Laurie Rachkus Uttich Wins Wolfson Prose Prize

We're happy to announce the winner of this year's prose prize, Laurie Uttich, whose memoir, Heart(Land), will be published by Wolfson Press in 2027. In clear, well-paced, and often witty and lyrical prose, the author traces her life story from her upbringing in smalltown central Illinois to her motherhood and career years in Florida. Her sharp characterizations of people and places take us close to the action. Her great gift is to expose the wonder and excitement within the ordinary.

About the Author

Laurie Rachkus Uttich grew up in an old house in a small rural town in Illinois, where she wrote stories and poems in a series of Holly Hobbie diaries that came with tiny silver keys she could never keep track of. Today, she writes about the experiences that connect us, especially when we feel the most alone. Uttich is the author of the poetry collection Somewhere, a Woman Lowers the Hem of Her Skirt (Riot In Your Throat, 2022). Excerpted prose pieces from Heart(Land) have been published in Brevity; Creative Nonfiction; Fourth Genre; Poets and Writers; River Teeth; Speculative Nonfiction; Split Lip Magazine; and Sweet: A Literary Confection. She lives and teaches in Orlando and has volunteered with the Florida Prison Education Project, where she has taught poetry and creative writing in a maximum-security correctional center for men.