Book Prize

Jihyun Yun’s debut collection, Some Are Always Hungry, was the winning manuscript of the Raz Shumaker Prize in Poetry in 2019 and was published through University of Nebraska Press in 2020.

NICOLE LACHAT: Hello, Jihyun! I have the good fortune of calling you a friend. But for those who don’t know you, can you tell us how you came to poetry? 

JIHYUN YUN: This isn’t the most romantic story, but I tripped and fell into poetry in my junior year at UC Davis. I was having a science heavy quarter and wanted to round it out with a creative class. Fiction was full, so I enrolled in the poetry workshop knowing absolutely nothing about it. 

In the run-up to the Prairie Schooner Book Prize deadline, we’re featuring interviews with past winners. Don’t forget that the prize closes in seven days (March 15—submit now!). Jennifer Perrine won the 2014 Prairie Schooner Book Prize for her poetry collection, No Confession, No Mass.  The two of us spoke about flat female characters, The Scarlet Letter, and the value of slowing down.

PRAIRIE SCHOONER: No Confession, No Mass will be your third collection.  Are there any themes or ideas that keep coming back in your work?

Happy Birthday, Book Prize Series

By Dillon Jones, Prairie Schooner intern

This year marks the tenth anniversary of Prairie Schooner’s Book Prize Series. To celebrate, friends of the journal gathered last Thursday to honor its founders, former PS Editor-in-Chief Hilda Raz and longtime PS supporter Peggy Shumaker. Current Editor-in-Chief Kwame Dawes opened with remarks about the difference between blockers and facilitators, noting the importance of the latter. He described facilitators as people who, in response to an obstacle, say, “That sounds difficult. How can we make it happen?” Hilda Raz and Peggy Shumaker belong in this group.

Hali Sofala is the Book Prize Coordinator for Prairie Schooner. From Georgia, she's a first-year Ph.D. student in poetry, specializing in women’s and ethnic studies. She previously earned an M.F.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Hali has taught at Augusta State University, where she also worked as the Textbook Manager for the University’s campus bookstore. Her poems have been published in journals such as Anderbo, Inner Weather, The Literary Bohemian, and The Peacock’s Feet.

On to the questions--

One of the many things I admire about A Mind Like This is its broad historical spectrum. Some poems profile 19th-century authors while others incorporate aspects of contemporary life such as the phrases “I downloaded a favorite song” and “wind / that bitchslapped me.” What is gained by letting cutting-edge, colloquial diction into your poems?

A reader who continues to the next line? English is in a constant thrash, and trying to hang onto its tail can make for a fine ride as long as you have friends who will occasionally look over their glasses at you and say "No. Just ... no."

Last week we hosted a few events in celebration of Prairie Schooner Book Prize winners Shane Book, James Crews, and Greg Hrbek. There was a meet-and-greet/q-and-a on Monday. Tuesday evening featured collaborative performances by the three prize-winners with UNL’s photography and dance departments.

According to Trey Moody, our events guru, the collaboration came off well.

Prairie Schooner and the University of Nebraska Press will be hosting a couple events on campus next week as part of the 2012 Prairie Schooner Book Prize Celebration. The guests of honor (and the entertainment!) feature three of our recent Book Prize winners. They are, Shane Book (2010 winner in poetry for Ceiling of Sticks), Greg Hrbek (2011 winner in fiction for Destroy All Monsters), and James Crews (2011 winner in poetry for The Book of What Stays).

The flyer at your right contains all the particulars, but, just for fun, here are the main events:

Karen Brown received the 2011 Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Fiction for her book Little Sinners and Other Stories, which is forthcoming from the University of Nebraska Press. Her first collection of short stories, Pins and Needles, received AWP’s Grace Paley Prize for Short Fiction and, in 2007, was published by the University of Massachusetts Press. Her work has appeared twice in the PEN/O.

Prairie Schooner is excited to announce its new Book Prize Coordinator, Hali Sofala!

From Georgia, Sofala is a first-year Ph.D. student in poetry, with a specialization in women’s and ethnic studies, at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and she holds an M.F.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Sofala has most recently taught at Augusta State University, where she also worked as the Textbook Manager for the University’s campus bookstore, and her poems have been published in journals such as Anderbo, Inner Weather, The Literary Bohemian, and The Peacock’s Feet.

The annual Prairie Schooner Book Prize, which next opens for submissions on January 15, 2012, is in very good hands. Please help us in welcoming Hali Sofala to the Prairie Schooner team!