Pushcart Prize Nominees 2026

Fiction

Divine Creatures and Monsters Alike by M.M. Kauffman

All The Friends I Could Have Made are Having Fun Without Me by Mackenzie McGee

Y2K by Sonia Alejandra Rodriguez

Poetry

Vanishing Twin by Jessica Ballen

feelings come & go but teeth are forever by Kristin Lueke

The Summer I Watched “Boyfriend takes care of you while sick ASMR Videos on Repeat” by Danielle Shorr

Best Microfiction Nominees 2026

We Wear Suits by Lavina Blossom

Dark Circles by Amber Burke

Miracle Grow by Amber Burke

Travel & Leisure by Linda Drach

Poor Cheryl by Rachel Lastra

Best Small Fictions Nominees 2026

Marriage by Amber Burke

98. by Jordyn Damato

The Passing of a Little More Than a Year by Lydia Kim

Fireflies by Rina OlsenSpirals by Natalie Wallington

Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers Nominees 2026

I Found a Stone Under My Skin by Amanda Parrack

Best of the Net Nominees 2026

Fiction

A Reading List for the End of the World by Julia Rose Greider

I’ve Been Getting Letters from Santa for Twenty Years and All I’ve Learned Is He’s an Asshole by Nicola Koh

Poetry

FLORIDA by ALUKAH

I have an existential crisis on realizing my reading list is finite by Karan Chambers

Bright Invitations by Dani Janae

The Signs by Gabe Montesanti

When I Was a Bearskin Rug by Shagufta Mulla

Leaving the Wedding in a Fever by Cassandra Whitaker

Wigleaf Top 50 Very Short Fictions 2025

If it’s Not One Thing It’s A Million Things by Jeffrey Hermann (longlisted)

Mollusk by Didi Wood (longlisted)

Pushcart Prize Nominees 2025

Fiction

Duck Girls by Nicole Hart

Sorry, but you’re mistaking me for her by Anita Harag, Translated by Walter Burgess and Marietta Morry

Darryl by Rebekah Morgan

Poetry

How to Wash a Rabbit by Sara Eddy

Cancellations by Grace Marie Liu

A Poem Buried Under the Floorboards by Amanda Roth

Best Microfiction Nominees 2025

Volunteering & In Some Ways I Have Changed by Hedgie Choi

All Children Eat Their Mothers & I Saw a Man Kill Himself by Mea Cohen

The Notes Left Behind on Grandfather’s Desk by Michelangelo Franchini

Best Small Fictions Nominees 2025

Boy Crazy by Brittany Ackerman

Stitch by Allison Field Bell

The Machine by Dana Jaye Cadman

this because dog is god spelled backwards by Erinola E. Daranijo (selected as a winner)

I’ve Been Getting Letters from Santa for Twenty Years and All I’ve Learned Is He’s an Asshole by Nicola Koh (selected as a winner)

Dadoo by Skyler Melnick

Mollusk by Didi Wood

Best of the Net Nominees 2025

Fiction

Boy Crazy by Brittany Ackerman

Mollusk by Didi Wood

Poetry

Loneliness Is Retraining as a Life Coach by Jen Feroze

The National Park Service Warns Us Not to Lick the Psychedelic Toad by Carla Sofia Ferreira

Body Horror by Court Ludwick

Poem that Begins with Two Lines from a Power Bar Wrapper by Owen McLeod

A House on Two Legs by Kendra Marie Pintor

The Man with the Third Ear by Ann Weil

Pushcart Prize Nominees 2024

Fiction

Mrs. Frankenstein by Gwen E. Kirby

City People by Benjamin Warner

Near the End of Their Lives, Barbie and Ken Question Their Existence by Jo Withers

Poetry

Amazon Reveals Feature That Teaches Alexa to Sound Like Your Dead Loved Ones by Todd Dillard

The National Park Service Warns Us Not to Lick the Psychedelic Toad by Carla Sofia Ferreira

Taxidermy by Sarah Fawn Montgomery

Wigleaf Top 50 Very Short Fictions 2024

Five Micro Stage Plays by Benjamin Niespodziany (longlisted)

Skeletons in the Closet by Rina Olsen (longlisted)

Last Day Cupcakes by Jeffrey Yamaguchi (longlisted)

Best New Poets Nominees 2024

Taxidermy by Sarah Fawn Montgomery

Shark Body by Josephine Wu

Best Small Fictions Nominees 2024

Like Real Women Do by Avitus B. Carle (selected as a winner)

Daddy Issues by Aileen O’Dowd

Adversity is the Parent of Virtue (in Bed) by Stephen Cicirelli

The Werewolves of Camp Emerald Lake by L. Soviero

Last Day Cupcakes by Jeffrey Yamaguchi (selected as a winner)

Best Microfiction Nominees 2024

Screenland by Jacques Debrot

Lake Day & Emerald Ocelot by Joe Gallagher

Four Stories by Tiffany Hsieh

José Martí in 2023 by Chip Livingston

Swallowing Teeth by Zhu Yue, Translated by Jianan Qian and Alyssa Asquith, Illustrated by Jianan Qian

Best of the Net Nominees 2024

Fiction

It’s Me, a Selfie by Lindsey Peters Berg

Sparkle Time by Audrey Lee

Poetry

rabbit’s foot harvest by Robin Gow

All My Dentists Love My Teeth by Elia Karra

Comet as Paperboy by Samantha Blysse Haviland

Haibun for a Day in the Life of a Hikikomori by Jemma Leigh Roe

The Emmy Goes to the Seagull, Flying off with a Hot Wing… by Khadjiah Johnson

In Response to Question No. 3 by Susan Barry-Schulz

Pushcart Prize Nominees 2023

Fiction

There is Only One Object in the Museum of Darkness by Helen Harjak

Togetherland by Amy Stuber

The Stress on Modern Women by Alyssa Asquith

Poetry

blue jeans | blue beard by Danielle Roberts

Nephthys Again by Marcella Haddad

rabbit’s foot harvest by Robin Gow

Wigleaf Top 50 Very Short Fictions 2023

Ghouls by Gordon Brown (longlisted)

Superposition by Josh Denslow (longlisted)

The Deaths of the Great Lakes by Jeffrey Hermann (longlisted)

Nails by Julia Kenny (longlisted)

Offering by Laura S. Marshall (longlisted)

Brackish by Eshani Surya (longlisted)

Best New Poets Nominees 2023

Our Place by Yanita Georgieva

All My Dentists Love My Teeth by Elia Karra

Best Small Fictions Nominees 2023

Brackish by Eshani Surya

Superposition by Josh Denslow

1000 by Rob Roensch (selected as a winner)

Betty by Didi Wood

New Forever by Rebekah Morgan

Togetherland by Amy Stuber (selected as a winner)

Best Microfiction Nominees 2023

When Everyone is President by Maryann Aita

My Mother Visits Me in America and is Offended by What the Dishwasher Can Do by Tara Isabel Zambrano (selected as a winner)

Tongue Depressors by Emily Behnke

Transit by Julia Halprin Jackson

The Deaths of the Great Lakes by Jeffrey Hermann (selected as a winner)

Chickens by Harsimran Kaur

Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers Nominees 2023

Mr. Worldwide by Megan Robinson

Best of the Net Nominees 2023

Fiction

Soft Bundles by Meghan Louise Wagner

Everything Works Differently in Darkness by Kaj Tanaka

Poetry

Literary Realism by Ayokunle Falomo

Foodie, Or I Miss Every Hometown Cookout by KB

Ode to the Empanadas on Pacific & Elm, with Apologies to William Carlos Williams by Carla Sofia Ferreira

A Small, Private Sadness by Amorak Huey

Old Man in the Kitchen by Audrey Hall

WHAT CAN WE DO WITH A CAPTURED ASTEROID? by Dare Williams

Pushcart Prize Nominees 2022

Fiction

Fly Fishing with God by Andrew Bertaina

Silver Rings by Aimee Parkison

Choices by Anna Hundert

Poetry

Lilith with Snake, with Body by Kathryne David Gargano

Kuchisabishii by Kathleen Hellen

Arroz Con Leche by Sonia Alejandra Rodriguez

Wigleaf Top 50 Very Short Fictions 2022

A Universe Waiting to Be Born by Cathy Ulrich (selected)

Fly Fishing with God by Andrew Bertaina (longlisted)

The Painted Moth by Jennifer Fliss (longlisted)

A Closed Door with a Keyhole by L Mari Harris (longlisted)

Best New Poets Nominees 2022

Anatomy of a House Fire by Stella Lei

Arroz Con Leche by Sonia Alejandra Rodriguez

LAMBDA Award for Transgender Poetry 2022

Salamat sa Intersectionality by Dani Putney (finalist)

Best Small Fictions Nominees 2022

After 70 Years in the Ice, Steve Rogers Visits Whole Foods by Emily Capettini

No Running by Taylor Clarke

The Roadrunner by Brianne M. Kohl

This Isn’t Anything by Francine Witte (selected as a winner)

Casey Who Exorcises People by Eric Rasmussen

Best Microfiction Nominees 2022

Laughing with Anne Hathaway by Megan M. Garwood

Other Husbands by M.L. Krishnan

Bill Murray Terraforms Mars by Robbie Maakestad

Hearing Paired by Sara Nović

So Much an Outlaw I Belong on a Wanted Poster by Holly Pelesky

Where There’s Smoke by Leslie Walker Trahan (selected as a winner)

Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers Nominees 2022

Dorothy Grows a Beard by Joy Guo

Meat Bag by Hannah Gregory

Five Things I Admire About Tudi by Olivia Post

Best of the Net Nominees 2022

Fiction

The Reality Star Gets Her Start on a Dating Show by Kyra Kondis

Jumping the Shark by Jennifer Wortman

Poetry

Teratoma by Keshe Chow

Portrait of a Womb as Painted by Flies by Ashley Dailey

Meeting Octavio Paz on the Planet Jupiter by Jose Hernandez Diaz

The Goblin King’s Love Language by Rita Feinstein

my mouth is full of words i don’t know by Monica Kim

Anatomy of a House Fire by Stella Lei

Pushcart Prize Nominees 2021

Fiction

The Sad Song in Every Story by Mileva Anastasiadou

Emily, Don’t by Kelsey Ipsen

Oxygenation by Gabrielle Trúc Cohen

Poetry

When he asks me to try doggie style, I think by Madeleine Corley

Lately by Emry Trantham

one day when I become a museum by Juliana Chang

Balcones Prize for Poetry 2021

Ways We Vanish by Todd Dillard (finalist)

Wigleaf Top 50 Very Short Fictions 2021

The Prognosticators by Matthew Burnside (longlisted)

Alice in Voreland by Lauren Friedlander (longlisted)

text message to alexia from a cleveland clinic waiting room before an electromyogram by Matt Mitchell (longlisted)

There’s a Trick with a Knife by Megan Phillips (longlisted)

Best New Poets Nominees 2021

to eat the sleeping sky, whole by Ashley Cline

one day when I become a museum by Juliana Chang

Best Small Fictions Nominees 2021

10 Facts About a Winter Day, 2021 by Hallie Nowak

Opossum by Michael Czyzniejewski

I’ll Allow It Maybe Just This Once by Jeff Chon (selected as a winner)

American Movie by K-Ming Chang

Whale Watch by Gabrielle Griffis

Best Microfiction Nominees 2021

B is for Balls by Kara Vernor (selected as a winner)

Alice in Voreland by Lauren Friedlander (selected as a winner)

Stranger Disconnected by Darren Nuzzo (selected as a winner)

One Fist Holding by Dustin M. Hoffman

The Chorus in My Walls by Elisabeth Ingram Wallace (selected as a winner)

There’s a Trick with a Knife by Meghan Phillips (selected as a winner)

Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers Nominees 2021

Oxygenation by Gabrielle Trúc Cohen

10 Facts About a Winter Day, 2021 by Hallie Nowak

Best of the Net Nominees 2021

Fiction

Trees Like a Way Out by Jennifer Fliss

Ladybird, Ladybird by DeMisty Bellinger

Poetry

Strange Furniture by Lannie Stabile

Buzz Drunk by Tara Campbell

Lycopene in Scale by Matthew DeMarco

What Jupiter wrote to Ganymede after years of separation by Satya Dash

Elusive Shadows by Steve Castro and Daniel Romo

When His Surgeon Called and Asked If I Had Questions by Jacqueline Hughes Simon

Pushcart Prize Nominees 2020

Fiction

Dead? Yes, Dead by Amy Stuber

The Right Light by Janelle Bassett

You Don’t Have a Place Here by Anna Vangala Jones

Poetry

Country Song Erasures by Kit Armstrong

How to Love a Monster with Average-Sized Hands by Jules Archer

Things People Have Written in Letters to Ghosts by Chloe N. Clark

Wigleaf Top 50 Very Short Fictions 2020

The Giant by Joaquin Fernandez (selected)

Port Town/El Pueblo del Puerto by Édgar Omar Avilés (translated by Toshiya Kamei) (longlisted)

A Quick Word About My Life by Trent England (longlisted)

Breast Roulette in Utero by Jennifer Todhunter (longlisted)

Best New Poets Nominees 2020

Country Song Erasures by Kit Armstrong

Email to My Boyfriend When Rent Is Due by Micaela Walley

Best Small Fictions Nominees 2020

Ordering Fries at Happy Hour by Christopher Gonzalez

here is the whole history of us chapter one by Amanda Claire Buckley (selected as a winner)

Martin Moves In by Ellen Rhudy

The Angle of Depression by Patricia Q. Bidar

The Candy Children’s Mother by A.A. Balaskovits (selected as a winner)

Best Microfiction Nominees 2020

Signature by Nicholas Grider

A Quick Word About My Life by Trent England (selected as a winner)

Port Town/El Pueblo del Puerto by Édgar Omar Avilés (translated by Toshiya Kamei)

Squirrels in the Attic by Jenny Fried

The Unreliable Narrator Apologizes by Chris Haven

She’s Been Living in the Attic for Who Knows How Long by Steve Chang

Best of the Net Nominees 2020

Fiction

Hello There, Talk Show Host by Nicholas Grider

A Tremendous Head, Uneasy by Nell Ovitt

Poetry

Delayed Lightning by Benjamin Niespodziany

Our love will stretch to cover this in time by Jeni De La O

Desireé Panda and the Lee Van Cleefs by Tracy Lynne Oliver

A Wrinkle in Grief by Savannah Slone

Directions by Jeffrey Yamaguchi

Email to My Boyfriend When Rent Is Due by Micaela Walley

Pushcart Prize Nominees 2019

Fiction

Escalator by Dan Sanders

Teethings by Deena Lilygren

Outline by Darrin Doyle

Poetry

A Seal Skull Seems To Be a Wolf Skull by Erin Rice

Desireé Panda and the Lee Van Cleefs by Tracy Lynne Oliver

Prey by Christine Taylor

Best British & Irish Flash Fiction 2019-2020

We Feed Them to the Lions by Paul Thompson (selected as a winner)

Ladies of Horror Award for Best Collection 2019

Ghosts of You by Cathy Ulrich (finalist)

Wigleaf Top 50 Very Short Fictions 2019

No One Holds a Grudge Like a Crow by Marisa Crane (selected)

Bear by Shayne Terry (selected)

Ganymede by Chelsea Harris (longlisted)

Madlib by Kim Magowan (longlisted)

Big Bad by Mary Hamilton (longlisted)

Best Small Fictions Nominees 2019

Early Intervention by Colleen Rothman

No One Holds a Grudge Like a Crow by Marisa Crane

A Nearly Beautiful Thing by Cathy Ulrich

Madlib by Kim Magowan (selected as a winner)

Segmented Moments by Hannah Gordon

Best Microfiction Nominees 2019

The Flat by Michael Alessi

A Gun in the First Act by Scott Garson

Feeding Time by Tara Isabel Zambrano (selected as a winner)

Madlib by Kim Magowan

Plan Exclusion by J. Bradley

Big Bad by Mary Hamilton

Best of the Net Nominees 2019

Fiction

The Flat by Michael Alessi (selected as a finalist)

Ganymede by Chelsea Harris

Poetry

A Seal Skull Seems To Be a Wolf Skull by Erin Rice

The Lazarus Questionnaire by Ted Mico

Last Night in Antsville by Sharon Suzuki-Martinez (selected as a finalist)

Webster’s Dictionary defines “communist” as “one who speaks with ghosts” by Brian Dau

Best British & Irish Flash Fiction 2018-2019

Drink Like a Bird by Meg Pokrass (selected as a winner)

Clapping by Sarah Salway (selected as a winner)