Our 2026 Judges

Sarah Kalsbeek’s writing has appeared in Psychopomp Magazine and 3Elements Literary Review. She holds an MFA from Northwestern University, where she also served as a fiction editor for TriQuarterly. Passionate about nonprofit and independent publishers, she hosts the YouTube channel Eyes on Indie and produces a bimonthly newsletter spotlighting new releases from small presses for a growing community of readers. She is thrilled to return for a second year as a Republic of Consciousness Prize judge!

Valerie Kulpit is a full time hospice nurse and a “Constant Reader”, from the words of Dorothy Parker. If she isn’t reading, she is scanning the spines of books in bookshops for independent publisher logos and adding them to her bookshelves. She has lived in the Pacific Northwest for over ten years, in a valley between Spokane and Seattle, but her roots are in the South. Passionate about independent publishing, she has followed the Republic of Consciousness Prize faithfully, reading from the prize each year, and advocating for the prize and its mission. In addition to reading from independent publishers, she can’t stop talking about them on her Bookstagram. She can also be found on The StoryGraph. 

Stuart McCommon is a bookseller who has worked in the independent bookstore industry for 12 years. He first worked as the Inventory Control Coordinator at Novel in Memphis, Tennessee, before moving to Interbang Books in Dallas, Texas, where he has worked for the past four years as the Operations Specialist. In addition to sharing his love of translated literature and indie presses with the incredible readers of the DFW metropolitan area, he also serves as the moderator for Interabang's Nonfiction Book Club in an effort to highlight literary nonfiction across multiple disciplines. His love for fiction is matched only by his interest in books about ornithology.

Bryan Seitz is an Inventory Manager and Buyer for Literati Bookstore (2019 PW Bookstore of the Year) in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He curatesLiterati Insisto, a monthly subscription program for books published by small, independent presses.  

Emily Tarr has worked in the world of books for somewhere around six years, in marketing and merchandising at Thank You Booksin Birmingham, Alabama, and as the Trade Shows & Sales Ops Manager at Simon & Schuster. She served as a judge on the 2024 Cercador Prize committee and as the Chair on the 2025 committee. In her free time (beyond reading and deliberating the finest books), she enjoys texting her friends, watching and playing tennis, and hugging her small dog.