MIDDLEBURY, Vt. - The Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference of Middlebury College and Minnesota-based publisher Graywolf Press have announced a partnership to publish the winners of the Katharine Bakeless Nason Prize. Winners of this year’s Bakeless Prize, sponsored by the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, will be announced in May 2009, and published in 2010.

Established in 1996, the Bakeless Prize is awarded annually in the categories of fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction to writers whose work has not previously been published in book form. In addition to publication, winners will be awarded fellowships to attend the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, where they will have the opportunity to further develop their craft.

Prominent authors in each category will select winners of the 2009 Bakeless Prize from nationwide submissions. This year’s judges are Percival Everett for fiction, Sue Halpern for creative nonfiction and Linda Gregerson for poetry. Submission guidelines are available online at www.middlebury.edu/~blwc. Previous winners of the prize include Mary Jo Bang, Spencer Reece, Ron Slate and Ann Pancake.

“This is a great opportunity for Bread Loaf and the Bakeless Prize winners,” said Director of the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference Michael Collier. “We are delighted to be working with Graywolf, a preeminent literary publisher in the United States.” 

“I’ve been visiting the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference for years and have been impressed at the consistently high standard of their participants, so I jumped at the chance to publish the Bakeless winners at Graywolf,” says Fiona McCrae, director and publisher of Graywolf Press.

Bread Loaf is the oldest writers’ conference in the U.S. Since 1926 it has convened in mid-August at the Bread Loaf campus of Middlebury College. Founders include Robert Frost, Willa Cather and John Farrar. Bread Loaf aims to educate emerging writers on issues of craft and publishing, and to provide a supportive community to develop their writing skills.

Graywolf Press is a literary nonprofit publisher dedicated to the creation and promotion of thoughtful and imaginative contemporary literature essential to a vital and diverse culture. Its list of publications includes award winning authors such as Percival Everett, Tony Hoagland, William Kittredge, Tess Gallagher, Charles Baxter, Per Peterson and Jeffrey Renard Allen.