Announcing Winners, Runners-Up, and Finalists
of the
2026 Prime Number Magazine Awards
for Poetry & Short Fiction!

Meet Our Judges

POETRY

Justin Hunt has been named our First Prize winner for his poem “The Odds Are Against You and Me.” Justin will receive $1,000 and his poem will appear in Issue 293 of Prime Number Magazine, Sept-Dec 2026.

Judge Terri Kirby Erickson had this to say: In the winning poem, “The Odds Are Against You and Me,” I was immediately drawn in by the title. Once I started reading the poem, itself, beginning with (a dream) of a train pulling into a station and a couple walking “into the railyard, into night,” I was struck by this metaphorical image of what is already suggestive of grief’s harrowing journey. I was more and more moved as I continued to read lines like, “my words/flutter off, little swallows flitting/ to the station’s rafters, their hidden nests of mud.” The poem progresses from an imagined train station to the couple’s bedroom, one parent sleeping and one still awake, thinking, “It’s true, isn’t it?” which leads us to the true heart of this poignant poem. As wonderful as other poems were, this one moved me the most and its deeply affecting images remain with me, even now, as all the finest, most beautifully rendered poems do. Bravo.

Justin Hunt grew up in rural Kansas. His poetry has won numerous awards and appears in such publications as Five Points, Barrow Street, Southern Poetry Review, North American Review, Four Way Review, New Ohio Review, Aesthetica and Terrain.org. His full-length collection, Requiem in Wide-Open Minor, is forthcoming from CavanKerry Press.

As our First Prize winner, Justin will receive publication of his winning poem in Issue 293 of Prime Number Magazine on September 1, 2026, at which time he will receive his $1,000 cash prize. Congratulations, Justin!

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Runners-Up ($250 and publication in Issue 293):

“He Tells Me to ||: Write about the Brain Injury that Took Away the Words to :||” by Yiskah Rosenfeld

“Cha Sin Bao” by J. Ellis

Finalists:

“Tacenda” by Shawn Buxton

“The Untouchings” by Katie Dorfman

“Fields, Late March” by Shawn Fawson

“A Hibiscus Blooms” by Aruna Gurumurthy

“Patients I Cannot Forget: CH” by Virginia LeBaron

“She Wants to Buy a Boat” by Jeff Nesheim

“Moving Again” by Sarah Sousa

We received 275 poems from poets in 38 U.S. states and six countries. Press 53 and Prime Number Magazine thank everyone for supporting our efforts to find and share remarkable voices with readers around the world!

SHORT FICTION

Alice Hatcher has been named First Prize winner of the 2026 Prime Number Magazine Award for Short Fiction for her story “A Wreck of a Place.” Alice will receive $1,000 and her story will appear in Issue 293 of Prime Number Magazine, Sept-Dec 2026.

Judge Jodi Paloni had this to say: As the judge, I had the privilege to read so many great stories, but “A Wreck of a Place” checked all of my boxes. Quiet tension appears in the opening paragraph, builds, and never lets up. The writer skillfully manages power dynamics in a domestic relationship within the frame of “greater” world issues―wealth disparity, big weather, privilege―against the backdrop of a beautifully rendered place. The protagonist is tuned into it all. 

Alice Hatcher is the author of The Wonder That Was Ours (Dzanc Books, 2018), which appeared on the long list for the Center for Fiction’s 2018 First Novel Prize, and a recipient of Reed Magazine’s Steinbeck Award for Fiction. Her stories and essays have appeared in numerous journals, including Alaska Quarterly Review, Pleiades, Fourth Genre, and The Bellevue Literary Review. A former academic historian, Hatcher now teaches fiction workshops at the Tucson branch of The Writers Studio.

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Runners-Up ($250 and publication in Issue 293):

“The Laundry of Missing Things” by Hridoy Kundu

“Private Duties” by Madeleine Mysko

Finalists:

“The Wrong Grave” by Melissa Drisdelle

“The Wild Ones” by Jaime Gill

“Undead Police Townie Officer” by Baird Harper

“The Space-Time Riddle” by A.K. McCutcheon

“Break In” by Chris Prendergast

We received 299 stories from writers in 38 U.S. states and ten countries. Press 53 and Prime Number Magazine thank everyone for supporting our efforts to find and share remarkable voices with readers around the world!

The 2027 Prime Number Magazine Awards
for Poetry and Short Fiction
will open January 1, 2027

Enter beginning January 1 via Submittable

Before entering, please read the following guidelines carefully

Entry period: January 1 to March 31, 2027 (midnight EASTERN time)

Judge for Poetry: TBD

Judge for Short Fiction: TBD

First Prize in Each Category: $1,000 and publication in Prime Number Magazine, Issue 313, Sept-Dec 2027 (a Press 53 online publication)

Two Runners-Up in each category receive $250 plus publication

Announcement: Winners, runners-up, and finalists will be announced no later than July 1, 2027 (probably sooner)

Reading Fee: $15

How to Enter the Prime Number Magazine Awards

Entries are only accepted online via Submittable

Poetry: Submit one (and only one) unpublished poem, no more than three pages in length in standard 12-pt. type. (Times, Garamond, etc). Make sure your name does not appear on the page with your poem.

Short Fiction: Submit one (and only one) unpublished short story of up to 5,300 words, with title and word count, double spaced with numbered pages in standard 12-pt. type. (Times, Garamond, etc). Make sure your name does not appear on the manuscript.

Multiple entries: Multiple entries are accepted, but you must enter each poem and/or story individually and pay the reading fee for each entry.

Simultaneous submissions: Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please withdraw your entry via Submittable if it is accepted elsewhere. You may not replace the withdrawn poem or story with another poem or story. Reading fee is not refundable.

Editing entry: If you discover an error before the deadline and wish to replace your entry with a newly edited version, request "Open Editing" via Submittable. Requests made after the deadline will not be honored.

Judging: All entries are read blind. Judge is asked to disqualify any entry that is recognized, so please use your best judgment.

Eligibility: Contest is open to writers anywhere in the world, 18 years of age and older, who write in English.

Note: Press 53 and Prime Number Magazine editors and family members are not eligible. Authors who have published a book-length collection with Press 53 are not eligible. Writers whose work appears in anthologies published by Press 53 or have previously published in Prime Number Magazine are eligible.

Disclaimer: Prime Number Magazine reserves the right to extend the deadline if deemed necessary. Only unpublished works are eligible. Reading fees are non-refundable. Entries with author's name appearing anywhere on the manuscript will not be considered. No refunds will be made. Entries withdrawn from the contest will not receive a refund. All entries must be original to the author.

Questions/Comments should be directed to Kevin Morgan Watson, Publisher & Editor in Chief of Press 53 and Prime Number Magazine.