Awards
FLP takes immense pride in the remarkable achievements of our authors and collaborators. This page celebrates the awards, recognitions, and honors bestowed on our talented poets and creatives, reflecting our ongoing commitment to publishing exceptional contemporary literature. Join us in congratulating these outstanding voices whose work continues to inspire and elevate the literary community.
FLP is a proud member of the Community of Literary Magazines & Presses (CLMP).
2026 Open Chapbook Competition Results
Winner: Mia Dyson of Freeport, Maine for Penetralia
1st Honorable Mention: Eli Dunham of Sacramento, California
2nd Honorable Mention: Aleida Rodríguez of Los Angeles, California
3rd Honorable Mention: Sydney Lea of Newbury, Vermont
3 semi-finalists
Jose Alcantara of Pasadena, California
Jeffrey Hillard of Cincinnati, Ohio
Kelly Macias of Riverview, Florida
Final Judge: Leah Huete de Maines
345 entries
Thank you to all who entered the competition.
Congratulations to Ellen Hernandez and Finishing Line Press
Ellen’s book, She/Her (FLP), is the winner of the 2026 Independent Press Award in the category, “Poetry: Human Identity & Connection.”
She/Her explores the many facets of femaleness across decades, reflecting on universal experiences through poems touching on identity, family, faith, and growth.
Congratulations to Douglas Cole
Congratulations to Douglas Cole and FLP! Douglas was listed as a 2026 Finalist in the Eric Hoffer Book Awards for his FLP book DRIFTERS. https://www.hofferaward.com
Other honors for DRIFTERS:
First Runner Up: New York Book Festival 2025First Runner Up: London Book Festival 2025First Runner Up: New England Book Festival 2025Runner Up: Los Angeles Book Festival 2025Runner Up: Paris Book Festival 2025Honorable Mention: San Francisco Book Festival 2025Honorable Mention: Hollywood Book Festival 2025Congratulations to Livija (Riki) Bolster and Finishing Line Press
Livija’s FLP book, Ilze’s Daughter, was named a finalist in the 61st Georgia Author of the Year Awards for Poetry Chapbook.
The judges praised Ilze’s Daughter as “a quiet triumph,” honoring the immigrant experience from war-torn Latvia and a displaced persons camp in Germany to rural Pennsylvania, highlighting the dignity and daily labor of women.
Congratulations to Connie Post
And When The Sun Drops (FLP) is the winner of the American Legacy Award for a Chapbook.
Congratulations to Melissa Mitchell
Congratulations to Melissa Mitchell and FLP! Melissa was listed as a 2026 Finalist in the The Medal Provocateur Award of the Eric Hoffer Book Awards for her FLP book Portrait Lands. https://www.hofferaward.com
Congratulations to Joseph Hess
Congratulations to Joseph Hess and FLP! Joseph’s book INTO THE ANCIENT (Finishing Line Press) was selected as the WINNER of the Alumni Book Award from the Master of Fine Arts Program at Ashland University.
The judge, poet George David Clark, had the following to say about the poetry collection, Into the Ancient:
“Hess has a great talent for imagery, and poem by poem the details in this collection are as psychologically insightful as they are vivid and precise.Into the Ancient simply sees the world well—nothing could be less simple. Many of these poems reflect on the past, but it’s the past that transcends our calendars and continues living today in the mystery of the human heart. These poems attend to that mystery with the care to humbly honor it and the boldness to look it right in face.”
Congratulations to Nancy Gerber
Nancy Gerber is the 2025 Independent Press Award winner for her collection, Language Like Water: Poems. The collection poignantly explores conflicts, challenges, and connections in a daughter’s lifelong relationship with her mother, revealing strength through moments of struggle and connection.
Congratulations to David W. Berner
Congratulations to David W. Berner and FLP! David’s new book Garden Tools (Finishing Line Press) was named a POETRY AWARD HONOREE Society of Midland Authors, 2026.https://midlandauthors.org/2026/04/midland-authors-announces-2026-award-winners-and-honorees/
Congratulations to Ilan Mochari
Congratulations to Ilan Mochari and FLP. Ilan’s book Playthings (Finishing Line Press) was selected as Publishers Weekly BookLife Editor’s Pick May 2026 https://booklife.com/category/poetry/blreviews/1
Congratulations to Claudia May and Finishing Line Press
Claudia May’s book Birthing Butterflies (FLP) was nominated for the Maya Angelou Book Award and named a Finalist in Poetry in the 2025 Minnesota Book Awards.
Congratulations to the following Finishing Line Press authors
2024 Pushcart Prize Nominations
- Flight Path by Sarah W. Bartlett
- After Forty Years of Swimming and Ten Years Surfing by Susan Bruce
- Feather, Body, Bone by Stacey R. Forbes
- Breathtaking Sweetness by Claudia May
- The Slave’s Descendant Addresses King Cotton by Chavonn Williams Shen
- Hard Labor by Rex Wilder
Congratulations to Dustin Grinnell and Finishing Line Press
The Healing Book by Dustin Grinnell is a winner in the Short Stories category of the 2024 Best Indie Book Awards.
This collection weaves stories of healing and self-discovery— from a neurosurgeon’s search for ayahuasca in Peru to a burned-out office worker finding solace on the Appalachian Trail—highlighting resilience and personal growth in uncertain times.
Congratulations to Anastatia Caraballo and Finishing Line Press
Anastatia Caraballo’s Growing Pains received multiple honors:
- Finalist in the General Poetry category of the 21st Annual Best Book Awards by American Book Fest
- Winner of the Poetry Chapbook category at the same awards
View the 2024 Best Book Awards
Additionally, Growing Pains won the International Impact Book Award for “Death, Grief, and Loss Poetry.”
Congratulations to Liza Porter and Finishing Line Press
Del Bac by Liza Porter is a finalist for the WILLA Literary Award for Poetry from Women Writing the West.
Congratulations to Maxim D. Shrayer and Finishing Line Press
Kinship was named a finalist in the 2024 International Book Awards for Religious Poetry.
Congratulations to David R. Altman
Cold Remembered and Other Poems was a finalist in the 2024 Georgia Author of the Year Awards for Poetry (Chapbook).
Congratulations to Rebecca Dietrich
Rebecca is the winner of the Literary Titan Book Award.
Congratulations to Deirdre Fagan
Deirdre’s poetry collection, Phantom Limbs (FLP, 2023), is a finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards.
“Part celebration, part elegy, Phantom Limbs is about living fully, arms wide open, despite or perhaps even because of repeated loss. Each depiction is grounded in survival and yet there is often unanticipated joy juxtaposed with heartbreak as the collection reveals intimate moments from childhood trauma to marriage, divorce, parenting, terminal illness, disability, caregiving, widowhood, remarriage-mortality itself.”
Congratulations to Kari Wergeland and Finishing Line Press
Off the Wall was named a finalist in the Novella category of both the 2024 American Fiction Awards and the 2024 International Book Awards.
Novelist Patricia Santana praises the work as “a rich and nuanced portrayal of a young woman struggling to find her place in the world.”