Prairie Schooner is a literary magazine published quarterly at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln with the cooperation of UNL's English Department and the University of Nebraska Press. It is based in Lincoln, Nebraska and was first published in 1926. It was founded by Lowry Wimberly and a small group of his students, who together formed the Wordsmith Chapter of Sigma Upsilon (a national honorary literary society).
Although many assume it is a regional magazine, it is nationally and internationally distributed and publishes writers from all over the United States and the world.
Prairie Schooner has garnered selections and honorable mentions in the Pushcart Prize anthologies and various of the Best American series, including Best American Short Stories, Best American Essays, Best American Mystery Stories, and Best American Nonrequired Reading.
Editors Prairie Schooners current editor (from 2025) is Timothy Schaffert, novelist and Adele Hall Professor of English and director of creative writing at the university.
Previous editors 2011-2025 Kwame Dawes 1987–2011 Hilda Raz 1980–1987 Hugh Luke 1963–1980 Bernice Slote 1956–1963 Karl Shapiro 1926–1956 Lowry Wimberly
Notable contributors
Glenna Luschei Fund and awards In 2001, the magazine and its editorship were endowed in perpetuity by poet and literary philanthropist Glenna Luschei under the Glenna Luschei Fund for Excellence at the University of Nebraska Foundation. In addition to funding the magazine and its special projects, the endowment funds one $1,500 Glenna Luschei Prairie Schooner Award and ten $250 Glenna Luschei Prairie Schooner Awards every year. The Glenna Luschei Prize for African Poetry is run by the African Poetry Book Fund in partnership with Prairie Schooner and is also named for and funded by Glenna Luschei.
Raz-Shumaker Prairie Schooner Book Prize The Raz-Shumaker Prairie Schooner Book Prize''' is an American literary award presented yearly since 2003, one award for poetry and one award for fiction. It is run by the literary magazine Prairie Schooner and University of Nebraska Press. Winners receive $3,000 and publication through the University of Nebraska Press.Prairie Schooner Book Prize, The Official Blog of the Western Literature Association, February 11, 2010.Robert Lee Brewer (2011). 2012 Writer's Market Deluxe Edition, Writer's Digest Books, September 2, 2011. Pg.984. Manuscripts are accepted from all living writers, including non-US citizens, writing in English.
Past winners YearFictionPoetry2003K. L. Cook, Last CallCortney Davis, Leopold's Maneuvers2004Brock Clarke, Carrying the TorchRynn Williams, Adonis Garage2005John Keeble, Nocturnal AmericaKathleen Flenniken, Famous2006Jesse Lee Kercheval, The Alice StoriesPaul Guest, Notes for My Body Double2007Katherine Vaz, Our Lady of the Artichokes and Other Portuguese-American StoriesMari L'Esperance, The Darkened Temple2008Anne Finger, Call Me AhabKara Candito, Taste of Cherry2009Ted Gilley, Bliss, and Other Short StoriesShane Book, Ceiling of Sticks2010Greg Hrbek, Destroy All MonstersJames Crews, The Book of What Stays2011Karen Brown, Little Sinners (submitted as "Leaf House")Susan Blackwell Ramsey, A Mind Like This2012Xhenet Aliu, Domesticated Wild ThingsOrlando Ricardo Menes, Fetish2013Amina Gautier, Now We Will Be HappyR. A. Villanueva, Reliquaria2014Bryn Chancellor, When Are You Coming Home?Jennifer Perrine, No Confession, No Mass2015Dustin M. Hoffman, One-Hundred Knuckled FistSafiya Sinclair, Cannibal2016Venita Blackburn, Black Jesus and Other SuperheroesSusan Gubernat, The Zoo at Night2017Sara Batkie, Better TimesLuisa Muradyan, American Radiance2018Liz Breazeale, Extinction Events: StoriesAria Aber, Hard Damage2019Megan Cummins, If the Body Allows ItJihyun Yun, Some Are Always Hungry2020Kristina Gorcheva-Newberry, What Isn't RememberedSusan Nguyen, Dear Diaspora2021Karin Lin-Greenberg, VanishedMónica Gomery, Might Kindred2022Gen Del Raye, Boundless Deep and Other StoresJared Harél, Let Our Bodies Change the Subject2023Janelle Bassett, Thanks for This RiotLory Bedikian, Jagadakeer: Apology to the Body2024Mi Jin Kim, InvitationGbenga Adesina, Death Does Not End At The Sea2025Micah Dean Hicks, Vulture GoldAdam O. Davis, Pyrrhic Symphony
In popular culture Stephen King's novella "Rat" centers on a fiction writer who publishes a story in Prairie Schooner.References
Further reading Stewart, Paul R., The Prairie Schooner Story: A Little Magazine's First 25 Years'' (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1955).
External links The Prairie Schooner Prairie Schooner Book Prize, official website.