The Pushcart Prize XIX: Best of the Small Presses (1994 - 1995) - Hardcover

Henderson, Bill; St. John, David; Emanuel, Lynn; Brandt, Anthony

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0916366928 ISBN 13: 9780916366926

Publisher: Pushcart Press, 1994

Synopsis

One of the premier annual anthologies of American literature, the nineteenth volume in the series offers more than sixty selections of the best poetry, essays, and short fiction published by hundreds of the nation's small publishing houses.

About this title

About the Authors

David St. John has published nine collections of poetry, including The Face. He teaches at the University of Southern California and lives in Venice, California.


Bill Henderson is the founder and editor of the Pushcart Prize. He received the 2006 National Book Critic Circle’s Lifetime Achievement Award and the Poets & Writers / Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award. He is also the author of several memoirs, including All My Dogs: A Life. The founder of the Lead Pencil Club, Henderson lives on Long Island and In Maine where he runs the Pushcart bookstore – “the world’s smallest bookstore.”

Reviews

It's hard not to get too excited about the latest enormous volume of the best of the noncommercial world of short stories, poetry, and essays. One could easily take it as a sign that the independent publishing community has finally broken free from the shackles of academia and is asserting its voice--actually a whole range of voices that fiercely push themselves forward to be heard. There are a few big names, like Louise Erdrich, Louise Gl�ck, and Charles Baxter, but they mostly contribute thoughtful, interesting literary essays. The collection really sings, though, with the sound of rousing newcomers. Some authors have had little or no previous work published, like Bliss Broyard with her graceful story ``My Father, Dancing,'' and Charles D'Ambrosio with ``Jacinta,'' an evocation of quiet desperation in rural Oregon. Several entries are strikingly original in form and content, namely Eugene Stein's story of ultimate anarchism in ``The Triumph of the Prague Workers' Councils'' and George Williams's manic fantasy in ``The Road From Damascus.'' Nonliterary essays offer eloquent views on such subjects as the power of giving messages in Brenda Miller's ``A Thousand Buddahs'' and on the death of great dogs in Vicki Hearne's ``Oyez Beaumont.'' Many of the contributors bring with them the cultural heritage of recent immigration or displacement, most successfully in Marilyn Chin's long poem ``A Portrait of the Self as Nation, 19901991'' and Josip Novakovich's story of survival in Yugoslavia in ``Honey in the Carcase.'' African-Americans, Native Americans, and Latinos are also well represented, but there are no dominant themes, issues, or points of view, and there are surprisingly few duds in a collection this varied. Much has been written about the fall of prose in America, the result of an attention-span-impaired generation, of evil conglomerate book publishers, of stultifying university writing programs, but this latest volume of the Pushcart Prize offers ample evidence that there are many who are able and willing to pick up the fallen banner of the written word. A surprising, vital collection that should hearten all serious readers. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

"It's not editors, but writers who read who make American literature." Lee Smith, a fiction reader for the annual Pushcart anthology series, may be right to say so: Pushcart's 19th anthology of fiction, essays and poetry, chosen mainly by writers from a year's worth of American small press publishing, is striking in its literary breadth and accomplishment. The Pushcart series has always found a balance between known writers and the undiscovered, and this volume favors the new, offering many rewards. Among them is the poetry, selected by David St. John and Lynn Emanuel, with strong contributions by Arthur Vogelsang, Carol Snow, Dian Blakely Shoaf, Rita Dove, Khaled Mattawa and others. Notable essays include Brenda Miller's powerfully lyrical "A Thousand Buddhas," about giving and receiving massage. The many outstanding stories range from Raymond Federman's murmurously punctuationless "The Line" to "Theng," a stoically realistic, eventually dramatic glimpse of Southeast Asian immigrant life by newcomer Susan Onthank Mates. There is so much to choose from here that readers may not want to choose at all-they can just read on and on and on.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Booklist consistently and sincerely recommends the annual Pushcart Prize anthology, and Henderson and his contributing editors consistently and enthusiastically assemble a truly remarkable collection of the finest small press poems, essays, and short fiction. Small presses continue to be a bastion of excellence and innovation in the increasingly sloppy world of commercial publishing. This volume, the nineteenth in the series, is the largest yet, boasting 60 selections chosen with care, pain, and joy out of thousands of nominations. We usually list a cross section of authors when we discuss anthologies, but let's praise some of the brave small presses represented here that carry on a genuine independent literary tradition: Threepenny Review, Ploughshares, TriQuarterly, Kenyon Review, Bomb, Hungry Mind Review, Black Warrior Review, Caribbean Writer, American Poetry Review, Southern Review, and Raritan. These plucky publishers and little magazines feature the work of established writers as well as emerging talent, a diversity judiciously reflected in this collection. As essay editor Anthony Brandt says, "These are works of art, moving, amazing, overwhelming. We are lucky to have them." One final note, this volume is dedicated to Ralph Ellison, a founding editor of the series. Donna Seaman

It just keeps getting bigger and better. This, the 19th collection of prose, poetry, and fiction selected from small press publications by Pushcart Press, seems to emphasize more new writers than ever before. The result is an exciting anthology full of tremendous variety and wonderful writing-a volume that is a sheer pleasure to get lost in. The biggest surprise for this reader was the essays, especially Brenda Miller's piece on massage-which moves on, circuitously, to embrace so much more-and Edward Field's much-needed portrait of the enigmatic author Alfred Chester. And who could ever forget Edwidge Danicat's short story about Haiti, "Between the Pool and the Gardenias," as compelling as it is horrifying. But it hardly seems fair to pick favorites with a selection this rich. Considering the poor job that most of us do in collecting and promoting small press periodicals, this collection is more than just a recommended purchase. It's mandatory.
Brian Kenney, Brooklyn P.L.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Pushcart Press
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0916366928
• ISBN 13: 9780916366926
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 630