Yes, it’s that time of the year when editors of small poetry presses nominate up to six poems that they have published in the calendar year for the internationally acclaimed Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses. 

This year we’re delighted to announce two of the Society’s poets have been nominated.

Lessons in Love by Susan J Bryant has been nominated by Randal Burd, editor of Sparks of Calliope, which publishes about ten talented poets per month (one very three days). The successful poem appeared in the edition entitled Journal of Poetic Observations. 

Susan Jarvis Bryant is originally from England and now lives on the coastal plains of Texas. She has poetry published in a variety of places in the UK and the USA and has recently published two poetry books: Elephants Unleashed and Fern Feathered Edges. She is the winner of the 2020 International Society of Classical Poets Competition and was also nominated for the 2022 Pushcart Prize. To read the nominated poem follow this link:  https://sparksofcalliope.com/2023/01/19/two-poems-by-susan-j-bryant/ .

Our second nominee is Nigel Kent, whose poem, Fall, was nominated by Mark Davidson, editor of Hedgehog Poetry Press. Fall is the title poem of Nigel’s latest pamphlet, a narrative collection of poems that eavesdrops on an affair which has devastating consequences for a marriage of ten years, forensically dissecting the complex nature of love. This is the fifth time that Nigel has been nominated for the award. To read his nominated poem follow this link: https://nigelkentpoet.wordpress.com/poems/

Many congratulations to both of them.