#Pushcart Nomination

[robotyuri]

pushcart nomination c:

[ponderreview]

We sent in our Pushcart nominations last week! We have so many great poems in Issue 16 that it was hard to choose only 6! Good luck to everyone!

[heartsoundslikelove]

Pushcart Prize Nominations

Congratulations to all the nominees for the Pushcart Prize. May 2025 be the time for your works to be showcased by Pushcart Press. Best Wishes! You are still winners in our book! Sarfraz Ahmed, Arlene Bice, and Yasmin S Brown’s poems were all published in the Cadence Anthology. Joni Caggiano’s poem is from her book “One Petal at a Time.” Nolcha Fox’s poem is from her latest book “Words into…

[foxmulderautism]

the sexual tension between me and the short story prize that still says submissions will open in august 2023 on their site

[synonymsfordismember]

Published Work

Since all my pending publications are now out, I thought I'd put them in one easy to find place! Some are free online, some are pay to read, but lmk if anything's outside your price range and I'll just send you a pdf!

Blanket CW: My work is horror and horror adjacent, and features gore and potentially uncomfortable sexuality more often than not. Proceed with caution; particularly intense works will have additional content warnings.

The Hero: A nasty little story about smoking weed and working food service and performing acts of incredible and senseless violence on behalf of your coworkers. Published in Mangoprism.

Satellite Office: A nameless lesbian engineer forced from her workplace after a traumatic event develops an unusual medical issue, which exposes hairline cracks in her marriage. This probably has nothing to do with what she does for work. Published by Sans Press in their Stranger anthology; nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

Polly Says: On the eve of their annual guys and dolls trip, three iDollators and their silicone brides gather in the basement of the most ambitious of their cohort for the unveiling of the newest enhancement to his doll, Polly. Things go downhill pretty quickly from there. Cws for sexuality and gore. Published in Cloaked Press's Nightmare Fuel: Body Horror anthology.

Born Sexy Tomorrow: A group of lovable twenty-somethings discover a nonverbal naked woman in the woods outside their lakehouse. Cws for heavy gore and cannibalism, I'm not kidding. Published in Reader Beware's fourth issue.

[butchkaramazov]

guess who got nominated for the pushcart prize

[jawn-hextall]

Hi, I'm AJ

I'm a writer, and photographer living in Philly. I've been published in a few places online, nominated for a Pushcart Prize once, and am a Non-Fiction editor for the online magazine JAKE the Mag.

I started a magazine of my own, the first issue is complete and free to read on my website. You can also read everything else that I've had published that's free to read online.

Here's the website. Go read everything!

[finishinglinepress]

FLP CHAPBOOK OF THE DAY: Fragile Bones, Fierce Heart by Lisa Shulman

On SALE: https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/fragile-bones-fierce-heart-by-lisa-shulman/

The #poems in Fragile Bones, Fierce Heart weave together observations on #nature and the #human experience, exploring such topics as climate change, social justice, school shootings, and grief. With vivid imagery and lyricism, these poems invite the reader to connect with the natural #world, with #hope, and with each other.

Lisa Shulman is a writer, children’s book author, and teacher. Her work has appeared in ONE ART, Catamaran, the San Diego Poetry Annual, Minnow Literary Magazine, The Best Small Fictions, California Quarterly, and a number of other journals and anthologies. Nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and a winner in the Jessamyn West Creative Writing contest, Lisa’s poetry has also been performed by Off the Page Readers Theater. She lives in Northern California where she teaches poetry with California Poets in the Schools. #nature #human #grief #life #tragedy #hope #climatechange #poems #poetry

PRAISE FOR Fragile Bones, Fierce Heart by Lisa Shulman

Lisa Shulman’s collection of poems. Fragile Bones, Fierce Heart, is exquisite. If there were two words to describe it, they would be fearless beauty. The poems are a testament to the fact that even though we are in times of great political upheaval, climate crises and violence at home and abroad, if we step back and look, really look, we will always find that glimmer of hope behind a curtain of despair that many of us are feeling. And that is the gift that Lisa Shulman leaves us with, the beauty and hope that allow us to remember our resilience and resistance.

–Margo Perin, author of Plexiglass and The Opposite of Hollywood

From the first poem I read of Lisa Shulman’s, I wanted to see more. This poem, “What I Teach 3rd Graders,” is remarkable in its heartbreaking simplicity, and is a powerful introduction to her chapbook, Fragile Bones, Fierce Heart. In this collection, we are exposed to poems that defy our expectations. We are invited to see beyond the obvious to realms we had not known, only to see that Lisa has opened our eyes to witness the power and the beauty of our everyday experiences – both real and mythic. She creates a host of “what if” observations. In “Las Posadas,” for example, we read, “What if Mary was Maria / trudging through the desert / pregnant and far from home?” Or we move from the familiar images of “Drought” to children “dressed in ashflakes,” their eyes “flat dry stones.” Fragile Bones, Fierce Heart is a treasure trove of poems that invite multiple readings, enticing you over and over again.

–Fran Claggett-Holland, Poet, teacher, educational consultant

In Fragile Bones, Fierce Heart you will hear Lisa Shulman‘s voice chime as she bears witness to the extraordinary ordinary. Each of the poems in this powerful collection are consequential lessons. Some are taken from the headlines displaying the predicaments of being human. The poet’s voice is a gentle one. She writes:

sometimes from fragments

of feathers and shell, crackling leaves

someone fashions a poem

a prayer, a song.

Poems of fragility and strength are within these pages. Together these themes offer a meditation.

–Les Bernstein, Author

Please share/please repost #nature #human #grief #life #tragedy #hope #climatechange #poems #poetry #flpauthor #preorder #AwesomeCoverArt #poetry #chapbook #read #poems

[gravesgate]

over the moon to have been nominated for a pushcart prize for my poem “clementine”, published by @troublemakerfirestarter !

this is such a huge honour, congratulations to all nominees and good luck!!

[thebadasshistorian]

I— I just got nominated for the Pushcart Prize. 👀

[drsonnet]

Jess X Snow

Jess X. Snow (b. 1992) is a non-binary film director, artist, pushcart-nominated poet, children’s book author and community arts educator who creates speculative, queer asian immigrant stories that transcend borders, binaries and time. From Calgary, Canada, by the way of Jiangxi, China, they currently live on the unceded lands of the Lenni Lenape / Brooklyn, NY. Through narrative film, large-scale murals, virtual and augmented reality, and community art education, they are working toward a future where migrant and BIPOC folks may witness themselves heroic on the big screen and city walls & discover in their own bodies; a sanctuary for healing and collective liberation.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Leigh Ann O’Neill and Brent Morden

Published: Oct 12, 2023

It’s Fall, and writers are submitting their best stories, essays, and poems to literary journals, which have reopened after the summer break. The readership for many of these journals may be small, but they are powerful gatekeepers for aspiring poets and literary authors. Many journals receive hundreds, or even thousands, of submissions every month, from which they typically select only a few pieces for publication. Of the works they publish, they nominate only a handful for prestigious prizes—such as the Pushcart, the O. Henry, and the Best American series—which can launch a young writer’s career.

In apparent violation of federal anti-discrimination law, a growing number of literary journals across the United States are openly discriminating based on race or ancestry in setting the fees they charge to writers submitting their work. By following the current trend toward race essentialism, literary journals are establishing an ominous precedent, while flouting the fundamental principle of equality under the law, regardless of skin color.

Submitting work to journals is easier now than it once was. Gone are the days of mass postal submissions and stamped self-addressed envelopes. Most journals have transitioned to electronic portals such as Submittable.com to manage submissions; and they often charge hopeful authors a submission fee to defray their operating costs. All you need to do is upload your piece, pay your money, and keep your fingers crossed. A single story or poem might be rejected dozens of times before it finds a home.

Even though these fees are typically quite low—five, ten, or twenty dollars—they can start to add up, especially when one considers that the payment for published work offered by these journals is often nominal. Historically, journals have been mindful of the hardship their fees can impose. Harvard Review, Yale Review, and many other prestigious publications offer need-based fee waivers or fee-free submission periods in the case of authors suffering financial hardship.

Recently, however, many journals have taken a different approach: They are assigning fee waivers on the basis of applicants’ skin color and ethnicity. At Ecotone (affiliated with the University of North Carolina), for example, “historically underrepresented writers” may submit earlier than others, and are exempt from fees entirely, regardless of financial need. A similar policy was implemented at Indiana Review (Indiana University Bloomington), where “Black, Indigenous, and Person of Color (BIPOC)” writers were automatically exempted from fees. (Non-BIPOC writers were required either to pay, or to request fee waivers on an individual basis.) At Black Warrior Review (University of Alabama), those who are a “Black, indigenous, or incarcerated writer … may skip the Submittable process and email your submission directly to the editor … for no fee.”

These race-based fee structures violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin by universities and colleges that accept federal funding. In the case of public universities, race-based fees also run afoul of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. And yet, this sort of overtly race-based treatment has continued largely unnoticed and unchallenged.

At the Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism (FAIR)—where the two of us serve as managing director of legal advocacy, and managing director of FAIR in the Arts, respectively—we’re actively working to change that. And we’ve already had some success.

Perhaps these developments should not come as a surprise. Literary journals are simply exhibiting the fixation on racial and ethnic identity that has become a mainstay of academia and mainstream publishing. But trying to atone for past discrimination by imposing differential race-based treatment on citizens isn’t just illegal in many cases; it also serves to stereotype non-white people as poor, beleaguered, and victimized. And it serves to overlook those who do need assistance because of disadvantages they’ve suffered in life, but who don’t possess the immutable characteristics considered to be an indicator of struggle and strife.

Moreover, these practices foster societal division by elevating superficial differences over all the elements we have in common. This undermines the sense of empathy, imagination, and intellectual freedom required to create compelling literature; and deadens the unifying, inspiring, and humanizing effect that art can have on us.

In the grand sweep of things, the submission policies of small literary journals may not seem to be an important issue. But it represents yet another challenge to our liberal values—and a harbinger of what kind of racially Balkanized society awaits us if we allow unconstitutional race-based policies to become the new normal in American cultural life.

Leigh Ann O’Neill is managing director of legal advocacy at the Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism (FAIR). Brent Morden is managing director of FAIR in the Arts.

[ponderreview]

We're very proud of our Pushcart nominees. We have some great work in this year's volume, and we're thrilled to send the on to the main contest. Good luck to all!

[maxturnerwrites]

THREE SPINE-TINGLING QUEER NOVELLAS COMING SOON!

Help Knight Errant Press kickstart their 2023 publication list!

PREORDER NOW VIA KICKSTARTER!

Ever felt uneasy in a neighbourhood whose front lawns are perfectly groomed and whose inhabitants are perfectly friendly and cheerful? Briar Ripley helps unfurl this unease in The False Sister – a dark and compelling coming-of-age novella of queer adolescence in a seemingly innocuous middle-class suburban town.  

Step back in time and walk the warm and lively cobbled streets of ancient Athens. Guided by the deft hand of Alex Penland follow in the footsteps of Kallis – protagonist-cum-revolutionary. Andrion is an alternative tale of the great city of Athens, giving voice and nuance to those historically deprived of it. 

Visit Elk Pass, you won't regret it! Max Turner will make sure of it. A small town with a dark past secreted away in an inaccessible but scenic valley, cut off from civilisation for half of the calendar year. In The Child of Hameln, denizens from the realm of fae (before Disney had a say in the matter) roam the land and pay a visit to the residents of Elk Pass. Everything is not as it seems.

ABOUT THE BOOKS

It’s 1994, and Jesse Greer’s troubled older sister, Crys, has run away from home. Shy, socially awkward Jesse assumes that she has returned to her old haunts in the big city — until he discovers Crys’ remains in the woods behind his family’s house. Traumatized, Jesse runs to his parents for help, only to find that Crys has returned home, alive.

Folklore mythology meets dark suburbia in this uncanny tale of growing up. This story occupies the murky grey space between YA fiction and adult fiction focused on child characters.

Vibes: Welcome to the Dollhouse directed by Todd Solondz meets The Blair Witch Project and The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin. 

Readers: young adults and adults

Genre: mystery, fantasy, folklore with elements of horror

About the author

Briar Ripley Page is the author of two books for adults: Corrupted Vessels (about a tiny cult) and Body After Body (erotic dystopian horror). Briar’s work has also appeared in various anthologies and literary magazines. He was nominated for a Pushcart Prize and made the Brave New Weird award shortlist in 2022. Originally from Pennsylvania, USA, Briar now lives in London with their spouse, flatmates, and two black-and-white cats. Briar’s website is briarripleypage.xyz.

You can also find him on Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram.

When 16-year-old Kallis goes to see Aristophanes' latest play, she's inspired to sneak into the Assembly and try to make her name as an orator. After all, she grew up at her father's knee. Even though the men around him treat her like a wild animal, Niko's always been proud of her outspoken intelligence. Kallis has no reason to suspect he'll be anything but supportive.

A feminist tale of ancient steampunk Athens, focused on the life and justice politics of a world extrapolated from history.

Vibes: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller meets His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman, with all the focus on family dysfunction of Hades from Supergiant Games and just as much queer content.

Readers: young adults and adults

Genre: historical fantasy

About the author

Alex Penland is a former museum kid. They spent their childhood running rampant through the Smithsonian Institution, which kicked off an early career as a child adventurer. Alex has worked in the field with NASA scientists, linguists and acclaimed photographers. A Pushcart-nominated author, Alex currently lives in Scotland while studying for a PhD in Creative Writing at the University of Edinburgh. 

You can find more of Alex on Twitter, Instagram and their website.

Bobby Taylor was the only child left behind twenty years earlier when a supernatural power kidnapped all the children of Elk Pass. Now a grown man and town deputy, Bobby discovers a horrible cover-up in this small town steeped in evil. The mystery unfolds as a snow storm blows in, threatening to isolate the town, and Bobby comes face to face with the monster who had left him behind when all the other children were taken.

A supernatural mystery and light horror, this dark fable features a town cloaked in darkness and torn by grief, a debt unpaid and a wrong left unrighted. Set in small town USA of the 1980s, The Child of Hameln is a queer, adult retelling of the Pied Piper of Hameln.

Vibes: TV series Stranger Things meets the small town USA grit of True Blood and the queerness of Hannibal.

Readers: young adults and adults

Genre: mystery, fantasy with elements of horror

About the author

Max Turner is a gay transgender man based in the United Kingdom. He is also a parent, nerd, intersectional feminist and coffee addict. Max writes speculative and science fiction, fantasy, furry fiction, many sub-genres of horror, and LGBTQ+ romance and erotica and a combination of thereof. Max has written several queer novellas and his short stories have been published both online and in print publications. Max is also the publisher of A Coup of Owls quarterly online and print anthologies.

You can find him on Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr and his own website.

HEAD OVER TO KICKSTARTER NOW FOR A WIDE RANGE OF SUPPORT OPTIONS AND AMAZING ADD ONS!

Kickstarter ends 22nd April 2023

[thehorrortree]

Submission Window: November 1, 2023 - December 31, 2023 Payment: 8¢ per word Theme: Speculative flash fiction Interstellar Flight Press seeks speculative flash fiction for 2024 publication in our online magazine and yearly anthology. We will publish one piece of flash fiction a month in 2024, celebrating micro and small fictions. Submissions will be read by our team of readers and final selections will be made by flash series editor, Annika Barranti Klein.  Guidelines: Genres: as long as it’s speculative (even a little bit!), anything goes for genre. Please see below for specific content hard sells and loves.  Length: up to 1,250 words (no minimum) Payment: 8¢ per word (minimum payment $25) within 30 days of publication. 1 print contributor’s copy of our yearly anthology.  Simultaneous subs? Yes! Please let us know right away if you need to withdraw a story by emailing contact@interstellarflightpress.com. Multiple subs? Yes! Up to three stories per person; please fill out a separate form for each story.  Response times: We aim to reply to submissions in 90 days. We will try to get first round answers (rejections or holds) out as quickly as possible.  Terms: Original stories, no reprints please. First English Rights with a 3-month exclusivity period. Inclusion in our annual print anthology.  Please do not send anything generated using the large language models commonly called AI; they are built on plagiarism and we won’t publish them. Tools like spellcheck are absolutely fine.  Accepted stories will be featured on our website and Patreon, where authors will be asked to complete a short Q&A interview for our patrons. All accepted stories will also be in our yearly anthology, along with the interview.  About the Flash Series Editor Annika Barranti Klein’s flash fiction has been in Mermaids Monthly, The Future Fire, Milk Candy Review, HAD, Hallowzine, and Worlds of Possibility. Her longer fiction and poetry has been in Asimov’s, CRAFT, Fireside, Weird Horror, Fusion Fragment, Haven Spec, and Kaleidotrope. Her work has been nominated for the Pushcart, recommended in Quick Sips Reviews and on Tor.com, gone viral on Twitter (just one time!), and been a finalist in the Gotham Writers 2021 A Monster Comes contest and the Cast of Wonders 2023 flash fiction contest.  Annika writes nonfiction for Interstellar Flight Magazine and Book Riot, and has also been in Paste TV, The Toast, and more. She is a freelance editor and has worked with Interstellar Flight Press, Book Riot/My TBR, and private clients on projects ranging from novels to medical articles to listicles. Prior to getting into editing, she was a reader at a film company. She’s been a nanny, a caterer, sold advertising space in USA Today, and taught people how to knit.  Thanks to a convenient nick in the space-time continuum, she somehow also finds time to write novels and have a family — they are very understanding and can all make their own sandwiches (not the novels; they are total freeloaders). Hard Sells: Graphic violence, especially sexual violence, domestic violence, or suicide — please include content warnings at the top of your story. Stream of consciousness  Super vague endings (I love ambiguity, but don’t want to be left wondering wtf I just read) Racism, sexism, homo- and transphobia are unacceptable themes, but may be all right within the story (especially if those are your margins and you’re exploring your reality in fiction) — please include content warnings at the top of your story.  Clichés  Loves: Beautiful, deliberate writing Time loops Fun use of form, including “found footage” stories Friendship, feminism, found family Endings that make me rethink the story and/or immediately read it again with new context Tropes Some flash fiction I love: The Hulder’s Husband Says Don’t by Kate Lechler  Giants by Allison Mulder  Advanced Word Problems in Portal Math by Aimee Picchi  Space-Time by Stella Lei  Silver and Shadow, Spruce and Pine by Maria Haskins 

You Called Me by Avra Margariti  A Case for De-Extinction at the End of the World by Lyndsie Manusos  Bone Deep by K.C. Mead-Brewer  From the Journal of Sawyer L. Gibbs, Hero, Aged 13 ½ by Premee Mohamed  Untitled [daycare worker at the end of the world] by bixbythemartian  Unknown Number by Blue Neustifter ​ SUBMIT A FLASH FICTION Via: Interstellar Flight Magazine.

[synonymsfordismember]

SATELLITE OFFICE NOMINATED FOR PUSHCART