Willow Springs Books is a literary press housed in Eastern Washington University’s Inland Northwest Center for Writers in Spokane, Washington and operates under the direction of poet Christopher Howell. Each year, we host the Spokane Prize for Short Fiction. Past judges have included Rick Bass, William Kittredge, Jess Walter, John Keeble, Shawn Vestal, Sharma Shields, Alexis Smith, and Molly Giles. Please view each category for guidelines or visit willowspringsbooks.org/submit.
Willow Springs Books is seeking submissions for the Emma Howell Rising Poet Prize, a first poetry book prize for poets 35 years old and younger who have not yet published a book-length poetry manuscript. Poets who have previously published chapbooks are welcome to submit.
The contest is in honor of Emma Howell who was born in Portland, Oregon, and died in 2001, at the age of twenty. She lived in Spain and Brazil and traveled widely. She left behind a loving family, many close friends, and a single volume of poetry, Slim Night of Recognition. In an effort to promote the publication of young poets and to honor Emma’s memory, as well as the time and effort her father, Christopher Howell, former Director of Willow Springs Books, has put into our press, we are ecstatic to be launching this new prize.
The competition is open for submissions from 6/20/2022 to 11/18/2022. Finalists will be selected in late February, and the winner will be announced in late March. The winning poetry manuscript will be selected by the series’ judge, changing yearly. The winner receives $2000 plus publication in our Emma Howell Rising Poets series.
For the well-being of our staff, we ask that you include content warnings in your cover letter for any poems within your manuscript that may have triggering material (i.e. self-harm, suicide, sexual misconduct, race or gender-based violence, etc.)
ELIGIBILITY
Poets 35 years old and younger who have not previously published a book-length poetry manuscript are eligible.
Poets who have previously published chapbooks are welcome to enter.
Manuscripts that have been submitted in previous years may be resubmitted.
There is an entry fee of $25.
*Graduates of Eastern Washington University’s MFA in Creative Writing program must be 5 years removed from their degree before submitting*
GUIDELINES
Submissions must be original, book-length poetry manuscripts (minimum of 48 pages) written in English. There is no maximum page count. Translations are not accepted.
One manuscript per submission.
Submissions will only be accepted electronically, via Submittable.
Poets may submit one manuscript per year.
Simultaneous submissions are allowed. If you have submitted your manuscript elsewhere, we request that you notify us immediately if you have an offer for publication.
Manuscripts MUST CONTAIN page numbers and a table of contents. Individual poems may have been previously published in journals, chapbooks, anthologies, or limited-edition volumes, but please note which poems and where they have been published on an acknowledgments page. The collection as a whole must be previously unpublished.
Willow Springs Books reserves the right to reject any manuscript for any reason.
Order copy of Andrea Jurjević's Nightcall. If you'd like to order wholesale, please contact us at willowspringsbooks@gmail.com
Order your copy of Nickalus Rupert's short fiction collection, Bosses of Light and Sound. If you'd like to order wholesale, please contact us at willowspringsbooks@gmail.com
Order your copy of Cameron McGill's poetry chapbook, "Meridians". If you'd like to order wholesale, please contact us at willowspringsbooks@gmail.com
Purchase an edition of Willow Springs Books' Zodiac Series of anthologies of poetry & prose.
TITLES:
Heart of the Rat
Hair of the Dog
Purchase one of the poetry chapbooks in the American Surrealist tradition that Willow Springs Books publishes under the auspices of the ACME Poem Company.
Separate forms are available for purchasing Andrea Jurjević's Nightcall and Cameron McGill's Meridians.
TITLES:
Nightcall by Andrea Jurjevic
Meridians by Cameron McGill
The Time Machine by Laura Kasischke
Dark Acre by Canese Jarboe
Tooth & Shoe by Heikki Huotari
Black Postcards by Michael McGriff
The 9 Day Queen Gets Lost on Her Way to the Execution by Karyna McGlynn
Startle Pattern by Larissa Szporluk
Drunk on Salt by James Nolan
You Won't Need That by Robert Gregory
Gnawing on a Thin Man by Ray Amorosi
No Time for Dancing by Adam Hammer
The Spokane Prize for Short Fiction is an annual contest run out of the MFA at Eastern Washington University's small press, Willow Springs Books. Each year, the winner receives $2000 and publication. Submissions are accepted January through June.
Separate forms are available for purchasing Elsa Nekola's 2020 Sustainable Living and Nickalus Rupert's 2019 Bosses of Light and Sound.
TITLES:
2020 Sustainable Living by Elsa Nekola
2019 Bosses of Light and Sound by Nickalus Rupert
2018 things we'll need for the coming difficulties by Valerie Vogrin
2017 A Kind of Solitude by Dariel Suarez
2016 Suffering Fools by Glori Simmons
2015 Ventroloquisms by Jaclyn Watterson
2014 Swimming in Hong Kong by Stephanie Han
2013 Here Among Strangers by Serena Crawford
2012 All the Wrong Places by Molly Giles
2011 The Empty House by Nathan Oates
2010 You Are Not Alone by Sherril Jaffe
2009 Love Songs for the Quarantined by K.L. Cook