Graywolf Press

Graywolf Press began in 1974 as a letterpress operation in Port Townsend and, after relocating to Minneapolis, became the model literary nonprofit: small enough to edit fiercely, large enough to win everything. Its poetry list — Tracy K. Smith's Life on Mars, Claudia Rankine's Citizen, Danez Smith, Maggie Nelson — repeatedly redefined what a poetry bestseller looks like.

Graywolf accepts poetry mainly through connections and prizes (including the Walt Whitman Award partnership and the Max Ritvo Poetry Prize) rather than an open slush, and its nonfiction prize feeds the essay list. For poets it is less a submission target than the destination a first-book prize can deliver you to.