2026 Long-list

Categories were Prose Poetry, Poetry, and Non-fiction/Essay/Memoir. Each piece was graded on quality/caliber, emotion, style/imagery, capture attention/surprise, and uniqueness/memorability. This long-list contains works that scored at least 84% by judges. Authors are not named, as the judges are still working through the submissions. This list is updated as the scores come in.

Prose Poetry (updated 09/14/2026)

• 2:35 pm
• Angel in the War Zone
• The Autumn Hike
• Between the Bands of Jupiter
• The Cicadagirl Recounts Her Ribs
• Crimson Marinade
• Drowning
• Easier Said?
• Email I Save in My Drafts to Send Out
• Entertainment Orientation
• Every Shade of Forever
• Fausted
• Fogfather
• Go
• Hollow Knife
• In the Limbo of Maybe
• Inheritance of Weather
• The Jackal of My Calling
• The Living Walls
• The Monologue of Clair de Lune
• Silent Thunderstorms
• Sometimes on Shower Day
• Stonecoal Creek
• Throwing Away the Sourdough Starter
• Turns
• Vibramax for the Doldrums
• Voyage of the Bascart
• What Survives an Obituary
• The Window Tree
• Yearning for Peace

Poetry (incomplete list, updated 09/14/2026)

• Afghan Heart
• Alchemy
• The Angel Standing in the Sun
• The Architecture of Becoming
• Arctic Hare’s Lesson
• The Ballast of Dragons
• Beauty, Grace, Desperation
• Behind the Bushes at Spring Hill Camp
• Beyond the Glass
• Biography of a Goldfish

Non-fiction (currently not enough scores, 09/14/2026)