Contests and Awards

I’m blown away to have received five 2024 Best of the Net Nominations from five literary journals this year. I haven’t published much written work, so I was extra pleased that MoonPark Review, a gem of a journal, nominated my “The Short Lives of Wombats” piece for the prose poems category. And Petrichor nominated an ekphrastic piece about a Joan Mitchell painting. As an artist, this made me especially happy. While ekphrastic writing is popular among poets (and published a lot), mine have always been hard to place. Maybe because they tend to be a bit raunchy. Whatever… This made me happy.

I haven’t previously received any nominations for art, so the following BoTN nominations were also extra special. Anti-Heroin Chic, a journal that has treated me very well over the last few years, nominated a photograph. And Gone Lawn, a journal that also blessed me with repeat publications and previous nominations, nominated my cover from Issue 46 for art. And finally, Sage Cigarettes Magazine, whose staff have been so good to me, nominated my asemic piece, “Love Letter to Queers Who Suicided” for art—and having this come out during Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month makes it extra special. Of course, making it to the finals or getting selected is a super-long shot, but being nominated is a huge honor, and I’m so grateful to the editors for selecting my work.

Following are some screenshots of some of the nominees. I’m wishing you all the best of luck and a huge congratulations. And while I trust the editors’ expertise, I realize there was a huge element of luck in this, and there are lots of deserving published work out there that didn’t receive nominations, and even more who haven’t made their way into zines yet.

Thank you Amy Barnes, Owen Wyke, Seth Copeland, Caleb Jordan, Sadee Bee, L.E. Francis, Stef Nunez, Mary Lynn Reed, Leslie Weston, James Diaz, Roy Duffield, and the staff of these journals for all their dedication to literature.

And lastly, if you are an editor, please know that you can submit art including covers, visual poems, visual erasures, and asemic art to Best of the Net. I felt bad seeing again this year many journals who solicit art not submitting art (when they submitted for other categories). Artists are important contributors to indie lit.

Here are some links to my BoTN nominations followed by screenshots of some of the nomination promos:

Love Letter to Those Who Suicided | Sage Cigarettes

Untitled Photograph (second image) | Anti-Heroin Chic

The Short Lives of Wombats | MoonPark Review

The Hudson Looks Different | Petrichor Magazine

Issue Cover | Gone Lawn

Also, I’m due to write another publication update. I wrote one in April, but this will probably be in December, as I’m beat. To see my latest pubs, however, check out my What’s New page.