Apt. 9 Press is thrilled to be able to say that Nelson Ball has won the 2016 bpNichol Chapbook Award for his chapbook Small Waterways, published by Apt. 9 Press in 2015. Read the full press release here. Congratulations, Nelson!
Beyond our excitement at Nelson winning, the award feels especially resonant given Nelson’s long relationship to bpNichol as a fellow poet, peer, and publisher, and his longstanding specialization in bpNichol as a bookseller (as well as the long relationship between Nelson’s late wife Barbara Caruso and bpNichol as collaborators and publishers). We couldn’t be happier for Nelson–we love Small Waterways, and are thrilled that it received this tremendous honour. Our thanks to Meet the Presses, the anonymous donor of the prize money ($4000.00!), judges Alice Burdick and Hoa Nguyen, and Brian Dedora and Jim Smith for donating the publisher prize.
Sadly, Nelson’s chapbook sold out last year. That being said, nearly all of the poems in the book are available in Nelson’s most recent trade collection, Chewing Water, from Mansfield Press. Go buy the book if you haven’t already!
As well, two more of the titles on the shortlist this year were published by Apt. 9 Press: Marilyn Irwin’s the blue, blue there and Lillian Nećakov’s The Lake Contains an Emergency Room. Congratulations also to Klara Du Plessis and Anstruther Press, and Christine Stewart and Nomados Literary Publishers for their books on the shortlist, too. We are proud to be listed in such fine company.
Nelson is now Apt. 9’s second winner of the award, following Claudia Coutu Radmore’s win in 2011 for Accidentals. We love all the books that we publish, and it is wonderful when the writers receive a recognition of this sort. We made the trip to Meet the Presses to accept the award on Nelson’s behalf, and it is humbling and inspiring to see the exciting work being done by chapbook presses across the country. We’ll be back from our hiatus in 2017, and have some exciting projects lined up. Stay tuned.
Apt. 9 Press 
Hi Cameron,
Wonderful to hear about Nelson’s chapbook winning the bpNichol award – congratulations to both of you! I hadn’t known of Claudia’s title winning the award a few years ago, so belated congratulations on that as well. Looking forward to more great work from Apt. 9!
Warm regards,
Roy