So on Thursday night last week I was having a really, really annoying evening due to a series of circumstances that involved, to name a few, my kids, paper airplanes, and the Spanish postal service. (These things are not necessarily related to each other.) As I tend to when I am tired and out of it but can’t focus on anything productive because of the aforementioned kids, I was scrolling mindlessly through my social media feeds, and then noticed I’d been tagged in the following Tweet:
(2/6) We proudly nominate Daniella Levy for the Pushcart Prize for her story “Shattered Glass” https://t.co/kh3d2dCkeP @DaniellaNLevy @PushcartPrize
— Newfound (@NewfoundOrg) November 9, 2017
So I sat there staring at it for a few seconds, trying to register what it meant that my name was appearing only two words away from the words “Pushcart Prize”.
Wait. Wait. I was just nominated for the Pushcart Prize?
The Pushcart Prize is a Big Frikkin’ Deal, isn’t it?
Ahh, but don’t worry, my friends. My self-doubt demons kicked right into gear. My next move was to type the following into Google:
Because, I mean, come on. Let’s not get hasty in getting excited, shall we. Excitement is for amateurs.
Sadly, my self-doubt demons knew exactly what they were doing. The very first result that popped up was a blog post by one Jon Fox called “An Open Letter to Pushcart Nominated Folks.” I’m not linking to it because I don’t want to give the man more Google karma. The upshot of Mr. Fox’s letter was that getting nominated for the Pushcart is not really that big a deal and y’all need to stop mentioning it in your bios and cover letters because it makes you look desperate. After all, like, every single literary magazine is eligible to nominate up to 6 people, so that’s, like, a lot of people, and if a lot of people receive this distinction, it’s not all that special, is it?
Hmm. So I headed back over to Newfound to check how much stuff they’d published in the past year. Just one issue, so overall, I’d been selected, along with five others, out of a list of around 30 other writers. And is it really 30, anyway, ’cause there are, like, interviews here, and do they count? And they didn’t nominate any essays? Maybe it’s more like six out of 15. 18, maybe, including the essays. Not terribly impressive by the numbers. Score 1 for the self-doubt demons.
Fortunately, I didn’t stop with Mr. Fox’s open letter, and further down the page of Google results was another open letter in response to his: An Open Letter to Pushcart Nominees: Brag It Up, You Beautiful Geniuses! by author and poet E. Kristin Anderson. (Pushcart-nominated author and poet, she specifies in her bio!) E Kristin’s take on the matter was far more to my taste: “An editor reads SO MANY poems (stories, essays) every year. Like, jillions. Okay, maybe more like thousands. But, still. It’s overwhelming. To even be published in a magazine is a struggle and a challenge. And, sure, throw some statistics at me, Jon Fox. Tell me that there are XYZ nominees because there are ABC journals. I don’t really care. Because one editor championed my piece and a handful of others from a whole year of submissions, from a whole year of poems that he published. Tell me, how is that not a big deal?”
Yeah, Mr. Fox, self-doubt demons et al?
How is not a big deal that a mere year and a half ago I wrote these words in this very blog: “I am now 29, with another novel, a novella, and a handful of short stories under my belt… and more than 200 rejection letters to show for all of it. That’s it. Not one of them has been published”… and not only have I had five short stories and one novel published since then, a team of editors from one literary magazine decided that one of those stories was one of the six best pieces they’d published that year and nominated it to be considered for publication by the very embodiment of literary snobbery itself?
HOW IS THAT NOT A BIG DEAL?
As to whether one should mention it in a cover letter or bio: in my opinion, that depends on your audience and what your goal is. So much of this industry is marketing, and so much of marketing is about getting a second glance; and the words Pushcart Prize–no matter what appears before or after–are going to get you a second glance. If the editor is then going to turn up their nose that you are a mere nominee, well, a pox on them.
Oh, and here’s the story if you’re interested in reading it. 😉
Great post! I agree with you and Anderson :). AND I do include it in my bio. I think for most lit mags a bio is something they only read/see if they are publishing your work. For the most part, they are nice to go along with the work, but don’t affect decisions about whether or not to publish. Your bio should be what you want it to be.
Yes, the impression I get from lit mags is that they don’t really care who you are as long as they like the piece. In searching for an agent, at least, the bio does matter (depending on the agent–some more, some less), but really, if an agent is going to turn up their nose at your bio because you wrote that you’re a Pushcart nominee, it’s probably not a good match anyhow.
Congrats! It is important to note that every piece that gets nominated, do not get sent. My work was nominated and sent.
I read for a top journal and I and the other editors agree your bio barely matters at all, certainly not enough to try proving why mentioning one detail might sound desperate. Sound desperate to who? I’ve rejected pushcart winners and IWW grads, and accepted people without any previous publications. All that matters is if the story is good.
Congratulations on the nomination and think of it as a glorious win—against the enormous odds of being published and then being singled out of a number of fine writers. Thank you for providing the link to your story. “Shattered” is beautiful, a celebration of what binds us together despite our fears.
Thank you so much <3
I ran a literary magazine for half a decade and I can tell you YES it is a huge deal. There was actually one year when, to my terrible shame, I was simply too exhausted to go back through and find people to nominate. These editors are taking time, re-reading, comparing, thinking critically, THEN nominating writers. And this cannot be done through email; it is a real on-paper, through the mail thing. We published two long volumes a year and there were times when someone would come “close” to being nominated, and that felt awful, too. But usually, the winners for my nomination were clear. They stood head and shoulders above the rest. And that’s out of submissions that were ACCEPTED for publication–so they already stood head and shoulders above many others. Holy s– yes, BE DAMNED PROUD!
Thanks for this, Savannah!
How can an individual reach for being nominated his/ her books?
Hi Ishita, in the case of the Pushcart Prize it is only short fiction, poetry, and essays that have been published in a literary magazine that can get a nomination (not books). The staff of the magazine in which the piece was published decides who to nominate.
Daniella, your short story is a wonderful and important read, and very deserving of this honor.
Thank you, Susan!
As the editor-in-chief of a literary magazine (West Texas Literary Review), I can tell you that a Pushcart nomination is a very big deal. I read thousands of submissions a year, which I then narrow down to less than 100 for publication, from which I have to choose six worthy of nomination. It is a difficult task that leaves so many incredible pieces without this recognition. It’s hard enough to get published at all and so much harder to get a Pushcart nomination. Everyone that does should be extremely proud!
Good to know! Thanks for your input, and much success with your magazine!
Your story, “Shattered Glass”, is beautiful. I was particularly impressed by your ability to convey deep, sharp emotions in such a soft and gentle way. Thank you for sharing this work.
Shabbat Shalom!
Thank you!
I have steady acceptance rate and was nominated and chosen to go and be considered. Not all poems nominated are selected to go to the last round and get sent to the judges of the Pushcart. I was excited but I am skeptical about it though, when I saw some of the people on the advisory board are poet who were previously published in the Pushcart and later became widley known. I also saw some in the Pushcart book, that were previously published in books that a judge out years ago. I believe it to be a conflict of interest. It is like they have already a good experience with the judges so of course they got a better shot at appearing the Pushcart book. I will not name the names of the judges and the poets involved, but I will tell you there is some fishy business in the judging process.
This would not surprise me in the slightest and I am very skeptical about contests, awards, and prizes in general…
I actually have hard physical proof of what am saying. I own a book published by one of the advisory people of the contest and in it is poets who are in the 2020 edition of the Puschart Prize. One of the other advisors are also in the book. It is definitely fixed in some ways.
One of the poems is by one of the poets “in the club” and as a well educated poet with steady writing success, I can tell you that the poem certaintly is not better written then some of the poems I have read that were selected, neither was it better than my poem that got sent. It actually surprised some people I know to see the poem got chosen over mine. Their poem have about 10 lines of imagery, and mine have a variety from top to bottom and even shows use of the iceberg method as well as taking risk in subject matter, which is focused on a child having to bury a dead beat parent, and the difficulty and complications of it, especially it being an African American child having to pick up the ashes of their dead beat African American father.
The poem has been celebrated slot and even scheduled to appear in another press (in print). The “club people” decided to pick again their club friends to take spots that other poets should have that never appeared before in a Pushcart Prize Book.
Any writer who wins a Pushcart Prize automatically becomes a contributing editor. I won a Pushcart Prize a couple of years ago, and I can guarantee you nobody was doing me any special favors. I don’t have a MFA and don’t know anybody in the “business.” When I nominate pieces for the prize, I usually have never heard of the writers. They are just pieces I enjoyed and thought deserved a shot.
I got nominated by Orbis, British journal4, today. Your perspective makes me even prouder! Thank you.
Congratulations! You should be proud!
One year I won a prize given by a very top tier journal for the best short story published in that journal that year. This was not a contest, there was no admission or application, but was simply recognition that came with a $1000 award. I was surprised, however, when the journal announced their Pushcart nominees and didn’t include my story, which they had two months earlier said was the best story they published that year. Naturally, I asked what had happened and the editor responded that many factors went into choosing their Pushcart nominees. I understood that to mean there was some political process at work. Because of that experience I no longer believe Pushcart nominations have any significance. I have had 3 or 4 stories listed in the back of the Pushcart Prize anthology as “Special Mentions” and won a Pushcart this year.
I just got nominated, jumping for joy. People are asking me “did you win? And suddenly I’m feeling not so great.
I’m sorry I mentioned it to me movie club, humiliated when they ask me how many other people are competing. Suddenly i feel dejected, a braggart and a phony.
I started writing at 80 and win ,loose or draw, that is what I can brag about. And of course my great -grandchild. “ look what Nana did honey “ she never gave up.
You are an inspiration and don’t let anybody tell you otherwise! Congrats on your nomination!
You are an inspirational women!
Congratulations, Eleanor!!!!
Good for you, Eleanor! I just started writing at 52 and wondered if there was any hope for me. You are inspiring!!
By the way, I just found out today I was nominated for a Pushcart Prize and didn’t even know what it was. This is my first published piece of fiction. Thanks so much for this post. It has helped me understand that this is significant!
Daniella, I loved your story. Thanks for sharing it!
Very interesting. I read that article and was a bit ticked off myself. Don’t put in your bio? that ridiculous. So what shall we include, maybe he should make a list telling which literary journals we should include. Mean spirited. I’m thrilled, I started writing 4 years ago and manage to publish everything I write.. I’m 83 and it’s going in my BIO!
Well this was just the well balanced commentary I needed today—thank you! Congrats (several years) belatedly to you and to all who have and will be nominated. I think we definitely deserve to celebrate. The pool of nominees may be “large,” perhaps also a wide spectrum of talent and future prospects, but I don’t think that diminishes the accomplishment or worth of the recognition to zero.
Also, and I know it’s petty of me, but I don’t think Jon Fox has much room to talk given his website lists out of “ 300 submissions” winning “the Third Coast fiction contest,” and his massive $1000 prize from Chicago Tribune that one time. Not that I denigrate those accomplishments, either—just sayin’. =)
Thank you all you wonderful woman writers ( the most interesting supportive people you’ll ever meet)