It releases eighteen to twenty new books each year in the genres of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.
[1][12] Previous winners have included Patricia Kirkpatrick,[13] Rebecca Dunham,[14] Michael Bazzett,[15] Jennifer Willoughby,[16] and Chris Santiago.
[17] In 2017, Milkweed Editions announced the Max Ritvo Poetry Prize, a US$10,000 award supported by the Alan B. Slifka Foundation.
[19] Milkweed Editions was the 2021 winner of the AWP Small Press Publisher Award given by the Association of Writers & Writing Programs which "acknowledges the hard work, creativity, and innovation of these presses and journals, and honors their contributions to the literary landscape through their publication of consistently excellent work.
"[20][21] The press has been further recognized by media attention in interviews and features, including Literary Hub[22] and Publishers Weekly.