Winner of honors from the National Book Critics Circle, Publishers Weekly, Poets & Writers / Barnes & Noble and others, and acclaimed by readers and reviewers internationally, The Pushcart Prize series continues to be a testament to the flourishing of American fiction, essays, memoirs and poetry in our small, independent presses. As commercial publishers consolidate into a few profit-driven conglomerates, small presses encourage literature that is lasting, important and exciting.Edited with the assistance of over 200 distinguished Contributing Editors - including Guest Poetry Editors Patricia Smith and Arthur Sze - this volume includes over 60 fascinating works selected from thousands of nominations and hundreds of presses, a complete roster of today's outstanding non-commercial publishers.As David Ulin, Los Angeles Times Book Critic commented on last year's Pushcart Prize: "I've had a love of these anthologies for many years - for their diversity, their range of expression and also for their commitment to writing and publishing."