Joint Winner of The Letter Review Prize for Poetry The house in its placecould never replace it. A three-car garagewhere the bar used to be. “I wonder what would happenif I knocked on the door and told the cast insideit was happy hour? Might they invite me infor a cameo? A curtain call cocktailon the … Read more
Joint Winner of the Letter Review Prize for Poetry i. In the field, light cuts across my palms and draws nothing but a new shadow. A gift mistaken for darkness. ii. In a poem you can be anything but a better son. iii. Half a country away, I carry your name – a hummingbird sleeping between my palms. iv. You never taught me how to suffer, mother. Which … Read more
Joint Winner of the Letter Review Prize for Flash Fiction Kenneth would not look back into the room, only out of the window at his dying garden. She had come a long way. Two buses, a train, another bus. His three sons, all grown, had been trying to encourage him to turn his head ever … Read more
Joint Winner of The Letter Review Prize for Flash Fiction Zeke slid the rusted step-side under the cypress moss and wiggled the shifter into neutral. He circled his window down first and reached over Jeannie Mae to crank hers. Which was a hassle given the knob was broken off and persuasion was needed to hold … Read more
Joint Winner of The Letter Review Prize for Flash Fiction One month into the pandemic, I bought a telescope. It was my wife who suggested it. In the first few weeks she’d started running, practicing yoga, and joined a book club. None of those appealed to me, but I’d always liked space. I spent a … Read more
POVerty Line Third Place in the Letter Review Prize for Poetry New Poetry by Deja Jones 14th April, 2023 It haunts me like a perpetual poltergeist From my childhood home to every bedroom and kitchen table. Stalks me like a masked killer creeping But its sinister shape looks nothing … Read more
The Dangle Unreleased New Poetry by Michael Dufresne Second Place in the Letter Review Prize for Poetry 14th April, 2023 安時而處順，哀樂不能入也。此古之所謂縣解也，而不能自解者，物有結之。 If you settle with the times and dwell in the course, neither grief nor joy will be able to enter. This is what the ancients called the dangle and release, and those who are … Read more
Data Breach First Place in the Letter Review Prize for Poetry New Poetry by Darrelle Spenceley 14th, April You ask for proof of my identity demand a driver’s license or passport – not more than 3 years expired I reach into my bag pull out a pair of vintage … Read more
Everest Second Place in the Letter Review Prize for Flash Fiction New Fiction by Andrew Nest 14th April, 2023 Editor’s note: this story references alcohol. The day of the office Christmas party – that major day of the year when camaraderie with colleagues and alcohol come together in climax. Not anymore, I tell myself. The … Read more
Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow Third Place in the Letter Review Prize for Flash Fiction New Fiction by Mahara Heslop 14th April, 2023 It would become known as the Day of the Uprising. No one knew why, or indeed, how it happened, but it changed the world forever. On April first, 2032, the wigs came alive. … Read more