Richard Snyder Memorial Book Prize

This poetry book series honors the memory of Richard Snyder (1925-1986), poet, fiction writer, playwright, professor of English at Ashland University, and in 1969 co-founder (with Robert McGovern) of the Ashland Poetry Press. In selecting manuscripts for this series, Ashland Poetry Press editors keep in mind Snyder’s tenacious dedication to craftsmanship and thematic integrity.

The Winner of the Snyder Prize Receives:

— $1,000.00
— Publication of winning manuscript in a paperback edition
— 25 copies of the published book (in lieu of royalties)

2027 Submission Guidelines:

— Original collection of poems, 48 to 96 pages.
— Reading period begins January 1, 2027
— Deadline: May 1, 2027
— Translations are ineligible (we have a separate translation series)
— No names or any identifiers on manuscripts; acknowledgements may be included.
— Ashland University MFA Program alumni, AU employees or their spouses are ineligible.
— Family, students, and co-workers of the final judge are ineligible.
— Electronic submissions only (Submittable. $27)

The 2027 Judge: TBA

Past Snyder Prize Winners:

2026 : Michael Lavers, A Brief History of My Dictatorship
2025 : KT Landon, Abide
2024 : Valerie Perreault, Neon Pastoral
2023 : Teresa Cader, At Risk
2022 : Bruce Bond, Vault
2021 : Margaret Mackinnon, Afternoon in Cartago
2020 : Peter Grandbois, Last Night I Aged a Hundred Years
2019 : Laura Donnelly, Midwest Gothic
2018 : Barbara Ungar, Save Our Ship
2017 : Michael S. Moos, The Idea of the Garden
2016 : Pamela Sutton, Burning My Birth Certificate
2015 : Daneen Wardrop, Life As It
2014 : Anna George Meek, The Genome Rhapsodies
2013 : J. David Cummings, Tancho
2011 : Gabriel Spera, The Rigid Body
2010 : Mary Makofske, Traction
2009 : Jason Schneiderman, Striking Surface
2008 : Marc J. Sheehan, Vengeful Hymns
2007 : Helen Pruitt Wallace, Shimming the Glass House
2006 : Lorna Knowles Blake, Permanent Address
2005 : Benjamin S. Grossberg, Underwater Lengths in a Single Breath
2004 : Christine Gelineau, Remorseless Loyalty
2003 : Vern Rutsala, The Moment’s Equation
2002 : Carol Barrett, Calling in the Bones
2001 : Corrinne Clegg Hales, Separate Escapes
2001 : Jan Lee Ande, Instructions for Walking on Water
1999 : Philip Brady, Weal
1998 : David Ray, Demons in the Diner
1997 : Wendy Battin, Little Apocalypse

Recent Richard Snyder Prize Judges:

2026: D.A. Powell
2025: Kim Addonizio
2024: Matthew Rohrer
2023: Mark Doty
2022: Mark Irwin
2021: Maggie Anderson
2020: Indran Amirthanayagam
2019: Maggie Smith
2018: Mark Jarmon
2017: Elizabeth Spires
2016: Andrew Hudgins
2015: David St. John
2014: Angie Estes
2013: Alicia Ostriker

Notable awards of some Snyder book winners:

2024 winner, Neon Pastoral by Valerie Perreault, won the Scotti Merrill Award for Poetry from the Key West Literary Seminars (selected by former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins)

2019 winner, Midwest Gothic by Laura Donnelly, won the 2021 Eric Hoffer “da Vinci Eye” Award.

2015 winner, Life As It by Daneen Wardrop, won the gold medal for poetry in the 2017 Independent Publishers Book Award.

2013 winner, Tancho by J. David Cummings, won the gold medal in the Independent Book Publishers Association Benjamin Franklin Award.

2008 winner, Vengeful Hymns by Marc J. Sheehan, was the finalist for the Society of Midland Authors Poetry Competition.

2007 winner, Shimming the Glass House by Helen Pruitt Wallace, won the Bronze medal in the 2008 Florida Book Awards Poetry category.

2004 winner, Remorseless Loyalty by Christine Gelineau, was nominated by David St. John for the 2006 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Poetry.

2003 winner, The Moment’s Equation by Vern Rutsala (published in December 2004), was a finalist for the 2005 National Book Award.