Winner of the 2020 Perugia Press PrizeAPress for the 2020 Perugia Press Prize winner Per

The 2026 Perugia Press Prize is open for one more month, till 11/15

Check out the contest tab on our website to learn

more about the prize, including the support

we offer to our poets, eligibility, and guidelines.

 

Winner of the 2020 Perugia Press PrizeAPress for the 2020 Perugia Press Prize winner Per

* TONIGHT! *

Perhaps you'll hear about this venture through the NPR

ad campaign beginning today, which in turn supports NPR while showcasing our publishers, and is assisted through Gateway City Live. Learn more about this collaboration on the website, and here's a link to register for the launch!

 

Winner of the 2020 Perugia Press PrizeHolli Carrell's APOSTASIES,

Holli Carrell's Apostasies, winner of 

 the 2025 Perugia Press Prize

 

Holli Carrell is reading this Thursday 10/16

at 9pm ET online in the Night Light reading series.

 Check them out on Instagram for info and to register.

 

 

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Check out the new guide for Apostasies in the “Classroom” tab on our site (gratitude to our summer interns Kamali Williams and Regan Williams for collaborating on this project).

 

 

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Apostasies received its first post-publication nod - it's currently

a finalist for the Last Syllable Book Award in Poetry. Brava to all the finalists, and also to Perugia poet Joan Kwon Glass for being on the longlist with Daughter of Three Gone Kingdoms!

 

 

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Holli Carrell published an "In Their Own Words" feature

for the Poetry Society of America on her poem "Lot's Wife" from Apostasies. Check it out to read the poem and the poet's story about its genesis and placement in the collection. 

 

 

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Holli Carrell will be coming to W. Massachusetts to celebrate Apostasies with Perugia Press and local audiences. Stay tuned for more info on all the events, and save the date for the book launch at the Boutelle-Day Poetry Center at Smith College on Thurs. 11/6, also featuring Nicole Young-Martin & Adrie Rose.

 

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Apostasies was Swifted! Thanks to Taylor Swift as Books

for this love for Holli Carrell's collection:

 

Winner of the 2020 Perugia Press Prize

Summer Intern: Regan Williams

 

Amherst College student Regan Williams recently completed an internship with Perugia Press. Read Board President Jean Blakeman's interview with Regan about her experiences. Gratitude to Jean, Amherst College, and, of course, Regan. Here she is loving nature from an early age:

Regan on the connection between the mission of the press

and that of Amherst College, where she is a student:

 

"I am passionate about gender equity and equality, particularly in the context of how these issues interact with other unsustainable systemic structures. The mission of Perugia Press to highlight the work of women writers resonated with me because I believe amplifying underrepresented voices is essential, both in literature and in addressing broader social and environmental issues. Through my studies and projects at Amherst College, I often explore these intersections of equity, justice, and sustainability, so the work of the press feels closely connected to my own interests and values."

 

One of Regan's projects was creating a poetry film, for which she chose the poem "Compass" from Melanie Braverman's book Red. It became the first in our new series "Flux & Flow: Perugia Press Poetry Films." Check it out on YouTube, and while you are there, please consider subscribing to our channel.

 

Winner of the 2020 Perugia Press Prize

* Poet News *

 

Painted Bride Quarterly showcased the work from our AWP 2025 collaborative Off Site.On Purpose. event with SWWIM, MER, Whale Road Review, and Cultivating Voices Live Poetry in issue 111. Our six readers included five Perugia poets - Jacqueline Balderrama, Melody S. Gee, Carolina Hotchandani, Rebecca Pelky & Jennifer K. Sweeney - and board member 

 Jen Jabaily-Blackburn. Check out the whole issue to

read the work of writers representing our collaborators.

 

 

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Carolina Hotchandani had a new poem, “Vicarious,” published in the latest Copper Nickel. Also, The Book Eaters was reviewed for West Branch by Sarah D’Stair along with Cintia Santana’s The Disordered Alphabet (Four Way)—which we featured in our BIWOC Spotlight—Courtney Bush’s I Love Information (Milkweed), and Paul Killebrew’s Impersonal Rainbow & The Bisexual Purge (Canarium). D’Stair asks, “What happens when poets begin to distrust language itself?”

 

 

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Linda Tomol Pennisi's book Seamless, recently back in

print at our press, also has a new reading companion in the “Classroom” tab on our site (gratitude goes to our summer interns Kamali & Regan for collaborating on this project).

 

 

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Abby E. Murray received a "Best of the Net" honor from

Sheila-Na-Gig for their poem "Because Nothing Says Sorry

About Your Hopelessness Like Chicken Enchiladas."

 

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Joan Kwon Glass presented Daughter of Three Gone Kingdoms

 to 160 girls at Westover School as a recent visiting poet:

 

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Gail Thomas will be presenting a "Publishing for Poets" workshop at the WriteAngles Conference on October 18

at Greenfield Community College in Greenfield, MA.

 

 

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Lynne Thompson was on NBC's TODAY, rocking a segment

about reinvention, which Lynne did when she transitioned from her work as a lawyer to her work as a poet. Perugia published Lynne's first book, Beg No Pardon (Perugia, 2007), and she's gone on to publish three more beyond, including her latest, Blue on a Blue Palette (BOA Editions, 2024). Also,

Lynne's poem "A Woman's Body, Aging, Still Loves Itself,"

was featured by Maria Schriver's Sunday Paper.