Locally operated and nationally known, Perugia Press is celebrating 16 years of publishing poetry books. The one book it produces each year is the winner of the Perugia Press Prize, a national contest for first and second books by women.
Susan Kan of Perugia Press in her Northampton home. The Pioneer Valley is a “super-wonderful, saturated literary valley,” says the director of Perugia Press.
The Northampton-based press receives more than 500 manuscripts each year; only one book is published.
While many of the manuscripts are outstanding, said Susan Kan, “what distinguishes the winners usually has to do with confidence of voice, unity of the manuscript, a discernable project of discovery, levity and originality. Poems with self-esteem stand apart.”
Locally operated and nationally known, Perugia Press is celebrating 16 years of publishing poetry books. The one book it produces each year is the winner of the Perugia Press Prize, a national contest for first and second books by women.
Amanda L. Auchter of Houston won the 2012 Perugia Press Prize with her book “The Wishing Tomb,” a love letter to New Orleans, a quintessential city of jazz, hurricanes and Creole cuisine. “The poems show how we are connected to our homes, how history can escape us and how even in our tragedies, we are made whole again by rebuilding and moving forward,” Kan pointed out.
This is the second book for Auchter who teaches at Lone Star College in Houston.
For her, a Gulf Coaster, the rich landscape, the mystery and the history of New Orleans is captivating. She said many people only think about Hurricane Katrina, gumbo and jazz when they think of New Orleans, so she wanted to expand that thinking because it is “one of the most important cities in America in terms of culture, history, food.”
She was thrilled that Perugia accepted her manuscript. “I'm honored, of course, and appreciate the care they took with the book,” she said.
Auchter will read from her prize-winning book on Friday, Nov. 2, at 7:30 p.m. at A.P.E. Ltd. Gallery, 126 Main St., Northampton, as part of the Perugia Press anniversary celebration.
Joining her will be Maya Janson and Eleanor Wilner.
Janson’s debut collection “Murmur & Crush” is new from Hedgerow Books. A recipient of a Massachusetts Artist Fellowship, she is a lecturer in poetry at Smith College.
Wilner has published seven books of poems, including “Tourist in Hell” and “The Girl with Bees in Her Hair.” She has received a MacArthur Fellowship, the Juniper Prize, three Pushcart Prizes and a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship. She teaches in the master of fine arts program for writers at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, N.C., and is a board member of Perugia Press.
Auchter’s book, “The Wishing Tomb,” is a love letter to a city that has been defined by its travails and triumphs, Kan explained. “This collection is a narrative of place, but more than that, these poems create a portrait of us all: how connected we are to the land we love and to our homes, how history sometimes escapes us and how even in our tragedies, we can be made whole again by rebuilding and moving forward.”
The submitted manuscripts are screened by volunteers including poets, scholars, fiction writers, teachers, professors and students—all lovers of poetry—and winnowed down to 16.
The semi-finalists are read by a panel of eight judges, often previous
Perugia Press Prize winners, teachers, scholars, sometimes a bookseller and always one undergraduate poetry student. “The idea is that I want our books to be welcoming and compelling to an array of readers,” Kan said.
The winning manuscript is read by at least a dozen people before the final decision, which Kan makes, taking into consideration the feedback from readers.
“I’m proud of this process because it’s fun for the readers, fair to the poets and has an amazing track record,” Kan said. “Many of our books have gone on to win national book prizes.”
The submission period is Aug. 1-Nov. 15.
The books are available in local bookstores and online at the Perugia Press website (www.perugiapress.com) and from other online vendors.
Perugia Press is a nonprofit poetry press publishing one collection of poetry each year by a woman at the beginning of her publishing career. “Our mission is to produce beautiful books that interest long-time readers of poetry and welcome those new to poetry,” Kan said. “We also aim to celebrate and promote poetry whenever we can.”
Small publishers like Perugia Press are important in the big world of publishing because “they are generally more dedicated in terms of time to each individual author,” Auchter said. “They do it not for money, but out of the love of language and literature, which is incredibly important in today's e-culture.”
Even though Perugia Press only publishes one book each year, it has a record of awards including “Kettle Bottom” by Diane Gilliam, which has sold more than 10,000 copies; “How to Live on Bread and Music” by Jennifer K. Sweeney won the James Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets; and “Two Minutes of Light” by Nancy K. Pearson won the L.L. Winship/PEN New England Award.
Auchter’s advice for aspiring writers? Send out manuscripts wisely. Know your publishers. Know the market. Don't send anything out unless it's done. “If you are sending out and still find yourself editing and editing, it's not complete and shouldn't be sent out,” she added.
The Nov. 2 reading, book signing and reception is free, open to the public and accessible. It is supported by grants from the Northampton Arts Council and the Massachusetts Cultural Council.