The Barry Spacks Poetry Prize honors Santa Barbara’s first Poet Laureate, our beloved friend and teacher, Barry Spacks. The Spacks Prize is awarded annually for a full-length collection of poetry. The prize includes $1000, publication by Gunpowder Press, and 20 author copies of the published book.
The editors of Gunpowder Press will select finalists from manuscripts submitted between January 1 and April 30 via Submittable. We apologize that we are not able to consider international entries.
2025 Spacks Prize
Color Advisory Board by Michele Santamaría was selected as the winner of the 2025 Spacks Prize. Additional finalists include:
- A Day Like This by Polly Buckingham
- Field Notes for Extinction by Mark Caskie
- Miracle Soap by Edison Dupree
- Daughter of Salt by Leila Farjami
- My Last Crusade by Katie Hartsock
- An Angel and Other Apparitions by Christina Hauck
- Waking the Questions by John Isles
- Change in Elevation by Hari B Parisi
- Weeds and Stars by Lisa Rosenberg
2024 Spacks Prize
The 2024 Spacks Prize was awarded to TWO poets: Holly Karapetkova for Dear Empire and Keith Ekiss for Burial Fragments. Learning to Drown by SM Stubbs was also selected for publication. Additional finalists, in alphabetical order:
- I Took the Gun from My Mother’s Hand by Sara Burge
- Want by Kevin Clark
- Filling the Gourd with Bees by Hollie Dugas
- Miracle Soap by Edison Dupree
- Dying to Reach You by Christina Hauck
- Designated Wilderness by Vincent Hiscock
- A White Horse Is Not a Horse by Angelo Mao
- The Accidental Courage of Our Lives by Victoria Melekian
- Plaint by Sarah Sousa
2023 Spacks Prize
In the Cathedral of My Undoing by Kellam Ayres was selected by Gary Soto for the 2023 Spacks Prize . The other finalists, in alphabetical order by poet’s last name:
- Preparing Not to Drown by SM Stubbs
- The Grief Committee by Sarah Carey
- The Book of Drought by Robert Carney
- The Years Will Undo by Valentina Gnup
- Dear Empire by Holly Karapetkova
- Refloating by Susan Meserve
- Sober Ghost by Jeffrey Skinner
2022 Spacks Prize
Accidental Garden by Catherine Esposito Prescott was selected by Danusha Laméris the winner of the 2022 Spacks Prize. The other finalists, in alphabetical order by poet’s last name:
- Temporary Shelters by Grant Clauser
- Ordinary Fissures by Sara Eddy
- Blood Music by Emily Hockaday
- Estate Sale by Dan Murphy
- Table with Burning Candle by Julia Paul
- Redress by Jessica Smith
- In Her Black Boundaries by Sarah Sousa
- Apocalyptych by SM Stubbs
2021 Spacks Prize
Like All Light by Todd Copeland was selected by Lynne Thompson as winner of the 2021 Barry Spacks Poetry Prize. The other finalists, in alphabetical order by poet’s last name:
- These Waters by John Belk
- Design by Theresa Burns
- Gatherer’s Alphabet by Susan Kelly-Dewitt
- Three Hundred Streets of Venice California by Tom Laichas
- Aisle 228 by Sandra Marchetti
- Before the Forest Burns by Leslie Monsour
- Easy Victims to the Charitable Deceptions of Nostalgia by Emily Schulten
- Feast of Light by Emily Tuszynka
- A Primer of Interference by Suzanne Wise
2020 Spacks Prize
Curriculum by Meghan Dunn was selected by Jessica Jacobs as the winner of the 2020 Spacks Prize. Mother Lode, by Peg Quinn, was also selected for publication. The other finalists, in alphabetical order by poet’s last name:
- Luminous Body, Glittering, Ash by C.W. Emerson
- Ishmael Mask, by Charles Kell
- The Right Blue Dream Home, by Claire McQuerry
- To Find Comfort in Others, by Stephen Priest
- From the Gunroom by Keith Stahl
- Divination with a Human Heart Attached by Emily Stoddard
- The Public by Patrick Swaney
- Sum Ledger by Adam Tavel (forthcoming from Measure Press—congratulations, Adam!)
2019 Spacks Prize
Drinking with O’Hara by Glenn Freeman was selected by Stephen Dunn as the winner of the 2019 Spacks Prize. The other finalists, in alphabetical order by poet’s last name:
- These Waters, John Belk
- Rosetta, by Karina Borowicz
- Luminous Body, Glittering Ash, by C.W. Emerson
- The Invention of the Parachute, by Ken Fifer
- Into Night’s Tent, by Stephen Frech
- I Come from a Long Line of Men Who Die in Their Sleep, by Robin Gow
- Our Spilt Blood at the Borders, by Jonathan Greenhause
- Medicine, 3AM, by Susan Kelly-Dewitt
- Cautious Horses Eyed Us, by Peg Quinn
2018 Spacks Prize
The Ghosts of Lost Animals by Michelle Bonczek Evory was selected by Lee Herrick as the winner of the 2018 Spacks Prize. The other finalists, in alphabetical order by poet’s last name:
- Steve Bellin-Oka, Ash Sonata
- Nina Clements, Our Mother of Sorrows
- Amy Davis, Wayward
- Kathy Goodkin, Crybaby Bridge
- Andrew Gottlieb, Tales of Distance
- Emily Hazel, The Brave Betweens
- Kip Knott, Temporary Agnostic
- Jonathan Weinert, Indifferent Country
- Reed Wilson, Orpheum
2017 Spacks Prize
Posthumous Noon by Aaron Baker was selected by Jane Hirshfield as the winner of the 2017 Spacks Prize. The other finalists, in alphabetical order by poet’s last name:
- Steven Huff, A Fire in the Hill
- Barbara March, Here Is a Woman
- Jeff Oaks, Little What
- Lisa Rosenberg, A Different Physics
- Lynn Schmeldler, History of Gone
- Emily Schulten, The Way a Wound Becomes a Scar
- Melissa Stephenson, After Mating for Life
- Angela Voras-Hills, The Account of Worms
- Pui Ying Wong, The Feast
2016 Spacks Prize
Burning Down Disneyland by Kurt Olsson was selected by Thomas Lux as the winner of the 2016 Spacks Prize. The other finalists, in alphabetical order by poet’s last name:
- Nan Cohen, Unfinished City
- Jeff Ewing, The Wind Apples
- Andrew Gottlieb, His Winter Beast
- Adam Houle, Stray
- Kathleen McClung, The Typists Play Monopoly
- Emily Schulten, The Way a Wound Becomes a Scar
- Anna Scotti, Bewildered by All This Broken Sky
- James Scruton, Ordinary Plenty
- Erin Elizabeth Smith, Down: The Alice Poems
2015 Spacks Prize
The inaugural Spacks Prize was awarded by Dan Gerber to poet Catherine Abbey Hodges for her book Instead of Sadness. The other finalists, in alphabetical order by poet’s last name:
- Susan Kelly-Dewitt, Bird Singing in the Moonlight
- Christine Kitano, Sky Country
- John Morrison, Monkey Island
- Barbara Presnell, Blue Star
- Lindsay Tigue, System of Ghosts
- Carine Topal, Some World
- Lillo Way, Wingbone