The 2025 Gasher Press Book Award is open to any writer based in the United States, regardless of publication history. 

We are pleased to announce this year's final judge is Melissa Kwasny!

Melissa Kwasny is the author of seven books of poetry, most recentlyThe Cloud Path (Milkweed Editions) and Where Outside the Body is the Soul Today (Pacific Northwest Poetry Series, University of Washington Press), as well as a collection of essays Earth Recitals: Essays on Image and Vision. Her first full length nonfiction book, Putting on the Dog: The Animal Origins of What We Wear, explores the cultural, labor, and environmental histories of clothing materials provided by animals. She is also the editor of two anthologies: I Go to the Ruined Place: Contemporary Poets in Defense of Global Human Rights and Toward the Open Field: Poets on the Art of Poetry 1800-1950.  She was Montana Poet Laureate from 2019-2021, a position she shared with M.L. Smoker.

GUIDELINES:

• We accept poetry (hybrid works are welcome) books between 48-90pgs, excluding front and back matter.
• Simultaneous submissions are okay. Please withdraw your work immediately if it is accepted elsewhere.
• Once work is submitted, it can not be revised or edited. If your submission is selected, you will have the opportunity to submit a revised manuscript at that time. Please do not email revised versions of the original works or attach revisions to your submission on Submittable. We will not consider it.
• We only accept unpublished works. Sections previously published as a chapbook or individual poems are okay, but the manuscript as a whole should be unpublished. Self-publishing is considered published.
• This is a blind screening. Do not include any identifying information on the manuscript, including the file name. 
• Manuscripts must include a table of contents.
• No preambles or bios in the manuscript.
• No acknowledgements in the manuscript, but you may submit this information in the cover letter field on Submittable.
• Please include a bio and brief synopsis of the work in the designated fields on Submittable.
• Submit as .pdf or .docx, 12pt font. 
• This prize is open only to those who currently reside in the United States.
• Friends, current/past students, or affiliates of the editors and/or Melissa Kwasny are not permitted to submit. Current Gasher Press authors are not permitted to submit. 
• The winner will receive $1,000 + 20 free copies upon publication.

JUDGING:

Initial screening will be conducted by the Gasher staff. Each submission will be screened by at least three readers. From our semi-finalist pool, the final judge will select a winner and finalists. 

The Two Languages Book Prize was founded to celebrate the dynamisms of identity, languages, and histories that represent the experiences of many people living in America and abroad. It is our mission to highlight the fullness of language and voice used in order to speak. 

We are looking to publish a collection of poetry by writers engaged in both the Korean and English languages, in any combination of the two languages, over any theme or topic. The winner of the 2025 series will receive $500 advanced royalty prize + publication in Spring 2027 and 20 author copies.

Please refer to the following guidelines before submitting:

• Manuscripts should be 48-90pgs. Previously published pieces or a selection of writings are acceptable, but the manuscript in its entirety should be unpublished (we consider self-publishing as previously published). 
• International writers are welcome to submit. 
• Please include an acknowledgments page in the designated cover letter field in Submittable. Do not include acknowledgements, preambles, or identifying material within the manuscript. 
• Translated works for the Two Languages Series are welcome. 
• Once submitted, manuscripts cannot be edited, nor will we accept revised manuscripts via email. If your manuscript is selected as the winner, you will have the opportunity to revise. 
• Simultaneous submissions are allowed. Please, withdraw the work immediately if accepted elsewhere. 
• Friends, past/current students, affiliates of editors are not permitted to submit. 
• The editors will select one manuscript from the reading period or may choose not to select any work for publication. In the case that no winner is selected, submission fees will be returned. 

Have more questions? Contact us at Press@gasherjournal.com.

The Bennett Nieberg Transpoetic Broadside Prize awards a single poem written by a trans poet who has yet to publish their first full-length book. The prize consists of $500, 5 limited edition letterpress broadsides of the winning poem.

We are pleased to announce this year's final judge is Michal "MJ" Jones!

Michal "MJ" Jones (they/he) is an award-winning poet, parent, and editor living in Oakland, CA. Their debut collection of poetry, HOOD VACATIONS, won the 2024 Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Poetry. They are also the author of a chapbook, SOFT ARMOR (2023), from Black Lawrence Press. Often addressing the troubling and haunting aspects of life, violence, and identity, MJ’s poetry blends lyrical, documentary, and confessional modes. From 2022-2024, MJ served as as the Editor-In-Chief of Foglifter, an award-winning literary journal publishing radical work by LGBTQIA2-S writers. They have been awarded fellowships from Lambda Literary, Hurston/Wright Foundation, and VONA/Voices. 

Eligibility:

• This prize is reserved for writers who identify as a trans writer. This may include those who identify as non-binary, genderqueer, agender, trans-masc, trans-femme, bigender, two spirit, gender fluid, or intersex people.
• Writers cannot yet have published a full-length book of any genre (chapbooks and self-publishing okay).

Requirements:

• Submit ONLY 1 unpublished poem on any subject/theme with a brief author bio.
• Do not include any identifying information on the document of the poem.
• Limit one submission per writer. You may not edit your piece after its submission. Do not withdraw a submission in order to resubmit. We will disqualify all duplicate submissions.
• Simultaneous submissions are okay, but please withdraw your submission if it is accepted elsewhere.
• Friends, former/current students of the editors and/or Michal "MJ" Jones, and/or current Gasher authors are not permitted to submit to the prize. 

Additional  info:

• This submission form is for those wanting to purchase the Extended Edition of Taken Flight: The Collected Works of Bennett Joan Harmony Nieberg for a discounted rate, plus free shipping. All proceeds go to supporting future Bennett Nieberg Transpoetic Broadside prizes. 
• A list of semi-finalists, selected by members of Gasher's staff, will be forwarded to the final judge for the selection of a winner and finalists.
• The winner and finalists will be announced in September 2025.

The Bennett Nieberg Transpoetic Broadside Prize awards a single poem written by a trans poet who has yet to publish their first full-length book. The prize consists of $500, 5 limited edition letterpress broadsides of the winning poem.

We are pleased to announce this year's final judge is Michal "MJ" Jones!

Michal "MJ" Jones (they/he) is an award-winning poet, parent, and editor living in Oakland, CA. Their debut collection of poetry, HOOD VACATIONS, won the 2024 Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Poetry. They are also the author of a chapbook, SOFT ARMOR (2023), from Black Lawrence Press. Often addressing the troubling and haunting aspects of life, violence, and identity, MJ’s poetry blends lyrical, documentary, and confessional modes. From 2022-2024, MJ served as as the Editor-In-Chief of Foglifter, an award-winning literary journal publishing radical work by LGBTQIA2-S writers. They have been awarded fellowships from Lambda Literary, Hurston/Wright Foundation, and VONA/Voices. 

Eligibility:

• This prize is reserved for writers who identify as a trans writer. This may include those who identify as non-binary, genderqueer, agender, trans-masc, trans-femme, bigender, two spirit, gender fluid, or intersex people.
• Writers cannot yet have published a full-length book of any genre (chapbooks and self-publishing okay).

Requirements:

• Submit ONLY 1 unpublished poem on any subject/theme with a brief author bio.
• Do not include any identifying information on the document of the poem.
• Limit one submission per writer. You may not edit your piece after its submission. Do not withdraw a submission in order to resubmit. We will disqualify all duplicate submissions.
• Simultaneous submissions are okay, but please withdraw your submission if it is accepted elsewhere.
• Friends, former/current students of the editors and/or Michal "MJ" Jones, and/or current Gasher authors are not permitted to submit to the prize. 

Additional  info:

• 25 submission fee waivers are available for this year's prize. For a waiver, please email at whitney@gasherpress.com
• A list of semi-finalists, selected by members of Gasher's staff, will be forwarded to the final judge for the selection of a winner and finalists.
• The winner and finalists will be announced in September 2025.