Sixteen Rivers Press is now accepting submissions for its 2011 publication cycle. Our submission period opened on November 1, 2008 and will close on March 1, 2009. Please see the submissions page on our website for more information. We look forward to seeing your work.

In addition, we are also currently accepting submissions for our very first Sixteen Rivers anthology, focusing on the poetry of place centered in and around the San Francisco Bay Area to be published in 2010. Please see our homepage for more information. We have already received several submissions and would love to see yours as well.

Sixteen River 2008 Benefit

Sixteen Rivers is pleased to announce that United States poet laureate Kay Ryan will read at our annual fundraiser on Saturday, October 11, 2008. Ryan's sixth collection of poetry, The Niagara River, was published in 2005 and awarded the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize from the Poetry Foundation; she was named the sixteenth U. S. poet laureate in July 2008. We are pleased to have her read her highly original work for us at this event. Champagne and light refreshments will be served from 7 to 8 p.m., with the reading beginning at 8:00. If you would like more information, please call 415/273-1303.

A Meeting of Poetic Minds

Sixteen Rivers poet Gerald Fleming talks with former U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser at the Idyllwild Poetry Conference this past July. Kooser, who edits the column "American Life in Poetry" for the National Poetry Foundation is a fan of Fleming's 2005 book, Swimmer Climbing Onto Shore. Look for Fleming's poem "Long Marriage" in a future Kooser column.

Award Winning Poets

Two Sixteen Rivers authors were recently awarded prizes in the annual poetry contest sponsored by the Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Foundation. Congratulations to Nina Lindsay, author of Today's Special Dish, who was awarded $1000 and to Gillian Wegener, author of The Opposite of Clairvoyance, who was awarded $7500. The winning poems can be read at http://dorothyprizes.org/. Click on 2007 Prize Winners in the left-hand column and then click on the authors' names to see their work.
And...Helen Wickes, author of In Search of Landscape, and Nina Lindsay have been nominated for the inaugural Northern California Independent Booksellers Association awards to be announced in April, 2008. Congratulations, and good luck to Helen and Nina!

AWP Conference

A good time was had by all at the AWP Conference held in New York City from January 31 to February 2. We went to readings, lectures, panels, and tributes for a wide variety of poets and on a wide variety of topics. Dan Bellm, author of Practice, participated in an excellent reading at the 92nd Street Y, and all members of the press took turns manning the Sixteen Rivers table at the vibrant and exciting book fair. Now we are looking forward to next year's conference to be held in February in Chicago. (The photos are Dan Bellm and Gillian Wegener, top, and Terry Ehret and Gillian Wegener, bottom, taken at the Sixteen Rivers table.)

New Titles and Upcoming Readings

The three newest titles from Sixteen Rivers Press are almost here! Dan Bellm's Practice, Terry Ehret's Lucky Break, and Gillian Wegener's The Opposite of Clairvoyance will all be available as of March 1, 2008. We hope you can join us for any or all of the upcoming readings. Specific information on these events is listed in the right-hand column of this blog. These three books offer a range of styles and poetic sensibilities that you won't want to miss. Join us!