Attention 2014 Hudson Prize entrants:
In lieu of paying the $25.00 contest entry fee, from Feb. 1 – Feb. 15, 2014, you may elect to have your fee waived by instead purchasing these two previous Hudson Prize winning books: The Last Game We Played (winner, 2006) and The Giving of Pears (winner, 2008) for $19.95, plus shipping. Purchase via the BUY button on this page, then enter your PayPal transaction ID in the corresponding box when you enter the Hudson Prize via the Early Bird Special Poetry or Fiction categories on Submittable. (The transaction ID code will appear at the top right corner of your e-receipt from PayPal.) Note you must enter via the Early Bird Special categories to have the regular contest entry fee waived. The contest will remain open through March 31st, however this early bird special flies the coop on Feb. 15th!
The Last Game We Played
Praised as “strange and compelling” by Joyce Carol Oates, the stories in The Last Game We Played, winner of the inaugural 2006 Hudson Prize, take stock of history in settings including the Middle East, where Jo Neace Krause looks at the maddening violence that has taken place there.
The Giving of Pears
The Giving of Pears, winner of the 2008 Hudson Prize, is Abayomi Animashaun’s debut poetry collection. Animashaun, a Nigerian emigré, had this to say about the book:
“In writing these poems, I saw the page as a sort of living room, where I could go to have a party. And, of course, everyone was welcome: To drink wine. Join the conga line. Do a shimmy or cha-cha. Kiss in the manner of Zebras. Sumo wrestle guavas. Or even swing from rafters with giraffes. I wasn’t at all surprised when Tomatoes, Fish; Grapes, Goats, Thieves; Mohammed, Rilke, The Unseen; and so many others showed up for the party. Since each guest was allowed to do as he/she pleased. Goats removed their hooves, their hides, and wept like women. Women, in turn, tried on hides, hooves, and stared like goats. Stones imagined themselves naked. Kettles became villages. The Unseen, continued as they always have–conducting their own festivals and singing their own songs…”
Praise
- For THE GIVING OF PEARS:
“Abayomi Animashaun’s poems hum inside like a good cocktail. Their vivid, magical powers of witness lift up the world.”
—Naomi Shihab Nye - For THE LAST GAME WE PLAYED
“Krause has the rare ability to, seemingly, abandon authorial control, to let her characters’ voices take center stage, without any intervention or purpose other than capturing the voice…Black Lawrence Press (is) apparently waging its own admirable battle to preserve and extend the art of the short story.”
—Dale Barrigar, Fifth Wednesday Journal