Association of Writers and Writing Programs 2025 Annual Meeting—Los Angeles, CA, March 26-29

Welcome / Calls for Submissions

Visit us at booth 456 to purchase, or use code OSUAWP at checkout for 30% off and Free US Shipping

Welcome to the virtual booth for the Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference for The Ohio State University Press and our literary imprint, Mad Creek Books. Mad Creek, publisher of the 2023 National Book Critics Circle Finalist I Would Meet You Anywhere and the 2020 National Book Award Finalist How to Make a Slave and Other Essays, is a home for artistic, daring, and innovative books, with the goal of representing the true diversity of writers working today.


Gournay Prize call for submissions:

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Each year, The Gournay Prize awards $1000 and publication in the 21st Century Essays series to a first book of essays. Writers may have published books previously in other genres. Translations are not eligible.

Congratulations to Lynette D’Amico, winner of the 2024 Gournay Prize. Men I Hate will be published in Spring 2026. Compelled by questions of identity, class, and queerness, Men I Hate explores the meaning of the words marriage, woman, husband, and home, and how we reconcile who we were with who we are becoming.

AWP GRACE PALEY PRIZE FOR SHORT FICTION:

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Each year, The AWP Grace Paley Prize for Short Fiction awards $5,500 and publication on Mad Creek Books to a collection of short fiction between 150-300 manuscript pages long. This year’s judge is Kevin Wilson. Kevin Wilson is the author of two collections, Tunneling to the Center of the Earth (Ecco/Harper Perennial, 2009), which received an Alex Award from the American Library Association and the Shirley Jackson Award, and Baby You’re Gonna Be Mine (Ecco, 2018), and four novels, including Nothing to See Here (Ecco, 2019), a New York Times bestseller and a Read with Jenna book club selection.

Lesley Pratt Bannatyne is the winner of the 2024 Grace Paley Prize. Lake Song: A Novel in Stories will be published in September 2025. Set in the fictional town of Kinder Falls in the Finger Lakes region of New York state and spanning decades and generations, the stories in Lake Song plumb the complexities, violence, and compassion of small-town life, as well as the power of the places that shape us.

The Journal Non/Fiction Prize Winner:

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The Journal Non/Fiction Prize is awarded annually to a book-length collection of short stories, essays, or a combination of the two. The winner receives $1500 and publication by The Ohio State University Press

Tyler McAndrew is the winner of the 2024 Non/Fiction Prize. My Prisoner and Other Stories will be published in August 2025. This collection of stories ruminates on youth, loneliness, and coming to terms with the everyday and rippling violence of American life

Meet and Pitch Our Editorial Director

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Kristen Elias Rowley headshot
Kristen Elias Rowley, Editorial Director

Series: 21st Century EssaysMacheteLatinographix

What she’s looking for: “I’m actively seeking books of nonfiction for our Mad Creek book series. I’m especially interested in manuscripts that complicate notions of or explore new ideas around identity, family, culture, borders, race, religion, history, gender, neurodiversity, and the Midwest. I welcome all forms of nonfiction (essay, memoir, reportage, literary journalism, short shorts, to name just a few) and graphic novels/memoirs (for our Latinographix series).”

If you are unable to connect with her at AWP, email queries are welcome, but all materials should come through our Submittable account.

Email Kristen: eliasrowley.1@osu.edu