Effective September 2005
The Backwaters Press will no longer offer either The Backwaters Prize nor The Weldon Kees Award.
Manuscripts may still be submitted to the press via Open Submissions. Please note the new guidelines effective as of September 2005.
The Winners of the Weldon Kees Award for 2005 are:
Overdressed to KillRobert PerchanLa FloridaJoann GardnerDistant EnginesRyan VineThe Finalists, (in no particular order) are:
Blue PavillionMark MaireThe Bourgeois Lover States His Case and Other PoemsDavid LeighttyMiss Havisham’s TableLinda L. DoveCheck-inElizabeth SkurnickRegrets OnlyAlexander LongGoethe BopDavid BlairSustained ImpactBoyd C. AllenOfferingsAmy Knox BrownExcuse My FrenchKenneth KingTurning SixtyDon ThompsonSweetmouthing on the Swing ShiftRon WatsonEach winner will receive a check for $125 and each winner’s chapbook manuscript will be printed in an edition of 300 copies.
Thanks to all of you who entered for entrusting your work to The Backwaters Press. As usual, the high quality of all the submitted manuscripts made choosing only three very difficult. We truly appreciate your support of the press and of small presses in general, and look forward to reading your manuscripts again next year, or when you are lucky enough to get published elsewhere.
The Backwaters Press Announces the Weldon Kees Prize
Before his disappearance in 1955, Beatrice, Nebraska native Weldon Kees became noted not only as a poet, but also as a fiction writer, avant garde director, abstract expressionistartist, blues and jazz musician, art and literary critic, playwright and photographer. In 1954, his car was found in the parking lot at the entrance to the Golden Gate Bridge, and Kees has not been seen since.
A great site to learn more about Kees is at:
To honor Kees' name, The Weldon Kees Award for a chapbook of poetry has been established by The Backwaters Press. Three winners will be chosen and published annually. $125 cash prize to each winner. Each winner will also receive 10% of the press run and may buy copies for resale at half price.
Guidelines: Submit 20-30 pages of original poetry by a single poet. This is not including Title and Contents page. Please follow the usual steps in guarding the identity of the poet from the readers. No style/content restrictions. $20 entry fee. You may enter as many manuscripts as you like, but each must be accompanied by the $20 entry fee. The Backwaters Press is thoroughly committed to safeguarding the integrity of our contests. Judges are instructed to set aside any manuscript in which they recognize the work; in which the judge recognizes he or she has a personal relationship with the poet; or with which manuscript they have had any hand in shaping; or in any instance, for whatever reason, that selecting a particular manuscript might give the appearance of impropriety.
Deadline: POSTMARK Dec 31st, 2004 Send SASE for ms. return. Judging by editors of the Press.
Further questions-- please e-mail the press at the email address listed below
Send to
The Weldon Kees Award 3502 North 52nd Street
Omaha, NE 68104-3506
2003 Weldon Kees Awards Winners:
No PassengersAuto Repair: A Poem Notes On Exile
Auto Repair: A Poem Notes On Exileby by byK.A. McGowan Sue CarnahanSteve Langan
Sue CarnahanSteve LanganWinners selected by the editors of The Backwaters Press
No Passengers by Kevin McGowan
K. (Kevin). A. McGowan grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania. His careers have included factory worker, caretaker for the mentally ill, and paratrooper. He teaches at Remington College in Lafayette, Louisiana, and is a member of the National Writing Project, Acadiana Chapter.
Auto Repair: A Poem by Susan Carnahan
Born in Connecticut in 1962, Sue Carnahan is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and a member of the 7 Carmine poetry collective, based in NYC. She is finishing her MFA at the University of Arizona and lives in Tumacácori, Arizona. Her poems have appeared in Barrow Street, Rattapallax, can we have our ball back? and Mot Juste.
Notes On Exile by Steve Langan
Steve Langan graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop, where he received the Paul Engle Postgraduate Fellowship from the James Michener Foundation. He is the author of "Freezing"(New Issues Press). He lives in Omaha with his wife and son.
WELDON KEES AWARD FINALISTS
(listed in no particular order)
Penelope Scambly SchottShadow Life
Shadow LifeChristopher Buckley Last Days of the Hot Rod Kids
Last Days of the Hot Rod KidsMichael Catherwood Counting the Past
Counting the PastStan Sanvel Rubin Hamlet Weds Ophelia
Hamlet Weds OpheliaElizabeth Skurnick Check-In
Check-InStella Vinitchi Radulescu Grazing in Our Empty Yards
Grazing in Our Empty YardsRawdon Tomlinson Valentines at the Children's Cemetery
Valentines at the Children's CemeteryWELDON KEES AWARD SEMI-FINALISTS
(listed in no particular order)
Joseph GreenThe Name of That Place
The Name of That PlaceLinda Tomol Pennisi Suddenly, Fruit
Suddenly, FruitDavid Filer Night Verse
Night VersePaula Sergi Following Longitude
Following LongitudeBrad JohnsonThe Happiness Theory
The Happiness TheoryKen Denberg Not The Pet Bird
Not The Pet BirdBen WilenskyJihad in the Morning Prayers
Jihad in the Morning PrayersLucy Adkins Addie Finch, Farmwife
Addie Finch, FarmwifeVictoria Givotovsky Retrospective
RetrospectivePeter Bethanis In Praise of Dirt
In Praise of DirtAnthony Russell White Never Trust a Vehicle
Never Trust a VehicleJoann Gardner La Florida
La FloridaKevin Meaux Myths of Electricity
Myths of ElectricitySusan Thomas Hunger of the Empty Notebook
Hunger of the Empty NotebookPhilip Dacey Taking a Shower with Daniel Ellsberg
Taking a Shower with Daniel EllsbergBeth Paulson Mountain Song
Mountain SongBarry Ballard A Body Speaks Through Fence Lines
A Body Speaks Through Fence LinesDavid Ray Over Here
Over HereElizabeth Quinlan Tracking My Way Back
Tracking My Way BackVirginia Chase Sutton Reading Electra to Sleep
Reading Electra to SleepElizabeth Cook-Lynn Visits to America
Visits to AmericaAlexander Long Light Here, Light There
Light Here, Light ThereJeanette Barnes Spikenard
SpikenardJohn Davis Payday
PaydaySharlie West House of Bones
House of BonesRichard AstonUltrasonics
UltrasonicsLeigh Anne CouchHer Name Could Have Been Atlanta
Her Name Could Have Been AtlantaJohn McBrideA Make-Shift Bridge
A Make-Shift BridgeRobin Silbergleid The Baby Book:Poems
The Baby Book:PoemsH.E. Wright Gadfly in the Process
Gadfly in the ProcessDavid Austerweil Scenes on a Pilgrimage
Scenes on a PilgrimageElizabeth Kerlikowske The Weather Back There
Ron Drummond Why I Kick at Night
Why I Kick at NightThe Backwaters Press
Greg Kosmicki, Editor 3502 North 52nd St. Omaha, NE 68104-3506 (402)451-4052
