Council of Literary Magazines and Presses

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RECAP: CLMP's Firecracker Awards Winners Announced

Sara Schaff with her book, Say Something Nice About Me, at the CLMP Firecracker Awards Ceremony. Photo: Roberta Schine

Recently, our author Sara Schaff’s debut short fiction collection Say Something Nice About Me was included as a finalist for the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses Firecracker Awards. The CLMP Firecracker Awards are divided by category into Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Poetry, Magazines Best Debut, and Magazines General Excellence. At the third annual awards ceremony, the 2017 winners were announced: in Fiction, Eve Out of Her Ruins by Ananda Devi, translated by Jeffrey Zuckerman (Deep Vellum); in Creative Nonfiction, Calamities by Renee Gladman (Wave Books); in Poetry, Buck Studies by Douglas Kearney (Fence Books); and Bennington Review and Prairie Schooner in Magazines Best Debut and General Excellence, respectively.

In addition to the Firecracker Awards, CLMP presented the first Lord Nose Award, in memory of Jargon Society publisher Jonathan Williams, to Bruce McPherson of McPherson and Co.

As a small press, we’re honored to have a title considered for the Firecracker Awards a second time (the first being Halina Duraj’s The Family Cannon), and incredibly proud of Sara Schaff for her accomplishment. Below are a few photos from the ceremony, held on June 7th at Poets House.

 

Bridget Hughes announcing the Magazines category winners. Photo: Nicolas Amara

Laura Swearingen-Steadwell announcing. Photo: Sara Schaff

Jeffrey Lependorf, CLMP Executive Director, giving closing remarks. Photo: Nicolas Amara

A selection of finalists displayed at the ceremony. Photo: Sara Schaff

Patricia Spears-Jones announcing the winner of the Poetry category. Photo: Nicolas Amara

LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs accepting the Poetry award on behalf of Douglas Kearney. Photo: Nicolas Amara

Pia Padrone announcing the Fiction winner. Photo: Sara Schaff

 

We extend our congratulations to all of this year’s Firecracker winners!

 

More on Say Something Nice About Me

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CLMP Firecracker Reading, Featuring Finalist Halina Duraj’s ‘The Family Cannon’

Space Colony Art from the 1970s, courtesy of the Public Domain Review

The Council of Literary Magazines and Presses  (CLMP) is holding a reading this Sunday afternoon, featuring the finalists for their new Firecracker Awards, including Halina Duraj for The Family Cannon (Augury Books, 2014).

The reading will take place from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.,  during the 16th Annual Lit Mag Fair at Housing Works Bookstore Cafe. Other finalists and publishers include, Bonnie Friedman (Etruscan Press), Vikas K. Menon and Dan Goldman (Rattapallax), Jesse Lonergan (NBM Publishing), Hubert & Kerascoet (NBM Publishing), Eric Hobbs and Noel Tuazon (NBM Publishing).

Winners of the Firecracker Award will be announced on May 27th at powerHouse Arena in DUMBO, Brooklyn.

Join Augury Books at Housing Works on Sunday as editor Kate Angus reads from The Family Cannon.

More on THE FAMILY CANNON

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Halina Duraj’s The Family Cannon Nominated for CLMP Firecracker Award

From E. Weiß’s Bilderatlas der Sternenwelt (1888), courtesy of the Public Domain Review

The Community of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP) released the nominees for their new Firecracker Awards. Inspired by the Firecracker Alternative Book Awards, CLMP’s awards strive to honor and support literary works from independent publishers and self-published writers.

The finalists are divided into six categories: creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry, young adult, graphic novels, and literary magazines. Among them is Augury author Halina Duraj for her book of short stories, The Family Cannon. Other finalists across categories include Jeffery Renard Allen, Martha Baillie, Bonnie Friedman, Allen Crawford, and Ransom Riggs, as well as several literary magazines, including 6 x 6, A Public Space, and Mosaic. Tin House, Graywolf Press, Ahsahta Press, and Tender Buttons Press are all among the publishers that have titles shortlisted. The winners in each group will be announced on May 27th at powerHouse Arena in DUMBO.

To see the complete shortlists for the Firecracker Awards, view CLMP’s press release.

For more about Halina Duraj and The Family Cannon, click here.

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A Sad Day at Coffee House Press

Photo by Dave Bledsoe, FreeVerse Photography

An unfortunate loss has recently occurred in the literary community. Allan Kornblum, the founding publisher of Coffee House Press, passed away on November 23rd. In honor of his generous legacy, the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses is dedicating an entire issue of their newsletter, Fresh Pressed, to remembering his work. Because CLMP is sending out their newsletter first thing next week, they ask that contributions (a paragraph or a few lines) be sent in by Sunday night to info@clmp.org with the subject line “Allan.”

Again, we are sorry for the loss of those close with Allan. We know his influence will live on.

Read more about Allan’s life and work at the Star Tribune.