Congratulations to our 2023 Prose Contest winner, Soren Tae Smith! We are thrilled to announce that Mary Cappello has chosen Honey from the Ground as the prizewinning manuscript. Cappello writes in her judge’s citation, “Every now and then, a book comes along that invites us into the realm of pure voice. Honey from the Ground sustains its compelling tone and atmosphere with subtlety and grace across the course of an entire volume. I read the book in one sitting; then read it in its entirety on another day; and another, each time discovering something new and bracing on the nature of bereavement and memory, of necessity and inevitability…. Enter the shimmering stillness. Read this book and experience the possible in writing: how words and sentences, properly attuned, affirm the unbearable fact of survival in the face of impossible loss.” Honey from the Ground will be published by Barrow Street in Summer 2024 as the first title of the Barrow Street Prose Series.

We are excited to announce that our 2023 Prose Contest runner-up, Spare by Michelle Lewis will be published next year as part of the Barrow Street Prose Series. We can't wait to celebrate both books with you in Fall 2024!

We would also like to congratulate Prose Contest finalists: Emilio Carrero, I Want (2015-2022): An Autobiography || Lesley Jenike: City of Toys || Margot Singer: Secret Agent Man and Other Essays. Look for selections of their work in the Spring 2024 issue of our affiliated journal, Ocean State Review.

Thank you to all the writers who took a chance on our contest. More updates on future opportunities with Barrow Street Prose are forthcoming, stay tuned!