2022 Pushcart Prize Nominees

Every year, Pushcart Press sends out a call to independent publishers seeking nominations of the best writers of poetry and short stories for their annual collection. (http://www.pushcartprize.com/)  The prize of publishing in their volume brings submissions from across the world from journals striving to bestow this esteemed acknowledgement on their own contributors.

This is my second year sending nominations forward for the Pushcart Prize. I griped last year about how difficult it was to make my selections. What I've come to realize is: It's only going to get worse. 

As this little journal of mine expands its reach, as more and more of the world's best writers find us and contribute to our pages, the task of selecting favorites is nearing impossible. 

I sat with hard copies of each issue from this year splayed out in front of me, a notebook at my side to make a longlist to begin with. Need I say it? The longlist was a looooong list. 

I agonized. I consulted trusted friends. But ultimately, I had to shoulder the challenge, knowing that our writers deserved more spotlight than our little journal can offer.

The final cut were the works that have truly shaped me since first reading them -- and with every reading after that. They are the poems and stories that are, simply, profoundly, a part of me now. I carry them, think of them, am who I am today at this moment, because of them.

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Congratulations and best of luck to the following nominees.

(Click on each name to read the nominated work.)