A Press 53 two-time Pushcart Prize-winning online publication
Issue 283
May-August 2026
A note from our publisher, Kevin Morgan Watson, Press 53
Welcome to Issue 283 of Prime Number Magazine, where we celebrate distinctive writing in poetry, short fiction, and now flash nonfiction. Each of our issues are numbered in prime numbers, “an integer other than 0 or ± 1 that is not divisible without remainder by any other integers except ± 1 and ± the integer itself ” (Merriam-Webster's Dictionary). Our first offering on July 17, 2010, was Issue 2, the number 2 being the first prime number and the only even prime number. We chose July 17 because 7 (July) is a prime number as is 17. We could have waited until 2011 (also a prime number), but co-founder Clifford Garstang and I worked for months designing and organizing this online journal and were anxious and giddy about getting this party started. And what a party it has been. Last year, Prime Number Magazine was awarded its second Pushcart Prize for “One Writer Against Oblivion” by Mark Brazaitis; our first Pushcart Prize was courtesy of “Brace Yourself” by Leslie Jill Patterson in 2017. Thank you Leslie and Mark!
In this issue you will find the winners of our free, monthly 53-Word Story Contest for January, February, March, and April; flash nonfiction selected by editor Shuly Xóchitl Cawood; poetry selected by guest editor Adrian Rice; and short stories by guest editor Nahal Suzanne Jamir.
But first, this important message. . .
The 2027 Press 53 Award for Poetry Is Now Open for Entries
We’re looking for an outstanding, unpublished poetry manuscript (judged by Press 53 poetry series editor Tom Lombardo)
First Prize: Publication, $1,000 and 53 copies
Deadline: July 31, 2026
Winner and finalists announced no later than November 1
Winners of our FREE, monthly
53-Word Story Contest
Join our email list to get your prompt on the first day of each month.
Write a 53-word story about (prompt)
Send your story by the fifteenth (15th) day of the month to 53wordstory@gmail.com
Flash Nonfiction selected by Shuly Xóchitl Cawood
Flash nonfiction editor Shuly Xóchitl Cawood is the author of several books, including the poetry collection Trouble Can Be So Beautiful at the Beginning, winner of the Adrienne Bond Award for Poetry, the poetry collection, Something So Good It Can Never Be Enough (Press 53), the flash essay collection What the Fortune Teller Would Have Said, winner of the Iron Horse Literary Review Prose Chapbook Contest, and A Small Thing to Want: Stories (Press 53). Submissions for flash essays are now open until we reach 79 submissions.
Editors' Selections in Poetry & Short Fiction
Each issue, we ask our guest editors to select their favorite poems or stories from those submitted during our open submission period. Submissions are free and only accepted through Submittable. Here are the guest editors and their selections for Issue 283, May-August 2026.
GUEST EDITOR FOR POETRY
Adrian Rice
Adrian Rice is from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He graduated from the University of Ulster with a BA in English & Politics, and an MPhil in Anglo-Irish Literature, and holds an EdD from Appalachian State University. He is the author of numerous poetry collections, including The Strange Estate: New & Selected Poems 1986-2017, and most recently The Chances of Harm (both from Press 53). Adrian now lives with his wife and youngest son in Hickory, North Carolina. He is a Senior Lecturer in University College at App State, Boone.
GUEST EDITOR FOR SHORT FICTION
Nahal Suzanne Jamir
Nahal Suzanne Jamir’s writing has been recently published or is forthcoming in journals like Agni Online, Bennington Review, Ploughshares, and StoryQuarterly. Her writing has been nominated five times for Pushcart Prizes, among other awards. She is the author of the story collection In the Middle of Many Mountains (Press 53). Jamir currently lives and teaches creative writing in Florida.
Meet Our Guest Editors for Issue 293, Sept-Dec 2026
Submit a story, poem, or flash essay now via Submittable
Poetry and Short Fiction are limited to 199 total submissions in each category, while Flash Nonfiction closes at 101.
Submit early!
SHORT FICTION
POETRY
Vaughn M. Watson is a Pushcart Prize-nominated writer based in New York City. His poetry, fiction, and nonfiction have been published in literary journals as varied as Tahoma Literary Review, About Place, and The Common. His debut poetry collection, going out & being normal, was named Runner-Up for the 2025 Press 53 Award for Poetry.
Read a sample of Vaughn’s poem from going out & being normal
Clifford Garstang is the co-founder and former managing editor of Prime Number Magazine. He is the author of the Press 53 story collections House of the Ancients and Other Stories; In an Uncharted Country; and What the Zhang Boys Know: A Novel in Stories, winner of the Library of Virginia Award for Fiction. He is also the editor of the three-volume anthology series from Press 53, Everywhere Stories: Short Fiction from a Small Planet, and the author of the novels, The Shaman of Turtle Valley (Braddock Avenue Books) and Oliver’s Travels (Regal House).
prime number
: any integer other than 0 or ± 1 that is not divisible without remainder by any other integers except ± 1 and ± the integer itself (Merriam-Webster's Dictionary)
In literature: poetry and prose that is distinctive and unique (Prime Number Magazine)
Prime Number Magazine is a Press 53 online publication, founded by Clifford Garstang and Kevin Morgan Watson on July 17, 2010, beginning with Issue 2, and continuing with all issues in prime numbers