Two years ago, Fonograf Editions—a nonprofit press and literary record label based in Portland, Oregon—began its annual Open Genre Book Prize contest. As of 2025 the winner receives a 3-week residency at The Rice Place (a small artist residency along the Clackamas River in Damascus, Oregon), a standard royalty contract, and a $1500 cash prize. $25 per submission. Fee waivers available for eligible writers. The 2025 contest received the most entries for any contest FE has ever held: 571 submissions, which was narrowed down to 8 finalists. The 2025 winner was selected by guest-judge Brandon Shimoda.
Winner:
Sara Akant’s The Kingdom Book of Perihan
Editor’s Selections (will also be published by FE):
Rivka Clifton’s Extended Cut
Harper Quinn’s New Nudes
Finalists:
Hannah Liberman’s NO ONE
Madeleine Wattenberg’s The Iron Hypothesis
Emily Bark Brown’s Except Maybe I Love You
Geronimo Sarmiento’s weeds
Nicholas Maione’s Ochre as a Kingdom
Previous winners of the FE Open Genre Book Prize include:
- Nora Claire Miller, the author of Groceries, selected by Srikanth Reddy (published October 2025)
- Krystal Languell, the author of Systems Thinking With Flowers, selected by Rae Armantrout (published February 2022)
Read FE editor and co-publisher Jeff Alessandrelli’s essay on our blog and learn more about the 2025 contest.
Fonograf Editions wishes congratulations to the winner, editors’ selections, and finalists. Thank you to Brandon Shimoda for judging this year’s contest.