The Backwaters Prize winner for 2001, by Wisconsin poet Susan Firer, was chosen from more than 300 entries by the noted poet CarolAnn Russell. In the Judge's Statement, Ms. Russell said " A wild generosity of spirit and vision characterizes this collection. The language marries the elemental and worldly with aplomb, and the effect is sacramental. The subject of the book is humble even as it is universal, hovering as it does over and within that great oxymoron, human love..."