Announcing the Winners, and Shortlist of The Letter Review Prize for Unpublished Books, Poetry, and Nonfiction (Sept – Oct 2023)

It has been our pleasure to read the wonderful submissions to this round of The Letter Review Prize. We are so encouraged by the astonishing quality of the entries, which makes choosing winners a joyful challenge. Witnessing the ever present desire in writers to express the deepest, most profound, most rewarding experiences via language is an enriching experience: It’s truly affirming. We thank each and every entrant for the privilege of trusting us as temporary custodians of their work. Our deepest congratulations are extended to all the Winners, and those Shortlisted below: The number of entries we receive is always high, and the competition intense.

Winning Entries

Short Fiction Winners

• G. S. Arnold – She’s All Right
• Elias J. Hurst – Pizza Friday
• Joseph Friesen – My Brave Little Boy

Unpublished Book Winners

• Molly Sturdevant – The Sleepers
• James Walker – Above Instinct
• Kai Surr – CY-LNK

Nonfiction Winners

• Agatha Zarzycki – J is for Jillian
• Ali Schofield- The Shepherd
• Connie Larson – Beyond Adversity

Poetry Winners

• Sophia Hyland-Wolzak – How to Make a Golden Toad
• Brent Schaeffer – Berceuse
• Daan Spijer – Keep Your Hands on the Reins

Shortlists

Short Fiction Shortlist

• Dani Mueller – Body Worker
• Saanvi Sahoo – Breastfed
• Odin Grano – A Day at Little Lake
• Claudia Delicato – The Plum Trees
• Martyna Londoño – Summer on thin ice
• Stacey Campbell – Fight
• Naomi Shibles – Family Rust
• Andrew Pershing – The Brightest Fell

Unpublished Book Shortlist

• Keith Carver – CALHOUN AFTER THE SPILL
• Nils Röper – Old Country
• Karla Linn Merrifield – Swept/ Away
• Ruth Maclean – Falling Prey
• Lisa DeAngelis – Slain July
• Michael Baldwin – Roll Back The Sun
• Robert J. Williams – Homelands
• Andrew Wilson – Niflheim – A Tørson Adventure
• Frannie James – The Sylvan Hotel, A Seattle Story
• Alexandra McIntosh – Miniature Histories
• Paul Harmon – Seven Treasures
• Adrienne Deeb – House of Stars

Nonfiction Shortlist

• Philip Barragán – The Last Cup of Tea
• Daniel Bartkowiak – Another Tuesday Night in November
• Sarah Song – Unwrapping the Truth of Chocolate and Coffee
• Minal Shaman – My BPD Perspective On BPD
• Karen Storey – A Blue Wall Runs Beneath the Ocean
• Stephanie E. Buck – Swatting at Bees
• Marsha Porter – The Mysterious World of Secret Shopping
• Julie Strilesky – In Her Shadows
• Peter Biegen – From San Francisco to Colorado Springs

Poetry Shortlist

• Elizabeth Hill – For Jackie – Riverwoods Retirement Community 2020
• Max Stern – Nothing
• Neal Mason – Upgrading Planes, 1943
• Tara Nield – “Safeguard”
• Melanie K Kitzan – Where I’m From
• Alec Morris – Requiem of One Hundred Hands
• Jason Overton – After the Poetry Event on River Road
• Leonardo Chung – a whispered tour
• Daniel Moreschi – A Nymph’s Ascent
• Mary Paulson – One Year After I Didn’t Get Married
• Kathryn Kimball – Shamhat on the Eve of Enkidu’s Initiation
• Nancy Burke – Summer Frost