Matthew Wamser, author of “Lost Birds of the Pacific,” on what winning the Editors’ Prize meant to him
“I have been heartened and encouraged to know that there are people on the other side of the page, reading my words and reacting to my ideas.”
What has winning the Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prize meant to you?
I keep a spreadsheet tracking all the stories and essays I’ve submitted to magazines and journals over the years. The Missouri Review has always held a special place in my records, because my first submission to the journal in 2017 was also the first time an editor asked me to send more work for consideration. At the time, I was an undergraduate student facing a wave of dispassionate rejections, but the Missouri Review’s kind note told me that the editors had actually enjoyed my work and gave me the vital encouragement that so many young writers need: the knowledge that someone sees promise in their work, even if it isn’t quite ready to be published yet.
Four years later when I submitted “Lost Birds of the Pacific” to the Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prize competition, I had just finished an MFA degree and was on a post-graduate fellowship. I didn’t really know what course my life would take after school or if I would even have the time to keep writing after I inevitably had to find a day job.
It's difficult for writers to make a living today, and the money from the prize helped me to get through this year. But even more so, the prize has motivated me to keep writing. After my essay was published in the Spring 2022 issue, I received the first reader correspondences of my career. Of course, I had received critique letters in writing classes, but by their very nature, those tend to be well-meaning but also largely negative responses from a captive audience. I had never before received letters from strangers who used their leisure time to read my work and spontaneously felt the urge to reach out to me because of something I had written. I have been heartened and encouraged to know that there are people on the other side of the page, reading my words and reacting to my ideas.
This prize has helped me to feel, if only briefly, that I am not merely talking to myself when I write. It has helped me to see that this pursuit is not always as solitary as it sometimes seems.
What has it enabled you to do?
The Missouri Review offers a very generous monetary prize that helped me relocate after graduate school. I couldn’t find a job immediately after I stopped receiving support from my university, but the Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prize money helped me to avoid going into debt while I looked for work. I was able to keep writing during those months because I didn’t have to worry about how I was going to pay for rent or food. I am very grateful not only to have been published in the Missouri Review and to have been able to connect with my readers, but also to have had the support of a substantial financial gift to continue my practice.
