 The Mildred Bennett Award recognizes an individual who made significant contributions to the fostering of the literary tradition in Nebraska. This annual award reminds us all of the literary and intellectual traditions that enrich our lives and mold our world. This year's recipient is Kimberly Verhines. Kimberly Verhines is the director of SFA Press and she's made significant literary and intellectual contributions that promote and foster Nebraska's literary tradition. Verhines was a resident of Nebraska for a period teaching young learners in Grand Island and has long held the literature and poetry of Nebraska in highest esteem. From 2003 to 2008, Verhines led the independent press, LC Press, and published Nebraska luminaries like Don Welch and Greg Kuzma, making their work at the time more available to a larger public. When Verhines arrived in Texas in 2008, she successfully pitched the concept of Stephen F. Austin State University Press to university administrators. While many university presses have perished in recent years, Verhines conceived of a self-supporting university press that focused on literature, poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and critical regional titles that included art books, history, and critical studies among subjects. Importantly, she kept Nebraska writers at the head of her publication agenda. Since the press's inception, she has published nearly 250 books, many of them by Nebraskans, whose work she eagerly supports, including mine. Verhines has solely been responsible for the publication, design, and national international distribution via Texas A&M Press Consortium of more than 25 Nebraska writers. Folks like Don Welch, Kathleen West, J.V. Brummelz, Grace Bauer, Greg Kosmiski, Cliff Mason, Marjorie Sizer, Hilda Razz, and many, many more. Notably, she brought Daniel Simon's Nebraska Poetry, a sesquicentennial anthology to print. Recently, Mark Sanders' book from the press is called Landscapes with Horses, and it won the Western Heritage Award from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, as well as one of the Nebraska Book Awards for Poetry Honor. Verhines has supported and advocated Nebraska writers and letters for nearly two decades. Her ongoing projects attest to her significant and lasting commitment to Nebraska writers. For her tremendous body of work in Nebraska letters, she is deserving of the Mildred Bennett Award. Hi, everyone. I'm Kimberly Verhines, director of Stephen F. Austin State University Press, located in Nackadoches, Texas. I'm deeply honored to receive the Mildred Bennett Award in recognition of fostering Nebraska's literary heritage. This is a very special thing, and I truly appreciate it. Over the years, starting back in the mid-1990s, Nebraska writers and letters have held a special place in my heart, and the generosity shown to me by Nebraska writers has been an important influence on what it is I do as a publisher, artist, and writer. I remember the readings I did with my husband at Northeast Community College with a deep fondness and gratitude for poet Barbara Schmitz and her husband Bob. I started writing relationships with Nebraska writers as early as 1996 at the Nebraska Literature Festival in Omaha and participated with Sandhills Press at the Plains Writers Festival held that year at Wayne State College. A few years later, in 2003, when I began working on my MFA at the University of Idaho, I created an independent press, Lewis Clark Press. Approximately 15 books published in five years, a third of them were by Nebraska writers. A few years later, when I moved to Texas, I pitched the idea of a self-sustaining independent press at the local university. I looked back to the Nebraska writers because I know how good they are and how vital their work is. How could I not call upon the talents of such writers as Don Welch, Robert McEwen, JV Brummels, Greg Kosmicki, Matt Mason, Marjorie Sazer, Jim Rees, Hilda Razz, Greg Kuzma, Grace Bauer, Barbara Schmitz, and so many, many more. I'm happy too that Daniel Simon brought to me Nebraska Poetry, a sesquicentennial anthology in 2017, which won a Nebraska Book Award. I continue to look for ways to support and encourage Nebraska writers and, just to give you something to consider, I plan to revive my husband Sandhills Press in the near future. It's been on hiatus too long, and I envision producing some important books, giving a voice to the both established and emerging writers of the Great Plains. Again, I truly appreciate being recognized for the Mildred Bennett Award. This is a very special honor for me. Thank you.