''Prairie Schooner'' is a

literary magazine A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry, and essays, along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letter ...

published quarterly at the

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a public land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the Morrill Act of 1862, the school was known as the Universit ...

with the cooperation of UNL's English Department and the

University of Nebraska Press The University of Nebraska Press, also known as UNP, was founded in 1941 and is an academic publisher of scholarly and general-interest books. The press is under the auspices of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the main campus of the Univer ...

. It is based in

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...

and was first published in 1926. Founded by Lowry Wimberly and a small group of his students, who together formed the Wordsmith Chapter of Sigma Upsilon (a national honorary

literary society A literary society is a group of people interested in literature. In the modern sense, this refers to a society that wants to promote one genre of writing or a specific author. Modern literary societies typically promote research, publish newsle ...

). Although many assume it is a regional magazine, it is nationally and internationally distributed and publishes writers from all over the United States and the world. ''Prairie Schooner'' has garnered reprints, and honorable mentions in the

Pushcart Prize The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are ...

anthologies and various of the ''Best American'' series, including ''

Best American Short Stories The Best American Short Stories yearly anthology is a part of ''The Best American Series'' published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Since 1915, the BASS anthology has striven to contain the best short stories by some of the best-known writers in con ...

'', ''Best American Essays'', ''Best American Mystery Stories'', and ''Best American Nonrequired Reading''.

Editors and notable contributors

''Prairie Schooners current editor (2011 – present) is Jamaican/Ghanaian poet and author

Kwame Dawes Kwame Senu Neville Dawes (born 28 July 1962) is a Ghanaian poet, actor, editor, critic, musician, and former Louis Frye Scudder Professor of Liberal Arts at the University of South Carolina. He is now Professor of English at the University of N ...

. From 1963-1980

Bernice Slote Bernice Slote (November 17, 1913 – February 22, 1983), a Willa Cather scholar, was a professor of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Early life and education Slote was born in Hickman, Nebraska, the granddaughter of Nebraska hom ...

served as the editor. ;Notable contributors

Prairie Schooner Book Prize

''Prairie Schooner Book Prize'' is an American

literary award A literary award or literary prize is an award presented in recognition of a particularly lauded literary piece or body of work. It is normally presented to an author. Organizations Most literary awards come with a corresponding award ceremony. Ma ...

presented yearly since 2003, one award for

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

and one award for

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...

. It is run by the literary magazine ''Prairie Schooner'' and

. Winners receive $3,000 and publication through the University of Nebraska Press.Prairie Schooner Book Prize
The Official Blog of the Western Literature Association, February 11, 2010. Manuscripts are accepted from all living writers, including non-US citizens, writing in English.

Winners

Source: 2003 *Fiction: K. L. Cook, ''Last Call'' *Poetry: Cortney Davis, ''Leopold's Maneuvers'' 2004 *Fiction: Brock Clarke, ''Carrying the Torch'' *Poetry: Rynn Williams, ''Adonis Garage'' 2005 *Fiction:

John Keeble John Leslie Keeble (born 6 July 1959) is an English pop and rock drummer. He is best known for his membership of the 1980s new wave band Spandau Ballet. Early years Keeble was athletic as a child, playing both football and cricket. He bought ...

, ''Nocturnal America'' *Poetry:

Kathleen Flenniken Kathleen Flenniken (born October 30, 1960) is an American writer, poet, editor, and educator. In 2012, she was named the Poet Laureate of Washington. She has been honored with a 2012 Pushcart Prize, as well as fellowships with the Artist Trust ...

, ''Famous'' 2006 *Fiction:

Jesse Lee Kercheval Jesse Lee Kercheval (born 1956) is a poet, memoirist, translator and fiction writer. She is an emeritus professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She is the author of numerous books, notably ''Building Fiction, The Museum of Happiness, ...

, ''The Alice Stories'' *Poetry: Paul Guest, ''Notes for My Body Double'' 2007 *Fiction:

Katherine Vaz Katherine Vaz (born August 26, 1955) is an American writer. A Briggs-Copeland Fellow in Fiction at Harvard University (2003–9), a 2006–7 Fellow of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and the Fall, 2012 Harman Fellow at Baruch Colleg ...

, ''Our Lady of the Artichokes and Other Portuguese-American Stories'' *Poetry: Mari L'Esperance, ''The Darkened Temple'' 2008 *Fiction: Anne Finger, ''Call Me Ahab'' *Poetry: Kara Candito, ''Taste of Cherry'' 2009 *Fiction: Ted Gilley, ''Bliss, And Other Short Stories'' *Poetry:

Shane Book Background Shane Book born in 1970, grew up in Canada and Ghana. Shane Book is a Canadian poet and writer. He is known for his work in contemporary poetry. His poetry often explores themes related to identity, history, and the human experience. ...

, ''Ceiling of Sticks'' 2010 *Fiction: Greg Hrbek, ''Destroy All Monsters'' *Poetry:

James Crews James Crewes (or Crews) (1622 26 January 1677) was a British merchant who traded with the Virginia colony before emigrating there. He became a planter in Henrico County and represented it for one session of the House of Burgesses, but was execu ...

, ''The Book of What Stays'' 2011 *Fiction: Karen Brown, ''Leaf House'' *Poetry: Susan Blackwell Ramsey, ''A Mind Like This'' 2012 *Fiction: Xhenet Aliu, ''Domesticated Wild Things'' *Poetry: Orlando Ricardo Menes, ''Fetish'' 2013 *Fiction: Amina Gautier, ''Now We Will Be Happy'' *Poetry: R. A. Villanueva, ''Reliquaria'' 2014 *Fiction: Bryn Chancellor, ''When Are You Coming Home?'' *Poetry: Jennifer Perrine, ''No Confession, No Mass'' 2015 *Fiction: Dustin M. Hoffman, ''One-Hundred Knuckled Fist'' *Poetry:

Safiya Sinclair Safiya Sinclair (born 1984, Montego Bay, Jamaica) is a Jamaican poet and memoirist. Her debut poetry collection, ''Cannibal,'' won several awards, including a Whiting Award for poetry in 2016 and the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature for poe ...

, ''Cannibal'' 2016 *Fiction: Venita Blackburn, ''Black Jesus and Other Superheroes'' *Poetry: Susan Gubernat, ''The Zoo at Night'' 2017 *Fiction: Sara Batkie, ''Better Times'' *Poetry: Luisa Muradyan, ''American Radiance'' 2018 *Fiction: Liz Breazeale, ''Extinction Events: Stories'' *Poetry: Aria Aber, ''Hard Damage''

References

* Stewart, Paul R., ''The ''Prairie Schooner'' Story: A Little Magazine's First 25 Years'' (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1955)

External links

The ''Prairie Schooner''''Prairie Schooner'' Book Prize
official website. {{University of Nebraska–Lincoln Poetry magazines published in the United States Quarterly magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1926 University of Nebraska–Lincoln Magazines published in Nebraska Mass media in Lincoln, Nebraska