Second place winner for The Jennie Hackman Memorial Award for Short Fiction (2022) The thing about living long enough to see the aftermath (living longer than she ever thought she would), is that Josie doesn’t quite know what to do with herself anymore. There was always something before. Something to be done, something to run… More “Haunted Ghosts” by Katya Lyashenko
CW: Death, Domestic abuse This is what is most important: the ache in scraped knees. The crawdads scuttling among river rocks. The groan of pipes in your cracked kitchen sink. Night stealing hours. Ponds like meters-wide tide pools. Mud stealing hours. The leak in your bedroom ceiling, the water damage creeping outward around it. Threat… More “Moon-Stain and Crawdad Eater” by Charlie M. Case
CW: Illness, Death It came to me on the sixth night of my sickness, when the suffering had ceased to be new. I had been lulled into those familiar throes which, now that I was accustomed to them, deceived me into thinking that they were kinder. In came something—and I was so ill I thought… More “Knell Inevitable” by Charlie M. Case
Contest winner for The Long River Review Graduate Award (2022) “What would you like to know about yourself?” This was what my neighbor asked me when I took my seat. He was wearing a black suit and had a thick laptop resting on his thighs. I asked him what he meant. But he wasn’t talking… More “The Ostrava Line” by Liam Kelsey
The Jennie Hackman Memorial Prize for Fiction, Second Place (2017) The girl I was seeing had this dog, a real fluffy fucker, whose name was Angus. It was her boyfriend’s dog. She was taking care of Angus because his owner was studying abroad in New Zealand for the semester. I was, finally, over my ex.… More Angus By Sten Spinella (2017)
Collins Literary Prize Winner, Prose (2015) Nia was still sleeping when I woke up. She was snoring loudly as I crawled my way down the rickety ladder that supported my lofted bed. I walked past her bed, her open mouth smushed ungracefully against her pillow, and made my way into the kitchen. I turned on… More Cold Water By Catherine Hires (An Excerpt) (2015)
Jennie Hackman Memorial Award for Short Fiction, Third Place (2015) Another shot. Tequila dried onto his knuckles, his fingernails. When he makes a fist, the skin between his fingers sticks together, like his hand’s one ball of flesh and bone. It tastes like an extra-bitter version of Vicks nose spray is dripping down the back… More A Tie By Joshua Couvares (2015)
Jennie Hackman Memorial Award for Short Fiction, Second Place (2015) Her bedroom lights haven’t been off for twenty-four years. Oh, it is silly, isn’t it — to be scared of the dark? Yet here she is, shivering in her nightgown, far too tired to go to sleep. She likes to think she is a reasonable… More Lights in the Night By Stephanie Mei Koo (2015)
Jennie Hackman Memorial Award for Short Fiction Winner, 2015 The woman tells her it will all be alright. She smiles when she says it, so the infant believes her, because the woman doesn’t smile often. The lines that the sudden curvature of her mouth create are strange, alien to the small blue eyes. The woman… More Floating By Loriann Dozier (2015)
Jennie Hackman Memorial Award for Short Fiction, Winner (2014) Sid sits on the overhang outside his bedroom window, watching cars. It’s one of those deadbeat summer days, mid-July and steaming. This week the number one song on the radio talks about driving with the windows rolled down, but Sid has yet to see a car… More Dinosaur Junior By Julie Bartoli (2014)