I was impressed by the vast amount of small press/little magazine publishing in this country and around the world. Small presses are often the only place for serious writers to go to find publication. I realized that almost none of it was reaching a general readership. I wanted to do something about that so in 1975 I asked many distinguished writers to help me to start our project as Founding Editors.

From previous editions, the majority of the prizes have been awarded to print publications. How do you feel about the internet and do you see web publications taking on a stronger presence in the Pushcart Prize anthology?

We accept both print and on-line nominations. I expect in the future we will see more selections from on-line publications but so far this has not been the strongest area. Sometimes I feel it is far to easy to fire off words into cyberspace and quality may be lacking. I hope this changes. The internet is a wonderful tool for democracy and we need it badly now that big money conglomerates have taken over everything.

How can we (the small press) help you promote the Pushcart Prize?

Mention your nominations and/or selections in your publications; announce these nomination to your local media; and encourage teachers to use the anthology in classrooms so that students know about the many small presses out there as a resource for their own work. The small presses are the future of our literature.

Do you have any funny episodes that have happened to you revolving around the process of the selection of the prizes?

Not funny but fun. I was so delighted to see that the Pushcart Prize was declared to be an important literary event from day one in such publications as the New York Times Book Review and that consequently our early authors were taken very seriously for having won the Prize. So much so, the script writers of the TV series, Judging Amy, saw fit to have one of their characters win a Pushcart Prize.

Tell us about your staff and who makes up the list of your distinguished Contributing Editors. Also explain if they make nominations from their own publications or is it a random nomination of various presses?

Our staff is entirely unpaid and consists mostly of me and a fabulous lady named Hannah Turner who does most of the paper work. Also, my wife, Genie, contributes her computer skills so that we are more closely connected to our readers and writers via our web site (www.pushcartprize.com). We have readers for fiction and essays and I select two new poetry editors every year. To qualify as a Contributing Editor you have to have appeared previously in the Pushcart Prize. It's a lifetime appointment if you want to keep it. Almost all of these nominations are random. Additionally, small press editors can make up to six nominations each year from their presses.

If you could have done anything differently, what would it have been?

Gotten a real job so I could pay my mortgage. Seriously, I donąt think I would have changed a thing (and haven't) for almost 30 years. The process works and is met with great enthusiasm from writers and editors for which I am very grateful.

Has there been a highlight in the history of the prize you would like to mention?

Publishers Weekly recently declared our press and the Prize to be one of the most important projects in American publishing history.

Is there a small press that is not around any longer that you wish were still publishing?

Partisan Review, Grand Street—to name but two of many that have disappeared over the past three decades. They are all important and are missed.

Are there any online publications you visit?

I don't even know how to turn on a computer. Did you know I am the founder of The Lead Pencil Club? We are a worldwide club of people who share the same dubious attitude towards the all-encompassing electronic bubble. NOT SO FAST we say. We prefer the pencil to the computer and personal conversation to email. All of which is not to say there are not great on-line publications out there, it's just not my preferred method of reading.

Is there anything else you would like to tell us?