2009 Pushcart Nominations

The Pushcart Board has nominated two works of fiction which appeared in Perigee's 2009 issues:

"A Modest Appetite," by Ellen Akins (Vol. 7, Issue 1)
"Fisher of Herms," by Rosalie Freese (Vol. 7, Issue 2)

We are very excited and pleased that these works have been nominated. The Pushcart publisher will notify Perigee by early May if either of these nominees should win the Pushcart Prize and be included in their 35th annual collection. We hope you will join us in congratulating these newly minted Pushcart Nominees.

2009 Poetry Contest Winners

Perigee is pleased to announce the winners of our most popular and competitive poetry contest to date. Our Poetry Editor, Steve Kowit, and guest judge Suzanne Lummis had a tough task indeed. This year's submissions were exceptionally strong, and deciding on three winners and three honorable mentions took a great deal of consideration.

First Place ($300): "The Seed Jar," by Corrie Williamson
Second Place ($200): "Sweet Molasses," by Ginny Lowe Conners
Third Place ($100): "Yosemite," by Peter Bolland
Honorable Mentions: "The Last Battle of the Civil War," by Peter Bolland; "Crossroads," by Cameron Keller Scott.

The winning poems and honorable mentions will be published in our upcoming, 26th issue—due out October 15th—which will include an impressive number of poems culled from general submissions, contest entries, and poets the world over. We will also be presenting poems from our guest judge Suzanne Lummis, whose insight and passion proved integral to the success of this contest.

Issue 26 Contributors

Perigee's 26th issue will be released this coming Thursday, October 15th. It will include all new fiction, non-fiction, and poetry—including the winners and honorable mentions from our 2009 Poetry Contest. Altogether we're publishing 41 phenomenal poems, short fiction from Brandon Cesmat, Walter Cummins, and Gavin Pate, an interview with Mich Cochrane, and much more.

We hope you will enjoy all that the new issue has to offer. Subscribe for free to be sure you are notified when the new issue is released.

Fiction (9)

"The Insomniac and the Singer,” by Michael Bradburn-Ruster
“Aphasia,” by Brandon Cesmat
“Dreaded,” by Walter Cummins
“Fisher of Herms,” by Rosalie Freese
“The Swap,” by Marisa Labozzetta
“At the Twin Maples,” by Tim Myers
“All the Acid in the World,” by Gavin Pate
“Tractor Twang,” by Anna Sheaffer
“Angelina and Me,” by Tatjana Soli

Non-Fiction (9)

“Jack Marshall, The Steel Veil,” Reviewed by Duff Brenna (originally in South Carolina Review)
“End of the Sixties” Excerpts from an Autobiography, by Robert Gover
“Mick Cochrane on Baseball, ‘Butterflies’ and his New Book,” by Jean Westmoore (The Buffalo News)

“America/Armenia/Angelina,” by Nancy Agabian
“Four Generations of Men,” by David W. Berner
“Old School Bush,” by T. Nicole Cirone
“No Apology for Happiness,” by Steve Davenport
“Words Under the Sky,” by Thomas E. Kennedy
“The Blood of Children,” by Allen Learst
“Therapy,” by Richard Reiss

Poetry (41)

Contest winners:
First - “The Seed Jar,” by Corrie Williamson
Second - “Sweet Molasses,” by Ginny Lowe Connors
Third - “Yosemite,” by Peter Bolland
Honorable Mention – “The Last Battle of the Civil War,” by Peter Bolland
Honorable Mention – “Crossroads,” by Cameron Keller Scott

Standard submissions:
“Fourteen,” by Deborah Harding-Allbritain
“Molluska: Gastropoda,” by Deborah Harding-Allbritain
“Lure and Tryst,” by Deborah Harding-Allbritain
“Lost Dog,” by Brandon Cesmat
“Repo,” by T. Nicole Cirone (Editor’s Choice: T. Kennedy)
“Closing Up the Bungalow,” by T. Nicole Cirone (Editor’s Choice: T. Kennedy)
“Soldier of Fortune, 1969,” by Steve Davenport (Editor’s Choice: R.A.Rycraft)
“American Girl,” by Steve Davenport (Editor’s Choice: R.A.Rycraft)
“Shape,” by Steve Davenport (Editor’s Choice: R.A.Rycraft)
“Torch Song,” by Allison Elliott
“Loosestrife,” by Kathleen M. Kelley
“What Did She Read in the Grand Canyon,” by Ken Kibler
“Summer Turning,” by Jen Kindborn
“Confessions of an Ensenada Cruise,” by Clifton King
“A Woman with a Chameleon on her Hat,” by Suzanne Lummis
“You Will Visit a Far-Away Country that has been in Your Thoughts,” by Suzanne Lummis
“Setting Out,” by Jack Marshall
“Dimming,” by Jack Marshall
“Matter,” by Carolyn Miller
“Happiness,” by Carolyn Miller
“After Swimming in the Public Pool,” by Carolyn Miller
“Orange and Gray,” by Miguel Murillo
“The Kingdom of Six A.M.,” by Michael Nieman
“Road,” by Michael Nieman
“Before and After Tampico,” by Doren Robbins
“Alone Together,” by Doren Robbins
“Reaching for a Star,” by Madeline Sharples
“Demolition,” by Madeline Sharples
“Just South of Epinal,” by Lloyd A Stoller
“What You Don’t Know,” by Bill Sullivan
“Sculpting,” by Rebecca Tolin
“The Adjective Cellar,” by Archie Wilson
“The Zen of Housework,” by Al Zolynas
“A Nightmare Concerning Priests,” by Al Zolynas

2009 Poetry Contest Winners Will be Tweeted First!

Perigee will be announcing its 2009 Poetry Contest winners on Twitter first. The winners, who are being awarded $600 in cash, will be published in Perigee's upcoming 26th issue--due out October 15.

Want to be the first to know? Or just want to follow Perigee's tweets? You can find us here on Twitter: twitter.com/perigeeart

2009 Poetry Contest Now Open!

Perigee's 2009 Poetry Contest opens today! Steve Kowit and finalist judge Suzanne Lummis are seeking your most finely crafted, memorable poems. Here are the important details you'll want to know:

Deadline: August 31st, 2009.
Prizes: $600 in cash ($300/$200/$100 for top three poems).
Reading fee: Times are tough and budgets are tight, so we've reduced our reading fee by 50%, to only $5, but we haven't reduced the prize money one cent.
Results: Winners and honorable mentions (if any) will be announced on October 1st, and published in our October 15th, 2009 issue.

This year's finalist judge is Suzanne Lummis, founder and director of the Los Angeles Poetry Festival, and editor of Speechless the Magazine. Her poems appear in the anthologies California Poetry from the Gold Rush to the Present (Heyday Books), Poems of the American West (Knopf), Poetry Daily (Sourcebooks), Place as Purpose: Poetry of the Western States (Autry/Sun & Moon), Stand Up Poetry and in major literary publications in the US and UK. She has recent or forthcoming poems in Poetry International, The Antioch Review, The Hudson Review, Ploughshares, and Pool. Her last collection, In Danger, was part of The California Poetry Series (Heyday Books/Roundhouse Press). She teaches several levels of poetry through the UCLA Extension Writers' Program including a course she developed "Poetry and the Movies: The Poem Noir." In 2006 she taught "L.A. Stories," fiction and film, at Emerson College in Burbank.

This is our most popular contest, so don't wait long to submit. You'll want to get your poems in right away to get ahead of the pack. We invite you to read complete guidelines and submit your work through our re-designed web site.