Nadya Pittendrigh's manuscript, “Laughter Without,” is a 90-page collection that includes 27 poems and a short play.

Nadya Pittendrigh, an associate professor of English at Texas A&M University-Victoria, has won a major national poetry prize for her manuscript, “Laughter Without.”

Her manuscript received the Saturnalia Books Poetry Prize, beating out 540 submissions, 14 other finalists and now is projected to be published in October of next year.

Pittendrigh joined the university in 2016 and brings a blend of creative and scholarly training to her role with her MFA in creative writing and poetry, and a Ph.D. in rhetoric. Her manuscript is a 90-page collection that includes 27 poems and a short play. The manuscript is the product of roughly six years of work beginning in 2020, punctuated by the COVID-19 pandemic, that ultimately reignited her writing, she said.

“Now, I am officially not a loser,” she quipped with a laugh. “I now have a poetry book.”

Through poetry Zoom workshops hosted by a friend and fellow poet, her writing became more ignited. The sessions used rapid-fire prompts and short exercises designed to bypass self-consciousness, a technique she described as a way to short-circuit thinking. By treating some work as practice, Pittendrigh said she found unexpected creative freedom. These prompt-driven pieces would become seeds for the manuscript she later would refine and submit to the contest.

“Laughter Without” leans toward delight, imagination and play, in its essence, she said. The book works as a collage, moving swiftly between scenes, with foregrounding dialogue and includes multiple voices.

Dolores Guerrero

“The awarding of the Saturnalia Books Poetry Prize reflects Dr. Pittendrigh's professional expertise, talent, and commitment in her field,” said Dolores Guerrero, interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences. “It is wonderful to see her recognized and celebrated for her hard work and dedication. We are all very proud of her accomplishment.”

Humor is a throughline, as many of the poems were written with the aim of entertaining her husband, fellow writer and professor Anthony Madrid, Pittendrigh said. While not a confessional collection, some of the pieces touch on autobiographical moments and the quotidian awkwardness that comes with human interaction. 

“It’s delight and imagination and playfulness, but there are moments of philosophical stuff,” she said. “In other words, it’s not a super serious book.”

One poem, “Wanting What We Don’t Want,” stands out for its blend of classroom vignettes, moral awkwardness and tenderness, a piece that ties together her life of teaching and poetic concerns, Pittendrigh said.

The award has provided validation she didn’t expect, not only as professional recognition, but as confirmation that that the poems have the ability to connect with readers, she said. The book’s priority to its readers is to spread delight, she said. If it does, the book will have done precisely what sparked her renewed commitment to poetry: creating moments that make readers laugh, think and want to talk to one another.