Anderson Center at Tower View in Red Wing, Minnesota, will honor Jeff Shotts, Executive Editor at Graywolf Press, with the 2026 A.P. Anderson Award for significant contributions to the cultural and artistic life of Minnesota. The award ceremony will be held on Thursday, June 11, 2026 beginning at 5:30 p.m.

“Editors... work in the shadows and rarely get the acclaim they deserve,” says poet Dobby Gibson (one of several people who nominated Shotts for the award). Gibson continues, “Jeff’s work at Graywolf has strengthened Minnesota’s stature as a center of literary arts. By nurturing world-class talent from Minnesota and beyond, he ensures the Twin Cities are not just a regional hub but a national and international presence in literature. And most important of all, Jeff has ensured Graywolf—and by extension Minnesota—fosters a culture of literary risk, innovation, and excellence.”

Jeff Shotts has been a key player in the powerhouse literary team at Graywolf Press for almost 30 years. While publishing just a few dozen books a year, Graywolf’s commitment to visionary writers who transform culture has garnered national and international recognition. Books Shotts has acquired and edited have received the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award, and authors whose works he has acquired and edited have received the Nobel Peace Prize and the Nobel Prize for Literature.

“Experimentation is one of Anderson Center’s core values,” says Stephanie Rogers, the organization’s Executive & Artistic Director. “We support innovative art and ideas that may challenge existing disciplines and genres. Shotts has embodied this value through his work at Graywolf Press, and American literature is richer for it.” For poet D.A. Powell, working with Shotts “is like having a second brain... for me, he’s absolutely the best.”

Jeff Shotts is Executive Editor at Graywolf Press, where he edits poetry, essays, criticism, multi-genre works, and works in translation. Authors he has worked with include Kaveh Akbar, Elizabeth Alexander, Eula Biss, Natalie Diaz, Leslie Jamison, Ilya Kaminsky, Layli Long Soldier, Carl Phillips, Claudia Rankine, Vijay Seshadri, Diane Seuss, Solmaz Sharif, Danez Smith, Tracy K. Smith, Mary Szybist, Natasha Trethewey, and Kevin Young, among many others. In 2017, Shotts received the Editor’s Award from Poets & Writers, and that same year was honored as a Publishers Weekly Notable Person of the Year. He lives with his family in Minneapolis.

“The A.P. Anderson Award is an unexpected and humbling honor,” says Shotts. “We who serve as editors don’t do it for recognition; we strive to recognize the brilliance of others whose visions of the world might move us to see, feel, know, and act courageously. The many writers I have had the extraordinary privilege to work alongside have been, and continue to be, my greatest teachers, and I send them my eternal gratitude. It is with them and with the inspiring staff, board, and community at Graywolf Press that this award is shared and celebrated. Sincere thanks to the Anderson Center for this honor and for lifting up the important work of Graywolf and independent, nonprofit publishing in Minnesota and beyond.”