Gentle-hearts and good-looking readers,
Many of you may be familiar with the “Pushcart Prize” distributed by Norton every year;  if you are not, it is a small-press anthology that gave rise to writers like Tim O’Brien and Susan Minot. Every year, hundreds of small presses nominate their best work for a chance to get in the anthology.

It was no easy task for myself and Fiction Editor Leanne Gregg, and Managing Editor Scott Waldyn to choose the nominations for our inaugural year. There were so many great submissions to our magazine–Literary Orphans would not be as successful as it is today, if it wasn’t for all of these killer stories and poems. We have clocked in well over half a million hits since our inception! All this is due to our great great writers. There were few moments in my life that I felt more accomplished, more worthy of my place on this planet than when I carried that manila envelope with six great stories by six great authors to the U.S. Post Office.

Regrettably, our spectacular ISSUE 04: Eleanor was released too close to the deadline for us to consider these pieces with full consideration. But rest assured–we will take special care in nominating these works for other contests.

I know some of you are aware that the deadline was “postmark before” December 1st–rest assured, despite this late date, I mailed them in before the deadline and have confirmation.

Without further adieu, here are our nominations!

—Joe Clifford – Stuck Between Stations (published in Babe, 5-27-2012)
-for capturing personal anachronism and lost chances with bold plot.

—Meg Tuite – Snoopy Time (published in Billie, 7-29-2012)
-for an uncanny ability to capture adolescent nihilism in vivid narration 

—Happy New Year – Robin Bullard (published in Billie, 7-29-2012)
-for a flawless execution of voice, tone, and imagery to portray a deeper look into a character’s incongruent stream-of-consciousness.  

—Liberty, Ohio – Christopher Lettera (published in Edgar, 9-30-2012)
-for unique and experimental plot progression that poignantly illustrates the character of a rust-belt city. 

—A Timeless Man – Ben Spencer (published in Edgar, 9-30-2012)
-for unique narration that is somehow both removed and yet reveals the complex emotions of the protagonist in devastating sharpness 

—Dent – Claire Podulka (published in Edgar, 9-30-2012)
-for touching on raw, conflicting emotions through minimalist writing that puts the reader directly in the protagonist’s place. 

 
Godspeed nominated authors!
Mike Joyce
Editor-in-Chief Nike sneakers | Nike Off-White