Washington Writers' Publishing HouseWashington Writers' Publishing House

Who We Are

“Washington Writers’ Publishing House involves some of the best writers in the area in its activities and has built an audience of national significance. It is among the most successful recent literary experiments in the country.”
—Henry Taylor, Pulitzer Prize Winner

Recent Poetry

Nicole Tong | How to Prove a Theory
Laura Fargas | The Green of Ordinary Time
Michelle Chan Brown| Motherland with Wolves
Christopher Ankney | Hearsay
Robert Herschbach | Loose Weather

Recent Fiction

Jacob Weber | Don’t Wait to Be Called
Robert Williams | Strivers and Other Stories
Patricia Schultheis | St. Bart’s Way
Catherine Bell | Rush of Shadows
Kathleen Wheaton | Aliens and Other Stories

Hearsay by Christopher Ankney

Photo of Book! "Ankney’s poems provide an enduring testimony for what it’s like to be fully alive in our calamitous, heart-breaking, and over-charged epoch." — Michael Collier

Words We Might One Day Say by Holly Karapetkova

Photo of Book! When I read the first poem in Words We Might One Day Say, I thought Holly Karapetkova was related to Gabriel Marquez. A surprise seems to appear in many of her poems. Some come close to being magical. I like how this woman writes about childhood. I want to grow old with this book. —E. Ethelbert Miller

Welcome to the Washington Writers’ Publishing House

Washington Writers’ Publishing House is a non-profit organization that has published over 50 volumes of poetry since 1973 and so far nearly a dozen volumes of fiction. The press sponsors an annual competition, featured in Poets & Writers, for writers living in the Washington-Baltimore area, and the winners of each category (one each in poetry and fiction) comprise our set of published works each year.

WWPH has received grants from the Lannan Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the Nation magazine, and the Poetry Society of America. Many individuals have also assisted, encouraged, and supported our work through the years.

COMING IN FEBRUARY 2021: This Is What America Looks Like, A NEW ANTHOLOGY FROM WWPH!

NEW: 2020 Fiction and Poetry Winners Announced

Browse Our Books For Sale!

News & Events

2020 Fiction and Poetry Winners Announced »

Elizabeth Knapp and Nathan Leslie: A Conversation

Our Authors

Some nationally known poets and writers the press has published include Michelle Chan Brown, Grace Cavalieri, Nancy Naomi Carlson, Sid Gold, Melanie Hatter, E. Ethelbert Miller, Elisavietta Ritchie, Kim Roberts, David Taylor, and Terence Winch.

More about our authors »

Team Members

President/ Kathleen Wheaton
Vice President/ Holly Karapetkova
Treasurer/ Elizabeth Bruce
Secretary/ Nicole Tong
Production/Robert Williams
Publicity and Outreach/Caroline Bock
Website/Robert Herschbach
Fiction and Poetry Readers/Jacob Weber, Sid Gold, Nathan Leslie, Jona Colson, Caroline Bock

Submit to Our Annual Contest

Our anthology, This Is What America Looks Like, will appear in February, 2021, so there will be no manuscript contest this year. The contest for the 2022 WWPH Fiction and Poetry awards will open in July, 2021.

More about the contest »

Make a Donation

We thank the many poets, writers, and supporters of WWPH who have assisted and encouraged our work through the years. As a non-profit organization committed to the promotion of literary excellence in the Washington-Baltimore area, we always welcome financial assistance in our publishing efforts.

More about donating »

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