2021 Sundog Poetry Book Award Winner

Bags & Tools by Michael Fleming

Michael Fleming was born in San Francisco, raised in Wyoming, and has lived and learned and worked all around the world, from Thailand, England, and Swaziland to Berkeley, New York City, and now Brattleboro, Vermont. He’s been a teacher, a grad student, a carpenter, and always a writer; for the past fifteen years he has edited literary anthologies for W. W. Norton. (You can see some of Fleming’s own writing at: www.dutchgirl.com/foxpaws )

Runners-Up

Some Dark Familiar, by Julia C. Alter
The River Holds Its Breath, by Partridge Boswell.

Vievee Francis, the final judge for this year’s award, had a difficult decision to make, selecting a winner among 15 stunning finalists. She wrote that “most of the work was deeply personal, revealing interiors that were nuanced and fascinating.” As for Michael Fleming’s manuscript, she writes “I will read it again, then again.” We are thrilled by the selection, and want to celebrate not only the winner, but also the two manuscripts following closely in the running, and all of the fifteen finalists for this book award:

Winner: Michael Fleming, Bags and Tools

Runner-up: Julia C. Alter, Some Dark Familiar

Runner-up: Partridge Boswell, The River Holds its Breath

Finalist: Bethany Breitland, Fire Index

Finalist: Michael Carter, Windfall

Finalist: Duncan Campbell, Joysong

Finalist: Hannah Carpino, Such Singular Comfort

Finalist: Caitlin Downey, Milkweed Carnage

Finalist: Mary Elder Jacobsen, Stonechat

Finalist: Darren Higgins, Audubon's Gun

Finalist: Sofia Hurwitz, Have you Heard of Her Darkness

Finalist: Jeff McRae, The Kingdom Where Nobody Dies

Finalist: Abby Paige, The Undefended Border

Finalist: Meg Reynolds, Does the Earth

Finalist: Eva Zimet, Whoosh Lines

Thank you again to our preliminary readers: Stephen Cramer, Adrie Kusserow, and Benjamin Aleshire.