O at the Edges

Musings on poetry, language, perception, numbers, food, and anything else that slips through the cracks.

Hey, I’ve Won a Chapbook Contest!

Posted on April 22, 2021 by robert okaji

I’m delighted to report that I’ve been named the winner of the 2021 Etchings Press Poetry prize! The publication date for My Mother’s Ghost Scrubs the Floor at 2 a.m. is May 5. Etchings Press, a student-run publisher at University of Indianapolis, is offering copies for $10.00.

Many thanks to the Etchings Press staff, and to The Indianapolis Review editor Natalie Solmer for publishing the title poem in fall 2019, and subsequently nominating it for a Pushcart Prize. My new home, Indianapolis, has been very kind to me!

.

56 thoughts on “Hey, I’ve Won a Chapbook Contest!”

Jennifer Patino on April 22, 2021 at 7:56 am said:

Congrats!

LikeLiked by 2 people

Reply ↓
- robert okaji on April 22, 2021 at 8:19 am said:
  
  Thank you!
  
  LikeLiked by 2 people
  
  Reply ↓
Ellen Hawley on April 22, 2021 at 8:32 am said:

Congratulations, and may the book grow wings and fly.

LikeLiked by 2 people

Reply ↓
- robert okaji on April 22, 2021 at 10:30 am said:
  
  Thanks very much, Ellen. I have hopes…
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
  Reply ↓
prairiepomes on April 22, 2021 at 9:03 am said:

Wonderful news, Robert – well deserved, that’s a great series of poems, given those you posted here. I can order from Canada, yes?

LikeLiked by 2 people

Reply ↓
- Lynne Burnett on April 22, 2021 at 9:41 am said:
  
  I’m Canadian too and just ordered it, no problem – $3 shipping charge. Cheers, Lynne
  
  LikeLiked by 2 people
  
  Reply ↓
  - robert okaji on April 22, 2021 at 12:07 pm said:
    
    Yay! Good to hear.
    
    LikeLiked by 1 person
    
    Reply ↓
- robert okaji on April 22, 2021 at 10:31 am said:
  
  Thanks, Anna Marie. Yes, I believe you can order from Canada.
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
  Reply ↓
VJ Knutson on April 22, 2021 at 9:19 am said:

Congratulations!

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓
- robert okaji on April 22, 2021 at 10:31 am said:
  
  Thank you, VJ!
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
  Reply ↓
  - VJ Knutson on April 22, 2021 at 1:11 pm said:
    
    You are welcome. Much deserved.
    
    LikeLiked by 1 person
    
    Reply ↓
Lynne Burnett on April 22, 2021 at 9:39 am said:

Major congratulations, Bob! And I’ve ordered the book and look forward to reading it. What a great way to start the day eh!

LikeLiked by 2 people

Reply ↓
- robert okaji on April 22, 2021 at 10:32 am said:
  
  Thanks, Lynne! It is a good day, indeed!
  
  LikeLiked by 2 people
  
  Reply ↓
alisonmcghee on April 22, 2021 at 11:42 am said:

Congratulations! Wonderful news!

LikeLiked by 2 people

Reply ↓
- robert okaji on April 22, 2021 at 12:08 pm said:
  
  Thank you, Alison. I’m thrilled!
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply ↓
ダニエル・シュネー on April 22, 2021 at 12:18 pm said:

Of course you won this prize… you are on the path to a Pulitzer! Congratulations and let’s see that mantle of yours hold a few more in the coming years.

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓
- robert okaji on April 22, 2021 at 1:44 pm said:
  
  I’m particularly pleased that the press is student-run, and that the poems resonated with people a third of my age.
  
  LikeLiked by 2 people
  
  Reply ↓
  - ダニエル・シュネー on April 23, 2021 at 8:13 am said:
    
    Great things register with our shared humanity. It’s how we still read Faulkner, or feel a specific affinity for early jazz (King Oliver’s 1923 recordings are fantastic). It works in the present too.
    
    LikeLiked by 1 person
    
    Reply ↓
Bruce Goodman on April 22, 2021 at 12:41 pm said:

Good stuff! Congrats!

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓
- robert okaji on April 22, 2021 at 1:44 pm said:
  
  Thank you, Bruce.
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply ↓
Jazz Jaeschke on April 22, 2021 at 2:45 pm said:

Hurrah! Looking forward to my copy (just ordered)

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓
- robert okaji on April 22, 2021 at 3:37 pm said:
  
  Thanks, Jazz! I’m looking forward to getting my mitts on it, too!
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
  Reply ↓
Jaya Avendel on April 22, 2021 at 3:10 pm said:

Happy congratulations!

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓
- robert okaji on April 22, 2021 at 3:37 pm said:
  
  Thanks very much, Jaya.
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
  Reply ↓
Cate on April 22, 2021 at 3:32 pm said:

Congratulations, Bob!

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓
- robert okaji on April 22, 2021 at 3:38 pm said:
  
  Thank you, Cate!
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply ↓
extraordinarysunshineweaver on April 22, 2021 at 4:37 pm said:

Congratulations! You deserve this honor! 🍾🍾🍾

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓
- robert okaji on April 22, 2021 at 5:00 pm said:
  
  Thank you, Barbara! I’m excited about it!
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
  Reply ↓
barbaraleaver on April 23, 2021 at 12:01 am said:

Congratulations – I look forward to reading it

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓
- robert okaji on April 23, 2021 at 7:28 am said:
  
  Thanks very much, Barbara.
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
  Reply ↓
Andrew McDowell on April 23, 2021 at 7:14 am said:

Congratulations!

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓
- robert okaji on April 23, 2021 at 7:31 am said:
  
  Thanks, Andrew!
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
  Reply ↓
  - Andrew McDowell on April 23, 2021 at 10:30 am said:
    
    You’re welcome.
    
    LikeLike
    
    Reply ↓
maryjom2015 on April 23, 2021 at 11:09 am said:

Kudos, Robert! I’m sure it’s well deserved.

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓
- robert okaji on April 24, 2021 at 12:04 pm said:
  
  Thank you, Mary Jo. I’m tickled pink!
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply ↓
Sun Hesper Jansen on April 23, 2021 at 9:09 pm said:

Huzzah! That is one of my favorite poems. Also I feel neurotically complicit in all decisions made in the Great Lakes region so I’m content that we have chosen well. 😉

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓
- robert okaji on April 24, 2021 at 12:07 pm said:
  
  Thanks, Sunshine! I’m really pleased about this. And I’m happy to share in your complicity in some way… 🙂
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
  Reply ↓
roundtripstuckism on April 24, 2021 at 10:24 am said:

Great news, congratulations!

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓
- robert okaji on April 24, 2021 at 12:07 pm said:
  
  Thanks, Ron. I feel sort of like Sally Field…
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
  Reply ↓
  - roundtripstuckism on April 25, 2021 at 6:18 am said:
    
    I know there is a funny reference here, but it shot over my head. Lots of “thank yous” like Facebook and birthdays:)
    
    LikeLiked by 1 person
    
    Reply ↓
    - robert okaji on April 25, 2021 at 8:12 am said:
      
      Ha! Kind of obscure. Sally Field accepting her Oscar: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rl_NpdAy3WY
      
      LikeLiked by 1 person
      
      Reply ↓
memadtwo on April 24, 2021 at 12:17 pm said:

Congratulations–a memorable title poem, and well-deserved! (K)

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓
- robert okaji on April 24, 2021 at 12:39 pm said:
  
  Thank you, Kerfe.
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
  Reply ↓
Joanne Corey on April 24, 2021 at 2:27 pm said:

Fantastic! Congratulations!

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓
- robert okaji on April 24, 2021 at 2:31 pm said:
  
  Thanks, Joanne!
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply ↓
Leigh W. Smith on May 8, 2021 at 9:28 am said:

Awesome news, Bob! Hope mine arrives soon. I’ll try to do a review (nonfamous person that I am), too. Anyway, bet you are so proud, and your mom would be as well.

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓
- robert okaji on May 8, 2021 at 4:57 pm said:
  
  Thanks, Leigh. Your nonfamous person review means more to me than any famous person’s ever could!
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
  Reply ↓
Leigh W. Smith on May 8, 2021 at 9:33 am said:

Reblogged this on Leigh's Wordsmithery and commented:
My friend, Bob Okaji, has won the 2021 Etchings Press Poetry Prize with what figures to be a poignant set of poems, titled My Mother’s Ghost Scrubs the Floor at 2 a.m. Get it from the University of Indianapolis now, and we can compare notes on this sure-to-be meaningful and affecting collection.

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓
- robert okaji on May 8, 2021 at 4:57 pm said:
  
  Thanks for reblogging, Leigh!
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
  Reply ↓
ztevetevans on May 8, 2021 at 2:56 pm said:

Congratulations!

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓
- robert okaji on May 8, 2021 at 4:59 pm said:
  
  Thanks very much!
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
  Reply ↓
Ken / rivrvlogr on May 11, 2021 at 10:47 am said:

Coolio! Mine should be arriving soon.

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓
- robert okaji on May 11, 2021 at 11:16 am said:
  
  I’m still waiting for mine!
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
  Reply ↓
extraordinarysunshineweaver on May 15, 2021 at 8:34 pm said:

You rock! Awesome!

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply ↓
- robert okaji on May 15, 2021 at 9:36 pm said:
  
  Thank you, Barbara!
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
  Reply ↓
Ali Grimshaw on May 22, 2021 at 3:17 pm said:

Congratulations Robert. I am not surprised. Your poetry is so amazing.

LikeLike

Reply ↓

Leave a comment Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.