Letter Review

Donor Family – New Novel Extract by Charmian Leaver

‘Why did you think we brought your daddy?’ Turquoise asks. Drusilla slams into Emily’s side again. The air stills, just as it did before. ‘Sweetheart,’ Minerva says eventually, ‘do you mean your donor?’ Winner of The Letter Review Prize for Books Donor Family ‘Once upon a time,’ Emily says, ‘there was a lady who wanted … Read more

Tailbone – New Poetry by Kate Thuma

Winner of The Letter Review Prize for Poetry Tailbone There are ancient and almost-lost andnext-to-unknowable secretsthat echo at a divine frequency native only to a tailbone. Somewhere,tailbone-you is reaching out beyond its own body-world looking for that lost counterweightfor tree-walking and soundless flying leaps,for its mystical abilityto find the thinnest places in time,where other lonely-only … Read more

Liable To Be – New Short Fiction by Jonathan Daniel Gardner

“How come Papaw is so quiet?” Mama looked at me. “He’s like you,” she said. “Shy sometimes. But mischievous. You get those blue eyes of yours from him.” “I’m not mischievous.” Winner of The Letter Review Prize for Short Fiction Liable To Be I went to the front yard and yelled their names as loud as … Read more

The Letter Review Prize Winners January – April 2026

The breadth and depth of writing talent that we see in the world never ceases to amaze us, and we remain perpetually delighted that we have the honor of judging the wonderful entries we receive from around the globe. That we may be able to play some part in bringing these entries to the public … Read more

Hunger – New Poetry by Jane Wu

Winner of The Letter Review Prize for Poetry Hunger It is not food I crave,But the ache of being filled.I want to eat light,To bite into morning,To chew the sound of rain as it slicks across the glass.I want to swallow laughter raw,To taste joy as if it were fruit; pulled flesh from the tree,Still … Read more

Mind Game – New Poetry by Terry S. Johnson

Winner of The Letter Review Prize for Poetry Mind Game A bald head curling into a torso?That’s what the scan looked like to me. But, it is not a fetus. It is cancer,a tumor, and a large one, clamberingover and through my left kidney. Not like ivy blanketing a rock outcrop, or tree shoots pushing … Read more

In Farthest Light – New Novel Extract by E.M. Levick

Winner of The Letter Review Prize for Books In Farthest Light PROLOGUE In the far eastern seas great storms hastened nightfall. Low black clouds were lit from within, soundless flashes of white fire in a great forge. Far below, endless waves crested and exploded in furious wind and rain. There were no seabirds, no leaping … Read more

How Foolish To Worry – New Short Fiction by George Smith

Winner of The Letter Review Prize for Short Fiction How Foolish To Worry I was flying to Louisville to see a man named Evan who had, in his youth, ridden an inner tube at full speed smack into the side of an anchored sailboat on Little Fitts Pond in Holden, Maine. By the time we … Read more