Accolades
Year | Honor | Prize | Description |
---|---|---|---|
2024 | Nominee | Touchstone Award | Linda’s haibun, “On the Open Fields, the Low Mist…” was nominated for this international honor by Clare MacQueen, the editor of MacQueen’s Quinterly. |
2024 | Distinguished Favorite | NYC Big Book Award for Poetry | Linda’s book of prose poems, Bone Country, was honored in this prestigious award competition. |
2024 | Nominee | Best of the Net | Linda’s prose poem, “Indigo Sky Above Spain,” was nominated for this international honor by Lorette C. Luzajic, the editor of The Mackinaw. The Best of the Net Anthology is an annual literary publication that honors small press literature published online. |
2024 | One of the Top Ten Winners | The Fish Anthology’s Poetry Prize | Linda’s poem, “June Wedding in the West of Ireland: North of Connemara, East of the Ocean’s Waves,” was awarded the honor in this international competition sponsored by the Fish Anthology in Ireland. The judge, acclaimed poet Billy Collins, selected Linda’s poem to be among the top ten award-winners from over 2,160 submissions. The award includes publication in the annual anthology and an invitation to read at the West Cork Literary Festival in July, 2024. |
2023 | Nominee | Pulitzer Prize
National Book Award Kingsley Tufts Award Anisfield Wolf Book Award Paterson Poetry Prize Balcones Prize for Poetry Housatonic Book Award Next Generation Indie Book Award National Indie Excellence Award IPPY Award NYC Big Book Award Michigan Notable Book Ohioana Book Award for Poetry Society of Midland Authors Book Award Foreword Indies Book Award Eric Hoffer Book Award Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize W.C. Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America Griffin Poetry Prize PEN Voekler Poetry Award | Book award nominations for Bone Country. |
2023 | Award Selection | Best Spiritual Literature 2023 | Linda’s prose poem, “The Cloud Sleeps on the Mountain,” was selected to be included in this prestigious anthology which features the best spiritual writing published throughout the country. Only 17 authors were honored by the editors, including such poets as T.R. Hummer and Robert Wrigley. The anthology will be published by Orison Books in December, 2023. |
2023 | One of the Top Ten Winners | The Fish Anthology’s Flash Fiction Prize | Linda’s piece, “I See Jesus in My Fevered Dream on Quay Street in Galway,” was awarded the honor in this international competition sponsored by the Fish Anthology in Ireland. The judge, noted author Kit De Waal, selected Linda‘s flash fiction to be among the top ten award-winners from over 1,100 submissions. The award includes publication in the anthology and an invitation to read at the West Cork Literary Festival in July, 2023. |
2023 | First Prize | Allen Ginsberg Poetry Contest | Linda’s poem, “When We Talk About the Movie, Casablanca, My Father Remembers Every Line…” was selected by the editors of the Paterson Literary Review for this honor from 1,134 poems submitted. As the First Prize winner, Linda is awarded a cash prize and will give a reading at the awards ceremony at The Poetry Center in Paterson, NJ in February, 2024. |
2022 | Juried Selection | Filmetry: A Festival of Poetry and Film | Linda’s prose poem, “Abandoned House in the Tatra Mountains,” was adapted for film. It was selected to be featured at Filmetry, a film festival sponsored by Michigan State University. |
2023 | Honorable Mention | Art Talks Back: Ekphrastic Poetry Contest | Linda’s poem, “Your Invention of Blue,” was honored in this regional competition sponsored by the Muskegon Museum of Art. The poem will be displayed next to the painting that inspired it, Le Singe Dans le Palais Venetien by Francoise Gilot, from April 12 to September 4, 2023. |
2022 | Honorable Mention | Allen Ginsberg Poetry Contest | “The Passenger Next to Me on the Flight from Krakow to Chicago Who Looks Like My Mother” was selected by the editors of the Paterson Literary Review for this national honor. |
2022 | Semi-Finalist | Tomaz Salamun Prize | Linda’s chapbook manuscript, Fragments from Bone Country, was honored in this international competition sponsored by Verse Magazine. |
2022 | Award Selection | Best Small Fictions 2022 | Linda’s piece, “The Irish Guest at the Wedding in Krakow,” was selected to be included in this award-winning anthology. Several thousand pieces were submitted by editors from around the world and only 120 pieces of small fiction were chosen. The anthology will be published in the fall of 2022 by Sonder Press. |
2022 | Second Prize | The Fish Anthology’s Flash Fiction Prize | Linda’s piece, “On the Other Side of the World,” was awarded second prize in this international competition sponsored by the Fish Anthology in Ireland. Acclaimed New Zealand writer Tracey Slaughter selected Linda’s work for the honor from 948 entries. The award carries a cash prize and Linda has been invited to give a reading at the West Cork Literary Festival in July, 2022. |
2021 | Nominee | National Book Award
Pulitzer Prize Kingsley Tufts Award UNT Rilke Prize W.C. Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America PEN Voekler Poetry Award Anisfield Wolf Book Award American Book Award Balcones Prize for Poetry Paterson Poetry Prize Michigan Notable Book Ohioana Book Award Society of Midland Authors Book Award Eric Hoffer Book Award Poetry Center Book Award Foreword Indies Book Award Housatonic Book Award Lenore Marshall Prize Bobbitt Prize Midwest Book Award | Book award nominations for The Blue Divide. |
2021 | Finalist | Slippery Elm’s Deanna Tulley Media Contest | Linda’s video/poem, “City of Stone, City of Trees,” was a finalist in this national contest and will be featured online at Slippery Elm, a journal published by the University of Findlay. |
2021 | Nominee | Best Small Fictions | Linda’s prose poem, “The Irish Guest at the Wedding in Krakow,” was nominated for the Best Small Fictions, 2022 by Clare MacQueen, editor of MacQueen’s Quinterly. The annual anthology honors the best short fictions published in literary journals and magazines throughout the year. |
2021 | Finalist | Off the Grid Poetry Prize | Linda’s manuscript of prose poems, Bone Country, was selected as one of three top finalists (from over 450 submissions) in this national competition sponsored by Off the Grid Books. |
2020 | Nominee | Michigan Humanities Champion of the Year | Linda was nominated for this prestigious award in recognition of her contribution to the cultural life and active support of and involvement in promoting public humanities within her community and throughout the state. As a poet, presenter, and patron of the literary arts, Linda was one of only eight people nominated throughout Michigan. |
2020 | Finalist | River Styx Microfiction Contest | Linda’s piece, “Gallery of the Street” was selected as a finalist (from approximately 375 entries) for this recognition by the editors of River Styx. |
2020 | Honorable Mention | Allen Ginsberg Poetry Contest | “A Modern Parable for the End of the World” was selected by the editors of the Paterson Literary Review for this national honor. |
2019 | Honorable Mention | New Millennium Writings Flash Fiction Award | Linda’s piece, “Babel,” was selected by the journal’s editors for this international recognition. |
2019 | Nominee | Best Microfiction | Linda’s piece of microfiction, “Scattering the Ashes on Lake Geneva,” was nominated by Clare McQueen, editor of KYSO Flash, for this second annual anthology which honors the best microfiction published in literary journals and magazines throughout the year. |
2019 | Second Place | Sensations Magazine 2019 Best Newcomer Contest | Two poems, “The Immigrant Family from Poland, 1910,” and “Reading The Grapes of Wrath in English Class” were selected by the magazine’s editor for this national award. |
2019 | Honorable Mention | Springfed Arts Poetry Contest | “California Dream” was selected by judge Dennis Hinrichsen for this regional honor. |
2019 | Editor’s Choice Award | Allen Ginsberg Poetry Contest | “My Father’s Music” was selected by the editors of the Paterson Literary Review for this national honor. |
2019 | Finalist | ForeWord Book of the Year Award in Poetry | The Lake Michigan Mermaid is a finalist in this national book competition for independent, university, and small presses sponsored by ForeWord Reviews. |
2019 | Finalist | The da Vinci Eye Award | The Lake Michigan Mermaid is a finalist in this prestigious national contest given for superior cover artwork by the Eric Hoffer Book Awards. |
2019 | Winner | Michigan Notable Book Award | Linda’s book, The Lake Michigan Mermaid (co-authored with Anne-Marie Oomen) was selected for this annual award sponsored by the Library of Michigan. Over 300 books were submitted for the competition, but just 20 titles were honored. The Lake Michigan Mermaid was the only poetry collection chosen. |
2018 | Nominee | Best Microfiction | Linda’s piece of microfiction, “Conjuring Her Face,” was nominated by Clare McQueen, editor of KYSO Flash, for this debut anthology which honors the best microfiction published in literary journals and magazines throughout the year. |
2018 | Editor’s Choice Award | Allen Ginsberg Poetry Contest | “Memories of an Immigrant Childhood” was selected by the editors of the Paterson Literary Review for this national honor. |
2017 | Nominee | Pushcart Prize | “The Young Girl in Her Father’s Garden,” was nominated by the editors of The MacGuffin for this honor. |
2017 | Nominee | Pushcart Prize | Linda’s poem, “Blue,” was nominated by the editors of Streetlight Magazine for this honor. |
2017 | Finalist | Sunshot Poetry Prize | Linda’s poetry manuscript, Pictures of the Floating World, was selected as a top finalist in this national competition. |
2017 | Semi-Finalist | Crab Orchard Series in Poetry | Linda’s poetry manuscript, Pictures of the Floating World, was selected as a semi-finalist in this national competition. |
2017 | Second Place | MacGuffin Poetry Prize | Linda’s poem, “My Husband as a Boy in Muskegon,” was selected for the honor. |
2017 | Honorable Mention | Adult Fiction Prize from Detroit Working Writers | Linda’s short fiction piece, “Scattering Ashes on Lake Geneva,” was selected for the honor. |
2017 | Outstanding Service Award | Contemporary Writers Series’ 20th Anniversary Celebration | Linda and her husband Tony were honored by Aquinas College for their ongoing commitment to the CWS program 1997-2017. |
2016 | Finalist | New Millennium Writings Poetry Award | Linda’s poem sequence, “The Artist’s Notebook,” selected by the journal’s editors. |
2016 | Finalist | Main Street Rag’s Poetry Award | Linda’s full-length poetry manuscript, Pictures of the Floating World, was selected a finalist in this national competition. |
2016 | Featured Book | Book Expo America Special Exhibit | BEA is the leading book and author event for the North American publishing industry. Linda’s book, Amber Necklace from Gdansk, was selected to be included in the special international exhibit on Poland. |
2015 | Second Place | Hour of Writes Contest | Linda’s poem, “The Theory of Mothers and Daughters,” selected by author Philip Ball, former editor of Nature, in this international writing contest. |
2015 | Third Place | Micro-Fiction Contest | Linda’s piece, “Arch Made of Codfish,” is selected by judge Phillip Sterling in this international contest sponsored by the Great Lakes Commonwealth of Letters and the online journal CHEAP POP LIT. |
2015 | Semi-finalist | River Styx International Poetry Contest | Three poems selected for this distinction. |
2015 | Lifetime Achievement | Dyer-Ives Community Award | Linda is honored for her longstanding commitment as a poet, teacher, patron, and advocate for poetry in West Michigan. |
2015 | Honorable Mention | New Millennium Writings Poetry Award | Linda’s poem “Fog Made of Iron” selected by the journal’s editors. |
2015 | Finalist | Hour of Writes Contest | Linda’s short story “The Way Down” selected by novelist Dan Smith in this international writing contest. |
2015 | Third place | Detroit Working Writers Annual Writing Awards | Linda’s poem “Blue” selected for the award. |
2014 | Third place | International Limerick Award | Annual contest sponsored by the Muskegon Writers’ Center at Muskegon Community College. |
2014 | National judge | Dyer-Ives Poetry Competition | Foster was selected to be the national judge for this annual poetry competition, one of the oldest and most prestigious contests in the Midwest. |
2014 | Nominee | Pushcart Prize | “The Cypress Trees in Croatia” — a poem by Foster published in the I-70 Review — was nominated by the journal’s editors for the award. |
2013 | Honorable Mention | New Millennium Writings Poetry Award | Linda’s poem “Report from Bosnia…” selected by the journal’s editors. |
2013 | First runner-up | New Letters Poetry Award | A sequence of poems, “The Artist Notebook”, was selected by judge Janice N. Harrington for the honor in this national competition. |
2013 | Nominee | Pushcart Prize | Three poems nominated for the award-winning anthology. |
2012 | Finalist | Bunchgrass Poetry Prize | “Scar”– a poem by Foster–was selected by judge Michael McGriff for the honor and publication in the journal basalt. |
2011 | Nominee | Pushcart Prize | “The White Birch”– a poem by Foster published by the Connecticut Review–was nominated by the journal’s editorial staff for a Pushcart Prize. |
2010 | Finalist | New Letters Poetry Award | Group of poems selected as finalist by New Letters editors for national award. |
2010 | Finalist | ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Award in Poetry | Foster’s book, Talking Diamonds, honored as a finalist by ForeWord Magazine. |
2010 | First place | Springfed Arts Poetry Contest | Poem, “Gravity and God,” selected by judge Marie Howe. |
2010 | Nominee | Pushcart Prize | Three poems nominated for the award-winning anthology. |
2009-2010 | Nominee | Ohio Book Award
Society of Midland Authors Book Award American Book Award Foreword Magazine’s Book of the Year Award in Poetry W.C. Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America | Book award nominations for Talking Diamonds. |
2008 | First Place | International Creative Arts Award | Annual award sponsored by the Polish American Historical Association (a member of the American Historical Association) recognizes the international contributions in the field of creative arts (music, visual arts, film, and literature) by individuals who have promoted an awareness of the Polish experience. |
2007 | Finalist and publication | Top finalist in national competition and will be published in late, 2008. | Chapbook, Ten Songs from Bulgaria, Cervena Barva Press. |
2007 | Honorable Mention | New Millennium Writings competition | For poem “Contrapuntal: Negative Space”. |
2007 | Second place | Detroit Working Writers Annual Spring Writing Awards | For the poem “Climbing Cherry Trees”. |
2007 | Finalist | 22nd Annual ArtServe Michigan Governor’s Awards for Arts & Culture | For the category of Michigan Artist. |
2006 | Honorable Mention and Finalist | Ekphrasis’ National Poetry Competition | Honors awarded to two poems by Linda from the editors of the magazine, Ekphrasis. |
2006 | First Runner-Up | The Laureate Prize for Poetry | Linda’s poem, “The Field Behind the Dying Father’s House,” was selected by the editors of The National Poetry Review. |
2003 | Finalist | Ohio Book Award for Poetry | Amber Necklace from Gdansk was honored by the Ohioana Library Association. |
2003 | Civic Honor | Poet Laureate of Grand Rapids | Linda Nemec Foster was selected to serve as the first Poet Laureate of the City of Grand Rapids, Michigan by the Humanities Council of GR. |
2001 | Grant | Creative Artist Grant in Literature | Linda’s poetry was honored by ArtServe Michigan with this award given to the state’s top poets and writers. |
2000 | Nominee | Academy of American Poets’ Laughlin Award | The editors of Louisiana State University Press nominated Linda’s book, Amber Necklace from Gdansk, for this prestigious award. |
2000 | Honoree | Outstanding Alumni Award | Aquinas College selected Linda and her husband Tony for this award that celebrates alums and their achievements. |
1999 | Fellowship | National Writers’ Voice Project Teaching Awards | This fellowship was awarded to Linda to recognize her teaching and facilitate her master level poetry workshops at the Detroit Institute of Arts. |
1997 | Finalist | The Poet’s Prize | Linda’s book, Living in the Fire Nest, was selected by juror Colette Inez for this honor that is sponsored by the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York City. |
1997 | Honor | Outstanding Alumni Award in the Arts | Trinity High School (Garfield Heights, Ohio) honored Linda for her achievements in poetry, writing, and literature. |
1997 | First place | National Women’s Poetry Competition | Linda was honored for her poetry by this competition sponsored by Oakland Community College in the Detroit area. |
1996 | Honorable Mention | International Poetry Competition | Linda’s poem, “Wedding Gown Bazaar,” was selected by the editors of the Atlanta Review. |
1996 | Grant | Creative Artist Grant in Poetry | Linda’s poetry was honored by the Arts Foundation of Michigan with this award given to the state’s top poets and writers. |
1995 | Second place | National Poetry Competition | Linda’s poetry was honored by the editors of Northwoods Journal. |
1995 | First place | National Women’s Poetry Competition | Linda was honored for her poetry by this competition sponsored by Oakland Community College in the Detroit area. |
1990 | Grant | Creative Artist Grant in Literature | Linda’s poetry was honored by the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs with this award given to the state’s top poets and writers. |
1984 | Grant | Creative Artist Grant in Literature | Linda’s poetry was honored by the Michigan Council for the Arts with this award given to the state’s top poets and writers. |
1984 | Outstanding Commendation | Pushcart Prize | The editors of the Pushcart Prize Anthology VIII selected Linda’s poem, “The Fear of Vacuum Cleaners” published in Laurel Review, for this national honor. |
1982 – Present | Nominee | Over 30 poems nominated for the Pushcart Prize | Various editors, publishers, poets and writers have honored Linda’s work (previously published in magazines and journals) for this national award. |