Vanderbilt University Press Announces Melissa Range as the Winner of the 2025 VU Literary Prize
Vanderbilt University Press has announced Poet Melissa Range as the Winner of the 2025 VU Literary Prize. Spearheaded by General Editor Major Jackson, the prize committee reviewed over two hundred and fifty submissions in advance of the jurists Victoria Chang, Dana Levin, and Gregory Pardlo, who selected nine semifinalists. From these semifinalists, Jackson chose the winning manuscript. Printer’s Fist is about the abolitionist movement in the eighteenth and nineteenth century United States. Drawing upon archival research into nineteenth century antislavery newspapers, pamphlets, broadsides, songsters, children’s books, poetry, letters, and more, this collection tells the story of a political movement—its strides and setbacks, its unity and fractures—with a particular focus on its print culture. The collection is scheduled for publication in March 2026.
“I wrote Printer’s Fist as a monument to activists from the past whose work for justice is relevant to us today. I’m deeply grateful to the judges for believing that these stories from the nineteenth century need to be heard, and I’m honored and thrilled to have Vanderbilt University Press publish this collection,” Range said.
Congratulations, Melissa!
