The Summit Series
The CMICH Press Summit Series is a not-for-profit publisher of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction books. We select the books using a careful process of review by Press staff and an editorial board.
Each year, we publish one book representing a distinct focus: fiction by Michigan authors, for example, or poetry from Midwest writers. The focus changes each year.
Summit Series 2025 Prize Winner
The 2025 Summit Series Annual Prize is Patricia Killelea with her work Solace: Poems from the Northwoods.
Patricia Killelea is the author of Counterglow (Urban Farmhouse Press, 2019) and her work has appeared in journals like Seneca Review, Quarterly West, The Common, Waxwing, and others. Patricia is Poetry Editor at Passages North and also reads poems for FENCE. She teaches writing and literature at Northern Michigan University and lives in Watersmeet, Michigan.
About Solace: Poems from the Northwoods
Rooted in the seasonal rhythms of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Solace: Poems from the Northwoods is an extended love letter to the land and a restless meditation on interpersonal & interspecies relationships. Ecology and lyricism collide in these poems of uncertain times and unexpected transformations, where the deep woods and an even deeper silence mark the trail leading back to what shines.
PURCHASE THE WINNING SUBMISSION
Solace: Poems from the Northwoods
By Patricia Killelea
The Summit Series Submissions
Each year, the Summit Series of the CMich Press will conduct one contest guided by a changing theme/focus. The winner of the annual contest will have their submission published by CMich Press.
The second annual Summit Series contest will accept book-length submissions of poetry. The contest is open to writers who are from, have lived in, or live in Michigan. There is no length requirement. Works that have previously appeared in magazines or in anthologies may be included. Translations and previously published or self-published collections are not eligible. AI authored manuscripts are not allowed. To avoid conflict of interest, employees and Board members of CMich Press are not eligible to enter.
Prize
The Prize includes publication by the CMich Press Summit Series. In the unlikely event that no suitable manuscript is found among entries in a given year, CMich Press reserves the right not to award a prize.
Judges
Finalists for the CMich Press Summit Series annual prize will be chosen by the Summit Series Editorial Board. The winning manuscript will be chosen from the finalists by our final judge. Selection criteria will be consistent with the focus of the annual series contest.
Guidelines
More information forthcoming.
Submit a previously unpublished manuscript of any length directly to summitseries@cmich.edu. Electronic submissions only.
The manuscript must be anonymous. The author’s name or address must not appear anywhere on the manuscript. The title page should contain the title of the manuscript only. Pages should be numbered consecutively. Files should be uploaded as a MS Word document or PDF.
Please include a separate cover letter, including a brief biography and your name and contact information.
Include a $25 submission fee. Submission of more than one manuscript is permissible if each manuscript is submitted separately and accompanied by a $25 submission fee.
Summit Series Contest Submission Fee
$25.00
CMich Press Summit Series Editorial Board
Each year, the Summit Series of the CMich Press will conduct one contest guided by a changing theme/focus. The winner of the annual contest will have their submission published by CMich Press.
The CMich Summit Series Editorial Board is comprised of CMU faculty and authors from throughout the United States. Board members review reports on and samples of projects submitted for publication consideration.
Editorial Board Members 2024-2026
Steven Bailey, English: Creative Nonfiction
Jeffrey Bean, English: Poetry
Darrin Doyle, English: Fiction
Robert Fanning, English: Poetry
Matthew Roberson, English: Fiction
Katherine Moore, English: Creative Nonfiction
Rights & Permissions
To reprint CMich Press material in a book, course pack or any other print or digital publication, please contact summitseries@cmich.edu.
What Information Do We Collect?
CMich Press Summit Series collects the information that you provide when you register on our site, place an order, subscribe to our newsletter, or fill out a form.
When ordering or registering on our site, as appropriate, you may be asked to enter your: name, e-mail address, mailing address, phone number or credit card information. You may, however, visit our site anonymously.
If there are any questions regarding this privacy policy you may contact us at summitseries@cmich.edu.