November 19, 2024 — Marist has launched a three-year sponsorship of the prestigious Pushcart Prize, an annual collection of poetry, short stories, and essays. This new collaboration exemplifies Marist’s commitment to fostering literary excellence and enhancing the academic experience for students.

Through this sponsorship, Marist students will have the opportunity to engage with Pushcart Prize-winning authors through in-person and virtual events, workshops, readings, and discussions, enriching their academic experience and literary perspectives. Marist has a long-standing connection to the Pushcart Prize, with several past faculty members and alumni having been nominated for the award.

The collaboration will elevate Marist’s profile within the literary community. The sponsorship includes plans for Marist to host visits from award-winning authors and Pushcart anthology editors. It also reflects Marist’s dedication to fostering a vibrant academic and creative community, expanding cultural engagement, and enriching the experiences of student, faculty, and staff through access to distinguished literary figures and their work.

“The annual publication of the Pushcart Prize anthology is a major event in American letters,” said Provost Catherine Gunther Kodat. “Marist is honored to support this august endeavor, which does so much to highlight literary talent—whether established or up-and-coming—and to champion the irreplaceable role of fine writing in our national culture. I am absolutely thrilled to see Marist’s name linked to Pushcart.”

Founded in the mid-1970s in response to the dominance of large commercial publishers, the Pushcart Prize honors exceptional fiction, poetry, and essays from smaller presses. Founding editor Bill Henderson and the Pushcart series have received several national awards, including the 2005 Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Book Critics Circle, the 2006 Poets & Writers/Barnes & Noble 'Writers for Writers' Award, and an award for distinguished service to the arts from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

“We are delighted to have Marist join us as a major sponsor of the annual Pushcart Prize. Marist will help us remain an international voice in literature and protect what is valuable in our culture,” said Henderson.

As it approaches its 50th anniversary, the Pushcart Prize has become a celebrated milestone for emerging writers and has featured notable authors like Joyce Carol Oates, Mary Gordon, Andre Dubus, III, Charles Baxter, Ray Carver, William H. Gass, Paul Muldoon, and others, opening doors to broader recognition within the literary world.