Bill Henderson, editor

The Pushcart Prize XXVIII

"A vibrant exhibition of adventurous yet meticulously crafted writing."—Donna Seaman, Booklist

The Pushcart Prize XXVII continues as a testament to the flourishing of American literature in our small presses. Edited with the assistance of over 200 distinguished contributing editors—including Philip Levine, Rick Bass, Rosellen Brown, Joyce Carol Oates, Billy Collins, and Stephen Dunn—this edition includes over sixty stories, essays, and poems from scores of little magazines and small presses, both print and online.

As the consolidation of commercial publishers continues, the small presses capture and encourage what is truly lasting and important in our literary culture. For new writers, the small presses are where they will almost always get their start. The Pushcart Prize serves as their inspiration and source book, with listings of hundreds of presses. Among writers discovered in the Pushcart editions are John Irving, Mary Gordon, Rick Moody, and many more.

"America's best fiction, poetry, and essays for over twenty-five years."—Billy Collins

"I am fiercely loyal to and grateful for these editions."—Wally Lamb

"This is the anthology that writers read."—Russell Banks

"The best series...incredibly good."—Gerald Stern

"Urgent and absolutely necessary."—Mary Karr

"The most creative, the more generous, and the most democratic of any of the annual volumes."—Rick Moody

"Indispensable for anyone with an interest in what is really going on in contemporary American writing."—Frank Conroy

"The ex-officio house organ for the American literary cosmos."—Chicago Tribune