The Backwaters Press
Founded in 1997, the Backwaters Press has worked to produce award-winning books by some of America’s finest authors. The University of Nebraska Press acquired Backwaters in 2018, adding an impressive backlist in poetry and prose that contributes to the cultural landscape of our state and region. As a general interest imprint of UNP, Backwaters continues to build on roots planted firmly in the Great Plains, delighting readers with literature of enduring value and consequence.
The Backwaters Prize, an international poetry book competition, was initiated in 1998 and continues under the auspices of UNP. Contest winners are chosen by distinguished American poets; past judges include Hayden Carruth (National Book Award, National Book Circle Critics Award), Philip Levine (National Book Award, two Pulitzer Prizes), and Ted Kooser (Poet Laureate of the United States, Pulitzer Prize winner). Join our mailing list to receive updates about this competition and the Backwaters Press.
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From the UNP Blog
On the Modoc War, a Small Step in the Right Direction
Robert Aquinas McNally is a freelance writer and editor based in Concord, California. He is the author or coauthor of nine nonfiction books, including So Remorseless a Havoc: Of Dolphins, Whales, and Men. His book The Modoc War: A Story of Genocide at the Dawn of America’s Gilded Age (Bison Books, 2017) won the California [...]
From the Desk of John Sibley Williams: Don’t Assume It’s All True
John Sibley Williams serves as editor of the Inflectionist Review and works as a literary agent. He is the author of four poetry collections, including As One Fire Consumes Another, which won the Orison Poetry Prize; Disinheritance; and Controlled Hallucinations. He lives in Portland, Oregon. He is the winner of the 2 [...]