Announcing the Winners, Shortlist, and Longlist of The Letter Review Prize for Short Fiction, Manuscripts, Poetry, and Nonfiction (July – August 2023)

It is our honor and privilege to announce the winning entries of The Letter Review Prize for Short Fiction, Manuscripts, Poetry, and Nonfiction. Our sincere congratulations go out the writers listed below. We hope you agree that these breathtaking works of literature have earned their positions as winning entries: We are tremendously proud to have the opportunity to publish them and bring them into the light of public attention. We publish work that we feel has enriched our lives in meaningful ways, and our aspiration is that our reading public share in these affirming experiences with us. Please enjoy, and remember you can assist The Letter Review’s literary mission by sharing these works with friends.

“The Letter Review has been an enormous source of inspiration for me long before I decided to enter the Short Story competition, and winning one such competition has been my long-standing aspiration. As an independent author trying to find a place in the vast literary universe, I am truly grateful for the opportunity this literary magazine offers writers from around the globe to be discovered and find themselves side by side with incredibly talented fellow authors.” – Marina Koulouri (Joint Winner of The Letter Review Prize for Short Fiction)

Enter the Letter Review Prize Here

Winning Entries

Short Fiction Winners

Manuscript Winners

Nonfiction Winners

Poetry Winners

Shortlists

Short Fiction Shortlist

  • Chuck Storla – I Chat, Therefore I Am
  • Peter Hankins – The Largest Cave
  • Henry Trickle – Creatio Ex Nihilo
  • Frederick Goya – New Year’s Eve
  • Dev Jannerson – Just Because You’re Paranoid
  • Sarah Slowik – Ain’t No Place For A Girl Like You

Manuscript Shortlist

  • Joshua J. N. Whitley – The Orichalcum Crown
  • Monique Wallace – That’s Not My Name
  • Sylvia Leatham – Hello, how can I help you today?
  • James Schannep – Social Vampire

Nonfiction Shortlist

  • Myra Virgil – The Real Canadian Superstore
  • Rebecca Lambert – The Snow that Surrounds and Isolates Us
  • Nicki Orser – Octopus
  • Tamara Wolff – Love Talk
  • Katherine Witt – Make Room

Poetry Shortlist

  • Aadhira Vellala – Hidden Perspectives
  • Daan Spijer – Cocky’s Despair
  • Cid Galicia – Like a Knife
  • Frances Owen – Postcards From Rome
  • Brezlynn Rose – Anorexic Misery
  • Stuti Sinha – Three Cities
  • Patrick McGann – Tellings
  • Maddy Bellucci – Dappled Island

Longlists

Short Fiction Longlist

  • A.K. Kulshreshth – A Sentimental Man
  • Elizabeth Hall – Bull Sale
  • Gerard Marconi – The Hurly Burly
  • Ruth Maclean – All That Remains
  • Owen Carney – Escape from Sector 17
  • Cory Belyea – Corazón Campesino
  • Chloe Mouchacca – Plug-In
  • Brian Kelly – Just This Once?
  • Ruth Maclean – Roman Villa
  • Carys Randeria – Holes
  • Lesley Norfolk – A Brief Affair

Manuscript Longlist

  • Sarah Berke – Road to Redemption
  • Leslie Tall Manning – Feral Maril and Her Little Brother Carol
  • Dr. Maxine Meju – I Can’t Sleep: A Memoir
  • Noreen Kilbride – Laney
  • Mike Snow – Uncivil
  • Lisa Kingstone – The Light of Fog
  • Tanya Bellehumeur-Allatt – Terrorist Narratives
  • Radu Paun – Of Iron
  • Vicky Oliver – Love and Suffrage in Manhattan

Nonfiction Longlist

  • Marcella Hourihane – Thirsty
  • Brian H Havel – A Promise to Keep
  • Samantha Kim – Define Moving
  • Fiona Deverell – Nebraska Was Easy
  • Micah M Rodrigues – Dead Soldiers 
  • Casey Williams – Embracing Autumn 
  • McKenzie Watson-Fore – That We Might Be Saved
  • John Siko – Operation Greenhouse

Poetry Longlist

  • Stephanie Bollag – Rebirth
  • Jess Patrick – Old Flames
  • Damen O’Brien – Directions
  • Katherine Van Eddy – Ars Poetica
  • Bill Quist – To Write a Poem About Your Father Dying
  • Adam Karaoguz – Four Second Delay
  • Suzanna C. de Baca – Go On Ahead
  • Caroline Elkington – So Dreadfully Awkward
  • Theresa Garee – Fostered Flame
  • Nimrada Silva – Saṃsāra