Rebecca Wolff, the founding editor of the literary magazine Fence and the independent press Fence Books, announced yesterday that Fence Books has entered into an agreement with the National Poetry Series (NPS) as a participating publisher. The press will join HarperCollins, Penguin, Coffee House Press, and the University of Illinois Press and publish one of five winning manuscripts in the annual NPS competition. Fence Books replaces Wave Books on the NPS roster.
Established in 1978, the NPS offers five annual prizes of $1,000 and book publication by a participating trade, university, or small press publisher. Past winners have included Sandra Alcosser, Stephen Dobyns, Mark Doty, Stephen Dunn, Thylias Moss, and Gabriel Spera. Fence's Wolff was a winner in the 2000 competition for her book Manderlay (University of Illinois Press, 2001). Robert Pinsky was the judge.
