Delmarva Review Pushcart Prize Nominations

Delmarva Review Pushcart Prize Nominations

The Delmarva Review has nominated the writing of six authors for Pushcart Prizes in poetry, short fiction, and essay categories. The review is invited annually to honor original prose and poetry with nominations for the prestigious annual literary awards.

Poetry nominations include “After Phillis Wheatley Sailed to England,” by E. Ethelbert Miller, of Washington, D.C., “A Whaler’s Journal: Scrimshaw,” by Kyle Laws, of Pueblo, CO, and “The Photo Album,” by Wendy Elizabeth Ingersoll, of Newark, DE.

Short fiction nominations include “The Guildemeister,” by Iain S. Baird, of Annapolis, MD and New Orleans, LA, and “Mrs. Morrisette,” by Margaret Rosenberg, of Reston, VA.

In the essay category, “Nursing 101,” by Margaret Adams, was nominated. Ms. Adams is from Baltimore, MD.

All six selections were published in the 2011 issue of The Delmarva Review. Final selections in the national competition will be published in the late fall, in Pushcart Prize XXXVII, Best of the Small Presses.

The Pushcart Prize nomination process has honored the outstanding work of authors annually since 1976. The first edition featured a short story by a young Ray Carver. Since then, Pushcart has discovered many talented new voices in literature.

The Delmarva Review is published by the Eastern Shore Writers’ Association (ESWA), a nonprofit organization supporting writers and the literary arts. Its website is www.easternshorewriters.org.

The submission period for the 2012 edition of the Review is open now through February 28. Writers of fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry are encouraged to submit their best work. All writers are welcome, regardless of geographic residence. Submission guidelines are posted on the website www.delmarvareview.com.

Subscriptions and individual orders of The Delmarva Review are available on its website. A digital edition can be purchased from Kindle on Amazon.com for download to electronic reading devices.

The Review’s editorial board includes Wilson Wyatt, chairman, from Bozman, Mala Burt, managing editor, from St. Michaels, John Elsberg, from Henderson, George Merrill, of St. Michaels, Margot Miller, of Easton, Amanda Newell, of Henderson, and Harold Wilson, of Chester. The copy editor is Jeanne Pinault, of Cambridge. Laura Ambler , of Easton, is design editor.

Member Appreciation Month: New Board Members

As we near the end of Member Appreciation Month, the time seems right to introduce two new board members of The Writer's Center. Our board members are some very dynamic people, and their work in support of our mission is invaluable. Staff wishes to take this moment to thank them for all the work they do for us. But we also would like to take this time to present these two new board members.

TOM BIRCH has served for more than twenty-five years as legislative counsel and lobbyist for nonprofit organizations, developing policy positions and di­recting advocacy ef­forts to influence Con­gres­sional action, primarily in cultural policy and on issues of child welfare. An attorney by training, Mr. Birch came to this work from Congress, having served as legislative counsel to members of the United States Senate and House of Representa­tives on issues of domestic policy. He is the author of articles on legisla­tive advoca­cy and topics of public policy, particularly in his areas of specializa­tion in child welfare, human services, and cultural affairs. Birch received his J.D. degree from George Washington University and his undergraduate B.A. degree in American history from Lehigh University. He was a Peace Corps volunteer for three years in Morocco and has served as a board member for a number of charitable organizations, including the Ellington Fund of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Family Stress Services of the District of Columbia, Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, the DC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, the Folger Poetry Board, and the American Humane Association. He is serving a fourth term in elected public office as Georgetown’s neighborhood commissioner in Washington, D.C., where he was recipient of the Belin Award in 2006 for distinguished service to the community. In 2003, Birch received the American Psychological Association’s Award for Distinguished Contribution to Child Advocacy, and in 2006, Casey Family Programs awarded him its Leadership Award.

WILSON W. WYATT, JR., is a writer and communications specialist who leads several initiatives to develop the writing community on the Delmarva Peninsula. He is president of the Eastern Shore Writers’ Association, chairman of the Editorial Board and founder of The Delmarva Review, a new regional literary review, and coordinator of the annual Bay to Ocean Writers Conference, at Chesapeake College. He is on the Talbot County Arts Council. Originally from Louisville, KY, he started his career as a journalist for The Courier-Journal. Later he was a writer and account executive for two advertising agencies. He was elected to public office in Kentucky at 25 years old, as a State Representative. He became head of the public-private planning and development agency for Louisville, overseeing redevelopment of the city’s downtown and riverfront. He left the public position to become vice president of BATUS in London, U.K., heading communications for all the corporation’s U.S. holdings. He then became senior vice president of communications at PNC Financial Corp., in Pittsburgh, PA, where he was chairman of the PNC Bank Foundation. He became senior vice president for communications, marketing, and public affairs at the Travelers Insurance Companies, in Hartford, CT, where he received Fortune Magazine’s Gold Award for the company’s “umbrella” advertising campaign. While in Hartford, he was on the board of the Hartford Stage and the executive committee of the Hartford Chamber of Commerce. He was recruited to become CEO and executive director of the American Academy of Actuaries in Washington, D.C. Following his business career, he and his wife moved to Maryland’s Eastern Shore (in 1998), where he returned to writing and photography.

The Delmarva Review

Today we feature The Delmarva Review. Wilson Wyatt (also a brand new board member of The Writer's Center) is the founder of the journal and also chairman of its editorial board.

Can you tell us a little about The Delmarva Review?

The Delmarva Review publishes an annual selection of the best new prose and poetry by emerging and established writers in the region. However, we welcome all writers, everywhere. Good writing should have no boundaries.

Of the 52 authors we have published in the first two issues, most are from the Chesapeake and Delmarva region, but they have come from 10 states, the District of Columbia and four foreign countries, thanks to the Internet. We are pleased that several of our writers are among the instructors at The Writer’s Center.

When several of us founded the Review, just over two years ago, we wanted to create a new, quality print venue to publish distinctive, excellent writing from the region. Our focus was to expand publishing opportunities for writers at a time when other print publications were diminishing. There are more writers today than ever, with fewer opportunities to be published in print.

The publisher and primary sponsor of the Review is the Eastern Shore Writers’ Association, a nonprofit organization of writers from across the tri-state Delmarva Peninsula. The publication has also been supported by public literary arts grants.

What makes Delmarva Unique?

The region, its culture and people are unique. Many fine writers have found a home here. Some area known and many are aspiring to be heard. They represent the talented new voices of the region. The Delmarva Review hopes to discover these voices and showcase their work.

This large geographic region contains the Chesapeake Bay, the historic Eastern Shore, the rural countryside of the Delmarva Peninsula, the coastal beaches of Atlantic Ocean, and the strong influence of the populous area from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore and Wilmington.

We publish the work of authors outside of these boundaries, with the hope that their writing will inspire the work of new regional writers. We also select at least one featured writer in each issue, and we publish short reviews of selected regional books.

Another unique feature is that we are relatively new, now entering our third edition. While the submission process is increasingly competitive for quality work, we maintain respect for all writers. If a submission has excellence but may need some minor editing, we will work with the author.

Tell us more about how the Review selects work.

A small, hands-on editorial board develops each issue. As the chairman, I oversee the overall operations, but each board member participates equally in the publication process.

The editor is Linda Fritz, a former editor with Sunset publications. She selects the final fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry to complete each issue. We have a number of experienced readers who see all submissions and recommend work to the editor. The editorial board agrees to all final content.

Melanie Rigney, former editor of Writer’s Digest magazine, is copyeditor for the next issue. John Elsberg, editor of Bogg literary journal, is responsible for overseeing poetry submissions. Dr. Margot Miller oversees the fiction readers. Author Kate Blackwell, a former instructor at The Writer’s Center, advises the board on both fiction and nonfiction. Essayist George Merrill oversees nonfiction submissions. Novelist Mala Burt is our managing editor. Our design editor is artist Laura Ambler. All are passionate, dedicated volunteers. All of us have experience as published writers.