Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Pushcart Prize

I haven't yet gotten a chance to post this yet, but I recently found out I have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize! Amazing! What an honor it is. For those of your not familiar with the Pushcart Prize Anthology, check it out on its website, or look up past examples of winners on Google, etc. It's quite an achievement to win one, and many people say that to be nominated is a sign of great things to come, and a win means that you have 'made it' and should consider yourself a 'true' poet/fiction writer, etc. Needless to say, it's a right of passage in the literary world, and I can only hope I will win (though I doubt I will judging on the quality of the piece in comparison to some of my other work and in comparison to the work that I know was nominated and/or the works of past winners), but I know the odds are stacked against me. I know there are plenty of excellent writers who have never been nominated, or who don't want to be nominated, or have never won, or have won for works/pieces that aren't their best, essentially because it is a subjective choice by the Pushcart board.

Every small press/literary journal in print or online can nominate up to five pieces per year for the prize. Less than 3% are selected as finalists, and only a percentage of those will be awarded the prize, but it is still an honor. The Eight Octaves Review nominated my poem, Entering the Bellagio, which I am pretty proud of. It was based off of a writing prompt and some scattered memories of my vacation to Vegas.

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