VQR Congratulates the 2025 Winners

The Emily Clark Balch Prizes and the Staige D. Blackford Prize were created to honor the best writing to appear in the pages of VQR each year. Past recipients include John Berryman, Philip Caputo, Pauline W. Chen, Carolyn Forché, Natasha Trethewey, and Kevin Young. The VQR Prize for Photography was created to recognize the best photo portfolio to appear in our pages. Each prize includes a monetary award of $1,000.

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Emily Clark Balch Prize for Fiction

Daniel Gumbiner
"The Vermillion Sea"
fall

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Emily Clark Balch Prize for Poetry

Leslie Harrison
"I wish to talk about the soul without talking about the soul"
"I wonder sometimes if the dead dream and if so of what"
"Letter to an old love"
"Everything born and made is born and made"
summer

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Staige D. Blackford Prize for Nonfiction

Marzio G. Mian
"The Hottest Border"
summer

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The VQR Prize for Photography

Nina Berman
"In the Hallowed Place Where There's Only Darkness"
spring