“POP!” Literary Prize Nominations

At Exposition Review, our mission is to continue to create opportunities for our ever-growing community of talented writers and artists to share their voices and grow their platforms. This is why every year we submit some of our strongest published work for a variety of prestigious literary awards and anthologies. We are proud to present our nominees from our “POP!” issue for the following awards:

Pushcart Prize

The Pushcart Prize is one of the most honored awards in the literary world, with the winning pieces published in an annual anthology. We are excited to present this group of writers from our “”POP!” issue for inclusion in Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses collection:

Fiction: Mother Love by Tinna Flores
Fiction: Four Husbands by G.G. Silverman
Nonfiction: Windows Open by Sam Brighton
Poetry: Al-Nasser Street by Clare Bayard
Poetry: The Full Report by Georgia San Li
Poetry: Random Moons by Mark Leidner

Best of the Net

Best of the Net from Sundress Publications is an annual anthology that celebrates online publications and works originally published online. When selecting our nominees, we think of our favorite pieces that recognize and embrace the opportunities of digital media, experimenting with form, genre, and content. From “POP!,” we nominated these pieces:

Fiction: One Hundred and Twenty-Four Details on the Curious and Likely Inevitable Transformation of Martín Ojeda by Tomás Baiza
Fiction: Space Planning Proposal for My Brain by Jessica Baldanzi
Nonfiction: Windows Open by Sam Brighton
Nonfiction: Beetle Bombshell by Jari Thymian
Poetry: Al-Nasser Street by Clare Bayard
Poetry: My Work Here Is Done by Lucy Biederman
Poetry: Things I did to live by Joseph Byrd
Poetry: July at the End of the World by Kait Quinn
Poetry: The Full Report by Georgia San Li
Poetry: pop, pop, pop by Rhiann Sheffie
Art/Comics: recuerdo de días lluviosos by Basga
Art/Comics: Razing History by Mary Senter
Art/Comics: Granny got a little souvenir by Dave Sims

Best Small Fictions

Best Small Fictions is the first-ever contemporary anthology dedicated solely to anthologizing the best internationally published short hybrid fiction in a given calendar year. The collection features the best microfiction, flash fiction, haibun stories, and prose poetry from around the world. Here are our 2024 nominees from our “POP!” issue and Flash 405 contests:

Tell the Bees by Varsha Venkatesh
All Those Years Ago by Dana Jean Rider
Things I did to live by Joseph Byrd
A Curtain Child by Alina Kuvaldina
All the Way Home by Sarah Freligh

Best Microfiction

The Best Microfiction anthology series recognizes outstanding literary stories of 400 words or fewer. We nominated this piece from our Flash 405: August 2024 “Otherworldly” contest:

we are all part of the same estuary by Morgan Ridgway

Nina Riggs Poetry Award

Each year, Cave Wall Press awards at least one poet for the finest writing that examines relationships, family, or domestic life in order to honor poet Nina Riggs, author of The Bright Hour and Lucky Lucky. Our 2024 poetry nominees for The Nina Riggs Poetry Award are:

My Work Here Is Done by Lucy Biederman
Things I did to live by Joseph Byrd
July at the End of the World by Kait Quinn
The Full Report by Georgia San Li

The O. Henry Prize

The O. Henry Prize is the oldest major prize for short fiction in America and seeks to provide a prominent platform for short story writers from all around the world and at all points in their careers. The winners’ stories are collected and published annually by Anchor Books. Expo shared the fiction and experimental sections from our “POP!” issue for consideration:

The Best American series

The Best American series is a premier annual showcase for the country’s finest short fiction and nonfiction. Expo was honored to share the following pieces for consideration in the anthologies this year:

Short Stories

One Hundred and Twenty-Four Details on the Curious and Likely Inevitable Transformation of Martín Ojeda by Tomás Baiza
Space Planning Proposal for My Brain by Jessica Baldanzi
Mother Love by Tinna Flores
Four Husbands by G.G. Silverman

Essay

Windows Open by Sam Brighton

Congratulations to our nominees! For our readers, we hope you will take a few extra moments to dive or reimmerse yourself into these wonderful works.