2025 Year-End Appeal Letter
Dear Friends of Perugia Press,
Now in its 29th year, Perugia Press continues to publish one outstanding poetry book by a woman each year. We also maintain an enduring commitment to diversity, inclusion, and outreach.
Here are some highlights:
- We continue to offer free submissions to our annual contest to poets who are Black, Indigenous, and women of color. Our 2026 contest closed on November 15, and we received a record number of submissions overall. We’re thrilled that submissions from BIWOC poets have increased every year since we have offered the fee-free option.
- Our monthly Emerging BIWOC Poet Spotlight in which we highlight poets of color has been running for over five years now. Our November spotlight poet, janan alexandra, was the sixty-third consecutive poet we’ve celebrated with this feature.
- We partner with organizations such as The Care Center. On November 6, our poet Holli Carrell visited with the center’s HiSET students, who are young mothers who have dropped out of high school. Sharing an erasure poem from her book, Holli led students to create their own, then read from and signed copies of her book Apostasies.
Donations are an integral part of how we fulfill our mission. Please help us celebrate our vibrant community with a donation this year.
- We have an ambitious fundraising goal of $10,000, to bolster our nonprofit in these challenging times for grant funding in the literary arts, especially poetry.
- Many hands make light work, and a gift in any amount is deeply appreciated.
- You can give securely on our website.
Thank you for considering a year-end gift to Perugia Press.
With gratitude,
Jean Blakeman, President of the Board
P.S. For donations of $100 or more, or for recurring monthly donations of any amount, we’ll send you a copy of Holli Carrell’s Apostasies, winner of the 2025 Perugia Press Prize.
