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Our Story

Bringing vital voices to a world of readers

Mission Statement

BOA Editions, Ltd., a not-for-profit publisher of poetry and other literary works, fosters readership and appreciation of contemporary literature. By identifying, cultivating, and publishing both new and established poets and selecting authors of unique literary talent, BOA brings high quality literature to the public. Support for this effort comes from the sale of its publications, grant funding, and private donations.

History

Since its founding in 1976, BOA has published more than 300 books of American poetry, poetry-in-translation, and short fiction. The first publication bearing the BOA imprint was The Fuhrer Bunker: A Cycle of Poems in Progress by W. D. Snodgrass. The Fuhrer Bunker received tremendous critical attention and was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry, optioned for the stage by Joseph Papp, and produced by Wynn Handman for The American Place Theater. In 1984, BOA published Carolyn Kizer's Yin, a collection of poems that had been turned down by nearly every major publishing house. Yin won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1985.

One year later, BOA published Rose by Li-Young Lee, who at that time was an unknown poet. He went on to publish five more books with BOA and is one of America’s most widely-read poets. Another extremely prominent BOA poet, Naomi Shihab Nye, joined BOA’s poetry list with her collection, Fuel, in 1994. She has gone on to publish 4 more lauded collections with BOA Editions, garnering such awards as the Neustadt International Prize for Literature, the Helen C. Smith Memorial Award for Best Book of Poetry from the Texas Institute of Letters, and the Writers' League of Texas Book Awards for Poetry, among many others. 

    

Lucille Clifton is another prominent poet on BOA's roster. Ms. Clifton was awarded the 2010 Robert Frost Medal for lifetime achievement posthumously from the Poetry Society of America, and was the 2007 recipient of the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize from The Poetry Foundation. In 2000, she won the National Book Award for Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1988-2000. Two of her BOA poetry collections, Good Woman: Poems and a Memoir 1969-1980, and, Next: New Poems, were chosen as finalists for the Pulitzer Prize in 1988; she was the first author to have two books of poetry chosen as finalists for the Pulitzer Prize within the same year. The Terrible Stories was a finalist for the 1996 National Book Award. In 2012, BOA published The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton: 1965-2010, edited by Kevin Young and Michael Glaser with a foreword by Toni Morrison. The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton is the culmination of the revered poet's 40-year career, combining all of her published collections with 69 previously unpublished poems. In continuing to promote Ms. Clifton’s legacy for future generations, BOA published How to Carry Water: Selected Poems edited by Aracelis Girmay in 2020. Additionally, in 2020, BOA launched Blessing the Boats Selections, which are titles that spotlight poetry collections by women of color, selected by an Editor-at-Large who is also a woman of color. Blessing the Boats Selections was named after Lucille Clifton’s National Book Award-winning collection, Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems (BOA, 2000), in honor and celebration of her enduring legacy. In 2026 – BOA’s 50th anniversary – the press will publish a book of previously unpublished Lucille Clifton poems titled, At the Gate: Uncollected Poems 1987-2007, edited with a foreword by Kazim Ali.

In addition to the previously noted poets, BOA is proud to publish dozens of other poets and authors whose books have been awarded or named finalists for more than 100 awards by such organizations as the Academy of American Poets, Poetry Society of America, PEN Center, National Book Critics Circle, The Publishing Triangle, Great Lakes Colleges Association, and the Jewish Book Council. BOA books are also regularly reviewed in national newspapers, magazines, and literary journals. On a regional level, BOA publications have won the Northern California Book Award for Poetry Translation, Minnesota Book Award, Maine Literary Award Winner for Poetry, The Colorado Book Award for Poetry, Writers’ League of Texas Book Awards for Poetry, and the Israel Prize in Literature, among others. In 2007, BOA expanded its American Reader Series to include collections of short fiction and in 2010 the BOA Short Fiction Prize was established. To-date, BOA has published more than 30 fiction collections, including 13 winners of the BOA Short Fiction Prize. These short story collections feature voices more concerned with the artfulness of their writing than the twists and turns of plot, and have gone on to bring new and important attention to this underserved literary genre.

As an organization, BOA was recipient of a 2001 New York State Governor's Arts Award for overall artistic excellence. In 2018, the Mayor of the City of Rochester issued a proclamation dedicating April 20th as BOA Editions Day in our hometown of Rochester, NY. Additionally, in 2005 and again in 2014, the University of Rochester’s Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation (RBSCP) acquired BOA Editions’ publishing archives and created the BOA Collection. This collection corresponds to all of BOA’s activities and the writers and poets it publishes. A previous collection of BOA archives is located in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University where the collection was acquired in 1996 along with the papers of BOA’s founder, the late poet, editor, and translator A. Poulin, Jr. (1938-1996). That collection is titled A. Poulin papers and BOA Editions records.  

 In honor of BOA’s founder, BOA established the A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize in 2003. The Poulin Prize is awarded annually to a first collection of poetry. Poulin Prize winners are selected by a distinguished poet who also writes a foreword to the published collection. Previous Poulin Prize winners include Chen ChenKeetje KuipersGeffrey DavisJanice N. HarringtonMarcelo Hernandez CastilloDerrick AustinHugh Martin, and more than a dozen other noteworthy poets. With the generous support of the family of poet, actress, and associate editor of Poetry magazine, Isabella Gardner (1915-1981), BOA also biennially awards the Isabella Gardner Poetry Award to a poet in mid-career with a new book of exceptional merit. Previous Gardner Award winners include Naomi Shihab NyeBruce WeiglAracelis Girmay, and Jillian Weise, among others.

BOA currently operates under the guidance of Executive Director and Publisher Peter Conners. Conners joined BOA Editions as Marketing Director in 2003 and was named Publisher in 2010. The title of Executive Director was added in 2020. Under his editorial direction, BOA books have garnered dozens of prestigious awards including 3 James Laughlin Awards, the Whiting Award, the PEN Center USA Literary Award for Fiction, and the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize which is given by the Academy of American Poets in recognition of “the most outstanding book of poetry published in the United States in the previous calendar year.” He also spearheaded the founding of BOA’s fiction series, Blessing the Boats Selections, and, most recently, the BOA Audiobooks Series. Additionally, Conners is an author with 10 published books of poetry, nonfiction, and fiction. In 2022, the University of Rochester’s Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation (RBSCP) acquired 30 years of Conners’ personal writing archives and founded the Peter Conners Literary Collection.

And we’re just getting started! These are some of the highlights from the BOA story so far, but, as we like to say, “the best is yet to come.” As a nonprofit organization, the next phase of our history will depend largely on tax-deductible donations by supporters like you. Publishing great poetry and literature as an independent, nonprofit press requires a community of avid supporters and readers. When you donate to BOA, you join that community of faithful supporters. In recognition of that crucial support, your name will be printed in the books you choose to support, and you’ll receive those books in advance of publication. If you believe in the work that BOA has done for nearly 50 years – and would like to see it continue for another 50 years – please visit our “Make a Donation” page and pledge your support.

 

 

BOA's Logo

Created in the 1970s by artist and professor Mirko Pylyshenko, the BOA Editions logo is a linoleum block print rendering of Orpheus—the greatest poet and musician of Greek mythology—playing his lyre. Legend has it that Orpheus, a true archetype of the “inspired singer,” could charm all living things­—even coax stones and trees into movement—with his powerful poetry and music.

A native of Western Ukraine—and ever-mindful of the centuries of political suppression of Ukrainian language and art—Pylyshenko’s rendering of Orpheus is an ode to the ancient Dumas, traveling artists who preserved rich history and literature through poetry and song. “I saw the figure of Orpheus as a parallel artist,” said Pylyshenko, “the singer who sings because he cannot help but do so.”

Mirko Pylyshenko created his Orpheus block print while a professor at the State University of New York at Brockport. Soon after, his close friend and colleague Al Poulin started his fledgling literary press, with the mission to give voice to important, yet underserved writers. Pylyshenko agreed to let him use the image as BOA Editions’ official logo.

In 1986, with the publication of Bill Tremblay’s Duhamel and Li-Young Lee’s Rose, the image of Orpheus and his famous lyre appeared for the very first time on the title page of a BOA book.

 

 

Funding

BOA's annual budget exceeds $300,000. Revenue from book sales and copyright permissions make up about 40% of the budget; grants, donations, and fundraising events are the source of the balance. As a 501(c)(3) organization, BOA receives regular assistance from the New York State Council on the Arts Literature Program; the National Endowment for the Arts Literature Program; the Lannan Foundation; the Sonia Raiziss Giop Charitable Foundation; the Mary S. Mulligan Charitable Trust; the County of Monroe, NY; the Rochester Area Community Foundation; the Ames-Amzalak Memorial Trust in memory of Henry Ames, Semon Amzalak and Dan Amzalak; the Steeple-Jack Fund, and individuals nationwide.

Community Outreach

BOA annually donates hundreds of books to institutions that lack the funding to purchase new books for the adults and youths they serve. These organizations include senior centers, hospitals, libraries, schools, Native American reservations, and YMCAs. In collaboration with other non-profit organizations, BOA often donates books for silent auctions or other fundraising programs. BOA also collaborates with museums, schools, bookstores, libraries, and other arts organizations to schedule BOA authors for readings and events.

 

Awards & Distinctions

Since its inception, BOA has published poets from diverse cultural and aesthetic backgrounds. Many of these writers have been recognized for their achievements. Below is a partial list of awards and distinctions that BOA authors and titles have garnered: 

  • 2022 Winner, Paterson Poetry Prize, Craig Morgan Teicher, Welcome to Sonnetville, New Jersey
  • 2022 Finalist, Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry: Derrick Austin, Tenderness
  • 2022 Winner, Philosophical Society of Texas Book Award for Poetry: Matt Morton, Improvisation Without Accompaniment
  • 2022 Finalist, National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry: B. K. Fischer, Ceive
  • 2021 Shortlisted, Golden Poppy Award for Poetry: Derrick Austin, Tenderness
  • 2021 Writers’ League of Texas Book Awards for Poetry: Deborah Paredez, Year of the Dog
  • 2021 Finalist, 2022 Neustadt International Prize for Literature: Naomi Shihab Nye, The Tiny Journalist
  • 2021 Finalist, California Book Award for Poetry: Barbara Jane Reyes, Letters to a Young Brown Girl
  • 2021 Finalist, CLMP Firecracker Award for Poetry: Deborah Paredez, Year of the Dog
  • 2020 Porter Literary Fund Prize: Geffrey Davis, Night Angler
  • 2020 Finalist, Washington State Book Award: Keetje Kuipers, All Its Charms
  • 2020 PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award: Jillian Weise, Cyborg Detective
  • 2020 Writers' League of Texas Book Awards for Poetry: Naomi Shihab Nye, The Tiny Journalist
  • 2020 Helen C. Smith Memorial Award for Best Book of Poetry: Naomi Shihab Nye, The Tiny Journalist 
  • 2020 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for Poetry: Geffrey Davis, Night Angler  
  • 2020 Finalist, Ohioana Book Award for Poetry: Bruce Weigl, On the Shores of Welcome Home
  • 2020 Isabella Gardener Award: Derrick Austin, Tenderness
  • 2020 A. Poulin Jr. Poetry Award: Justin Jannise, How to Be Better by Being Worse
  • 2020 Finalist, Thom Gunn Award for Gay Poetry: Jan-Henry Gray, Documents
  • 2019 Finalist, Julie Suk Award: Keetje Kuipers, All Its Charms
  • 2019 Longlist, PEN America's PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection: Molly Reid, The Rapture Index
  • 2019 Housatonic Book Award: Sean Thomas Dougherty, The Second O of Sorrow
  • 2019 Paterson Poetry Prize: Sean Thomas Dougherty, The Second O of Sorrow
  • 2019 Finalist, Virginia Literary Awards: Erika Meitner, Holy Moly Carry Me
  • 2019 Finalist, National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry: Erika Meitner, Holy Moly Carry Me
  • 2019 National Jewish Book Award: Erika Meitner, Holy Moly Carry Me
  • 2019 Great Lakes Colleges Association (GLCA) New Writers Award in Poetry: Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, Cenzontle
  • 2019 Finalist, Thom Gunn Award for Gay Poetry: Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, Cenzontle
  • 2019 Finalist, Lambda Literary Foundation Awards: Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, Cenzontle
  • 2019 Finalist, Golden Poppy Book Award for Poetry: Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, Cenzontle
  • 2019 Finalist, California Book Awards: Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, Cenzontle
  • 2019 Finalist, Foreward INDIES Award for Poetry: Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, Cenzontle
  • 2019 Finalist for the Association for Mormon Letters Award in the Short Fiction Collection: Ryan Habermeyer, The Science of Lost Futures
  • 2019 Isabella Gardner Award: Bruce Weigl, On the Shores of Welcome Home
  • 2019 A. Poulin Jr. Poetry Prize: Matt Morton, Improvisation without Accompaniment
  • 2019 James Laughlin Award: Geffrey Davis, Night Angler
  • 2018 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize: Craig Morgan Teicher, The Trembling Answers
  • 2018 Finalist for the Connecticut Book Award: Charles Rafferty, The Smoke of Horses
  • 2018 Northern California Book Award for Poetry Translation: Bianca Tarozzi, trans. Alan Williamson & Jeanne Foster, The Living Theatre
  • 2018 Finalist for the Paterson Poetry Prize: Christine Kitano, Sky Country
  • 2018 Finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry: Chen Chen, When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities
  • 2018 Thom Gunn Award: Chen Chen, When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities
  • 2018 Finalist for the Barbara Gittings Literature Award: Chen Chen, When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities
  • 2018 GLCA New Writers Award: Chen Chen, When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities
  • 2017 Writers’ League of Texas Book Award: Chen Chen, When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities
  • 2017 Longlist for the National Book Award for Poetry: Chen Chen, When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities
  • 2017 Finalist for the Kate Tufts Discovery Award: Derrick Austin, Trouble the Water
  • 2016 Ohioana Book Award for Poetry, Nin Andrews: Why God Is a Woman
  • 2016 Minnesota Book Award for Poetry: Ray Gonzalez, Beautiful Wall
  • 2015 James Laughlin Award: Kathryn Nuernberger, The End of Pink
  • 2015 PEN Center USA Literary Award for Fiction: Robert Thomas, Bridge
  • 2015 Hurston/Wright Legacy Finalist Award for Poetry: Geffrey Davis, Revising the Storm
  • 2015 Whiting Award for Poetry: Aracelis Girmay, Kingdom Animalia
  • 2015 Israel Prize in Literature: Erez Bitton, You Who Cross My Path
  • 2015 Publisher Book Awards Poetry Gold Medal: Jim Daniels, Birth Marks
  • 2015 Kirkus Star: James McManus, The Education of a Poker Player
  • 2015 Binghamton University Milt Kessler Poetry Book Award: Jim Daniels, Birth Marks
  • 2015 Paterson Award for Literary Excellence for Finalists of the Paterson Poetry Prize: Sean Thomas Dougherty, All You Ask for Is Longing: Selected Poems
  • 2015 Finalist for the Paterson Fiction Prize: Lee Upton, The Tao of Humiliation
  • 2014 Poetry Gold Medal for the Independent Publisher Book Awards: Jim Daniels, Birth Marks
  • 2014 Kirkus Star: Lee Upton, The Tao of Humiliation
  • 2014 Finalist for the Best Translated Book Award: Sohrab Sepehri, The Oasis of Now
  • 2013 James Laughlin Award: Jillian Weise, The Book of Goodbyes
  • 2013 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for Poetry: Lucille Clifton, The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton 1965-2010
  • 2013 Anne Halley Poetry Prize: Geffrey Davis, Revising the Storm
  • 2013 Finalist for the Washington State Book Award: Bruce Beasley, Theophobia
  • 2012 Global Filipino Literary Award for Poetry: Barbara Jane Reyes, Diwata
  • 2012 Finalist for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award: Aracelis Girmay, Kingdom Animalia
  • 2012 Honorable Mention for the Arab American Book Award: Naomi Shihab Nye, Transfer
  • 2012 Finalist for the Helen C. Smith Memorial Award: Naomi Shihab Nye, Transfer
  • 2011 Best Translated Book Award: Ales Steger, The Book of Things
  • 2011 AATSEL Best Literary Translation into English Award: Ales Steger, The Book of Things
  • 2009 Lois Roth Award for a Translation of a Literary Work: Adonis, Mihyar of Damascus, His Songs
  • 2008 Kate Tufts Discovery Award: Janice N. Harrington, Even the Hollow My Body Made Is Gone
  • 2007 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize for Lifetime Achievement: Lucille Clifton
  • 2007 Maine Literary Award for Poetry: Richard Foerster, The Burning of Troy
  • 2007 Northern California Award for Poetry in Translation: Ko Un, Flowers of a Moment, Translated by Gary Gach
  • 2005 Colorado Book Award in Poetry: Mark Irwin, Bright Hunger
  • 2005 Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award in Poetry: Brigit Pegeen Kelly, The Orchard
  • 2004 Finalist for the Griffin Poetry Prize: Louis Simpson, The Owner of the House: New Collected Poems 1940-2001
  • 2004 Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry: Brigit Pegeen Kelly, The Orchard
  • 2004 Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award: Brigit Pegeen Kelly, The Orchard
  • 2003 Finalist for the National Book Award for Poetry: Louis Simpson, The Owner of the House: New Collected Poems 1940-2001
  • 2002 William Carlos Williams Award: Li-Young Lee, Book of My Nights
  • 2001 Colorado Book Award for Poetry: Mark Irwin, White City
  • 2000 Finalist for the National Book Award for Poetry: Kim Addonizio, Tell Me
  • 2000 Finalist for the National Book Award for Poetry: Lucille Clifton, The Terrible Stories
  • 2000 National Book Award for Poetry: Lucille Clifton, Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1988 - 2000
  • 1999 Harold Morton Landon Translation Award: W. D. Snodgrass, Selected Translations
  • 1998 Finalist for two Pulitzer Prizes in Poetry: Lucille Clifton, Good Woman: Poems and a Memoir 1969 - 1980 and Next: New Poems (Ms. Clifton is the only poet ever to have two poetry collections cited as finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in a single year)
  • 1997 Small Press Book Award for Poetry: William Heyen, Crazy Horse in Stillness
  • 1994 Lamont Poetry Selection: Brigit Pegeen Kelly, Song
  • 1994 Great Lakes Writers Association New Writers Award: Kim Addonizio, The Philosopher's Club
  • 1994 Minnesota Book Award for Poetry: Barton Sutter The Book of Names: New and Selected Poems
  • 1994 Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award: Dorianne Laux, What We Carry
  • 1990 Lamont Poetry Selection: Li-Young Lee, The City in Which I Love You
  • 1990 Great Lakes Writers Association New Writers Award: William B. Patrick, Roxa
  • 1987 Delmore Schwartz Memorial Poetry Award: Li-Young Lee, Rose
  • 1985 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Carolyn Kizer, Yin
  • 1981 Lenore Marshall Award: John Logan, The Bridge of Change
  • 1981 Nation Prize: John Logan, The Bridge of Change
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