Laurie Blauner, author of It Looks Worse Than I Am, a fine collection of poetry published by What Books in 2014, has just won the 2015 Leapfrog Fiction Contest for her novel The Solace of Monsters. Details here. Congratulations, Laurie!

Ballard writer Laurie Blauner still finding truth in her imagination 

Laurie Blauner had a smile in her voice as much as on her face. She wanted to talk poetry—my poetry, her poetry—and prose and the combination of the two that her work has become. Her enthusiasm for literature—for words, characters, sounds, meaning—was as transparent and contagious as laughter. 

- from the Ballard News-Tribune

Read the rest of the story here.

What Books Press is happy to alert all to the fact that Judith Taylor and her book Sex Libris, one of our 2013 titles, are featured this week at Michelle Aldredge's essential poetry & arts blog, Gwarlingo. If you don't catch it this week, it will remain in the Gwarlingo archive, along with excerpts from many other fine poets.

Sex Libris, by What Books Press poet Judith Taylor, was mentioned as one of the ten best poetry books of the year by poet and critic Calvin Bedient. See his list here, and congratulations to Judith Taylor on this distinction - we are very proud to have published her fine poetry!

Gronk is currently working on another opera set design, collaborating again with Peter Sellars, this time on Purcell's The Indian Queen, to be staged in several international venues in the near future. Sellars talks about the opera at the end of the interview here, and information about the October performances in Madrid is here.

It was announced this week that A History of Hands, a novel by Rod Val Moore, has won the Juniper Prize for Fiction, sponsored by the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. The contest carries a cash prize, as well as publication of the novel in 2014. Read more here.