org |date= 17 June 2011 |accessdate=2015-08-20 }} Greg Kuzma, David Ray,{{cite web |title=David Ray |url=http://www.davidraypoet.com/Publications.htm |work=online |accessdate=2015-08-20 }} and Brent Spencer.
The editor of the Backwaters Press in 2015 was James Cihlar, the managing editor was Cat Dixon and the Associate Editor was Rich Wyatt.{{cite web |url=http://thebackwaterspress.com/contact-us/masthead/ |title=Masthead - The Backwaters Press |first= |last= |work=thebackwaterspress.com |year=2015 |accessdate=11 September 2015 |archive-date=15 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150915014503/http://thebackwaterspress.com/contact-us/masthead/ |url-status=dead }} In past years, Backwaters offered the Backwaters Prize, the Weldon Kees Award, and the Omaha Prize, but discontinued the prizes in 2005. In 2012, The Backwaters Press awards the Backwaters Prize for an original book length manuscript.{{cite web|title=The Blackwaters Press|url=http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/listing/blackwaters-press|website=poets.org|publisher=Academy of American Poets|accessdate=3 September 2015}}
The Backwaters Prize winners
The Press awards an annual prize to a book of poetry.{{cite news|last1=Reese|first1=Jim|title=Award-winning poetry collections are zany, raw|url=http://journalstar.com/lifestyles/jim-reese-award-winning-poetry-collections-are-zany-raw/article_32f09580-568f-5c40-80ad-21da26725b78.html|accessdate=2 September 2015|publisher=Journal Star|date=10 September 2005}}{{cite news|last1=Stoughton|first1=India|title=Remembering Beirut, a city between seasons|url=http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Arts-and-Ent/Culture/2014/Nov-14/277556-remembering-beirut-a-city-between-seasons.ashx|accessdate=2 September 2015|publisher=The Daily Star|date=14 November 2014}}
- – John Sibley Williams for Skin Memory (University of Nebraska Press, 2019[https://www.amazon.com/Skin-Memory-Backwaters-Prize-Poetry/dp/1935218506 "Skin Memory (The Backwaters Prize in Poetry) Paperback – November 1, 2019"], amazon.com. Retrieved 2020-11-07.)[https://www.oregonlive.com/books/2019/11/4-oregon-poets-new-collections-plumb-the-past-and-illuminate-the-present.html "4 Oregon poets’ new collections plumb the past and illuminate the present"], oregonlive.com (Advance Local) / The Oregonian, November 9, 2019. Retrieved 2020-11-07.
- 2015 – Kim Garcia for DRONE
- 2014 – Katharine Whitcomb for The Daughter’s Almanac {{cite news
|title= The Daughter's Almanac
|url=http://www.hedgebrook.org/ghosts-daughters-and-heartbreak-some-books-to-read-in-2015/
|accessdate=2015-08-18 }}
- 2013 – Zeina Hashem Beck for To Live in Autumn {{cite news
|title= To Live in Autumn
|url=http://www.zeinahashembeck.com/
|accessdate=2015-08-18 }}{{cite news|last1=Afshan|first1=Ahmed|title=Zeina Hashem Beck: Seeing Beirut in a poetic new light|url=http://www.thenational.ae/arts-lifestyle/books/zeina-hashem-beck-seeing-beirut-in-a-poetic-new-light|accessdate=2 September 2015|publisher=The National|date=18 October 2014}}
- 2012 – Susan Elbe for The Map of What Happened {{cite news
|title= The Map of What Happened
|url=http://www.wisconsinacademy.org/magazine/map-what-happened-susan-elbe
|accessdate=2015-08-18 }}
- 2005-2011 Prize Suspended
- 2004 - Aaron Anstett for No Accident
- 2003 - Michelle Gillett for Blinding the Goldfinches
- 2002 - Ginny MacKenzie for Skipstone
- 2001 - Susan Firer for The Laugh We Make When We Fall
- 2000 - David Staudt for The Gifts and the Thefts
- 1999 - Sally Allen McNall for Rescue
- 1998 - Kevin R. Griffith for Paradise Refunded
The winner receives a cash prize of $1,000 and publication of the winning manuscript. Susan Firer has been awarded a 2015 NEA Creative Writing Fellowship in Poetry.{{cite web |title=National Endowment Fellowship |url=http://arts.gov/writers-corner/bio/susan-firer |accessdate=2015-08-27 }}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.thebackwaterspress.com/ Backwaters Press] online
- [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH5RFT5Geu9S0wp66yWORng Backwaters Press Poetry Reading Video] online
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Category:Companies based in Omaha, Nebraska