Backwaters Press

The Backwaters Press is a small press based in Omaha, Nebraska. The Backwaters Press is a 501(c)(3) non-profit devoted to publishing poetry and literary fiction, with a special emphasis on the literature of Nebraska.[1][2]

The press has published numerous award-winning titles, including the anthologies Times of Sorrow, Times of Grace (2003) and Nebraska Presence: An Anthology of Poetry (2007), which won Nebraska Book Awards. In all, the press has been awarded seventeen Nebraska Book Awards [3][4] since 2000 for anthologies, design and individual author's collections of poetry. According to Project Muse, "Each year, the small Omaha press publishes two or three titles by Heartland writers, bringing the often stunning but sometimes forgotten voices of the Midwest to the literary world." [5]

In 2011, Greg Kosmicki, the editor, and the press were awarded the Jane Geske Award [6] for "exceptional, long-term contribution" to books in Nebraska. Backwaters Press has published approximately 90 authors in independent volumes of poetry. Authors published by Backwaters Press include: long-time Nebraska State Poet William Kloefkorn (1982-2011), current Nebraska State Poet Twyla Hansen (2013-),[7] Kansas State Poet Denise Low (2007-2009),[8] and the multiple award-winning authors: Charles Fort,[9] Marge Saiser,[10] Lola Haskins,[11] Greg Kuzma, David Ray,[12] and Brent Spencer.

The editor of the Backwaters Press is James Cihlar, the managing editor is Cat Dixon and the Associate Editor is Rich Wyatt.[13] In past years, Backwaters offered the Backwaters Prize, the Weldon Kees Award, and the Omaha Prize, but discontinued the prizes in 2005. In 2012, The Backwaters Press awards the Backwaters Prize for an original book length manuscript.[14]