Catching up on posting the nominations from 2023 now that all the issues are available, here is the list and the links (if nominated to more than one, only one link is shown). This is very hard as I love all the work I publish! What makes it even harder is that more and more I am getting wonderful work that defies categories. Thank you to each and every contributor for that and for all the prose and poetry and art. And good luck to the nominees! Best Small Fictions (under 1000 words) The Magic at the Mountain by CLS Sandoval (11.2) Low Tide by Georgia Riordan (11.2) The Next Chapter by Rebecca Buller (11.1) Perhaps, After the Next Funeral… by Hibah Shabhez (11.1) Toast by Desiree Kannel (11.3) Best Microfiction (400 or fewer words) Deep Sea by Phoebe Shaw (11.4) Toast by Desiree Kannel (11.3) The Lost and Found by Peter Cherches (11.1) The Line by Marc Isaac Potter (11.4) Mostar Host by Michelle Matthees (11.3) Pushcart Prize (any length) Our Last Summer at Santa Cruz by Dee...

As usual, thank you to all the contributors to *82 Review . I always have a hard time deciding, but please know I love you all! Here are the nominations from Star 82 Review (and links to the works) for Best of the Net from 2022-2023, issues 10.3, 10.4, 11.1, and 11.2. Good luck! The faucet is leaking dear by Jessie Lian Goodbye by Ivars Balkits Prison Poetry Reading by Paul Hostovsky The Lost and Found by Peter Cherches Experiment 6.13.22 by Jessica Hsu The Sea Speaks by Royal Rhodes * Chrysalises by Amy Marques Meditations in the Center of a Maelstrom by Leslie Benigni * Live Wire by Mark Foss Our Last Summer in Santa Cruz by Deepti Nalavade Mahule * Baby Elephant by Kay Bradner Singe by Kristina Nobleman Spadefoot Spasm by Lauren Ari

And there are more to nominate: Sonder Press runs their contest for Best Small Fictions Anthology each year, asking editors to nominate five short works of fiction, micro fiction, prose poems, haibun, and the like, all under 1000 words. Here are the nominations from Star 82 Review for 2022. Good luck everyone! And happy new year and love to all. 10.1 Sailboat by Barbara Diehl The Real Deal by Chris Bullard 10.2 Bambooza by Jennifer Lai 10.3 Chrysalises by Amy Marques Wintering Sun by Jessie Lian

Here are the six nominations for the Pushcart Prize from Star 82 Review issues published in 2022. Good luck! There is always so much good work from which to choose. Contributors, nominated or not, I love you all. Keep writing! 10.1 Child in Need of Services by Amanda Skofstad 10.2 Bambooza by Jennifer Lai In My Desk by Shira Musicant 10.3 Chrysalises by Amy Marques 10.4 Eggshell by Kathryn Ganfield Cautious Your Asks by Ranney Campbell

It's that time of year again, when I have the difficult decision of nominating a handful of pieces from a wealth of good stuff. The best part is that I get to revisit all the work, rereading all the issues and delighting in the poems, stories, and artwork all over again. Here are the nominations for Best of the Net . Good luck to all! * My Command Alone by Diane Webster http://www.star82review.com/9.3/webster-command.html In a College Hill Bar by Andrej Bilovsky  http://www.star82review.com/9.3/bilovsky-bar.html Morning Snow by B. Dixon http://www.star82review.com/9.4/dixon-morning.html On Reading The Secret Garden by Martha Christina http://www.star82review.com/10.1/christina-reading.html Unclear on the Concept by Jeff Armbruster http://www.star82review.com/10.2/armbruster-unclear.html Pill Box by Veronica Ashenhurst http://www.star82review.com/10.2/ashenhurst-pill.html * Bambooza by Jennifer Lai http://www.star82review.com/10.2/lai-bambooza.html In My Desk by Shira Musicant...

It's that time of year again, when I have the difficult decision of nominating a handful of pieces from a wealth of good stuff. The best part is that I get to revisit all the work, rereading all the issues and delighting in the poems, stories, and artwork all over again. Here are the nominations for Best Spiritual Literature  to be published in 2023, formerly known as the Orison Anthology nominations. Good luck to all! Spring II. by Gloria Frym http://www.star82review.com/10.1/frym-spring2.html Aquatic Ape Theory by Lily Beaumont http://www.star82review.com/10.1/beaumont-ape.html Caught. Lifted. by Martha Christina http://www.star82review.com/10.2/christina-caught.html Fireworks on Mute by Jimmy Huff http://www.star82review.com/10.3/huff-fireworks.html Shiver by Linda McQuarrie-Bowerman http://www.star82review.com/10.3/mcquarrie-bowerman-shiver.html Kálo Neró (Good Water) by Ivars Balkits http://www.star82review.com/10.3/balkits-water.html

Here are the nominations from Star 82 Review for the Pushcart Prize 2021: Prose Territory by Victoria Lewis (9.2) Lodger by Frank X. Christmas (9.2) Outside Towner, North Dakota: Summer, 1958 by Charles D. Tarlton (9.3) Poetry Rain by M.C. Aster (9.1) Morning Snow by B. Dixon (9.4) *age *ist by Vanessa Couto Johnson (9.4) Good luck to the nominees!  And to all the contributors, thank you for your wonderful work and please know that I love you all.

These are the nominations from Star 82 Review for Best Small Fictions , 2021: Sticky Notes by dl mattila (9.2) Running a "Gauntlet" by Bill Vernon (9.1) Identity Theft by Jon Fain (9.1) Butterflies and Moths by Star Su (9.1) Milestones by Jacob Schrodt (9.1) Good luck to all the nominees! And to all the contributors: please know that I value and appreciate you and all your work.  

These are the nominations from Star 82 Review for Best Microfiction of 2021. It just happens they were all from the same issue, 9.1. Thank You for Your Service by Greg Farnum (9.1) Identity Theft by Jon Fain (9.1) Butterflies and Moths by Star Su (9.1) Painting Lessons by Daniel Hudon (9.1) Clickety-Clack by Yash Seyedbagheri (9.1) Good Luck to all the nominees! And to all contributors, please know that your work is appreciated and loved.

 I love all the work that I publish in Star 82 Review , so it is always difficult to nominate only a handful for various contests. Here are the nominations for 2020-2021 Best of the Net , covering eligible issues 8.3, 8.4, 9.1, and 9.2, and from Star 82 Press, to the fullest extent allowed. To all the contributors ever, listed or not: thank you for your continuing interest and support of *82 Review; you are appreciated and loved. Good luck to all the nominees! POETRY Sleep Study by Heikki Huotari Making Up by Trivarna Hariharan When Trapped by Christian Hanz Lozada The Boxer by Sandra Kacher Rain by M.C. Aster Nostalgia by Deonte Osayande STORIES The Kiss by Simon Howells Hidden Teeth by Rachel Prizant Kotok NONFICTION Super Human by Nam Hoang Tran Gypsy Taxi by Lindsey LeCroy ART The Pool by Cara Goldstein Saying Goodbye by Lia Mageira Still Life with Reflecting Globe by Geonni Banner

The Orison Anthology is an annual publication from Orison Books, seeking spirituality and the sublime beyond religion. Every year editors from other magazines may nominate poems or stories for possible inclusion. Here are the nominations from works published in 2020 in Star 82 Review . Accepted contributors receive a copy of the Orison Anthology. It's out of my hands, now. Good luck! Issue 8.1 (March) "red roses in winter" by M. Shayne Bell red roses Issue 8.3 (September) "The Boxer" by Sandra Kacher The Boxer "After the Fires" by James Gering After the Fires "These Wire Cages" by Micki Blenkush These Wire Cages "Side Oculus" by Rachel Prizant Kotok Side Oculus "Making Up" by Trivarna Hariharan Making Up

Here are the nominations for the ten pieces allowed by Sundress Publications' Best of the Net , selected from Star 82 Review issues 7.3, 7.4, 8.1, and 8.2. Contributors, chosen or not, I love you all.  Good luck everyone! Shared Struggles by Deonte Osayande Why We Sing by Oak Morse Oatmeal Cookies by Tracy Ann Johnson pi- stash -ee-oo, stah -shee-oh by Seth Grindstaff Not Quite Autumn by Martha Christina Plastic Loss by Yash Seyedbagheri There is a pigeon in the airport by Angie King Fish Kills by Emily Weber Still Dogwood by Carmen Gordon-Rein Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewidowed by Melissa Knox

It's great for writers to have so many awards to be nominated to, but that means lots of difficult choices for the editors. Once again, here are the six Pushcart Prize Nominations from Star 82 Review , this time for works published in the year 2019. And again, even if you were not nominated, please know that your work is loved and appreciated! Good luck to all. Poetry Borders and Boundaries by Carol Dorf  (7.2) Gardening by Sarah Shapiro  (7.2) Why We Sing by Oak Morse  (7.3) pi- stash -ee-oh, -stah -shee-oh by Seth Grindstaff  (7.4) Prose Crescent Moon Autobiography by Alia Hussain Vancrown  (7.2) Still Dogwood by Carmen Gordon-Rein  (7.3)

This year, the limit from the folks at Best Microfiction  was four stories, maximum 400 words. It's always hard. And I love you all! More nominations for other awards  coming soon. Community Policing by Elancharan Gunasekaran (214 words) http://star82review.com/7.1/gunasekaran-community.html Campsis Hearts by Olivia Germann (58 words) http://star82review.com/7.1/germann-hearts.html Three Wishes by K.M. Crane (82 words) http://star82review.com/7.2/crane-wishes.html Still Dogwood by Carmen Gordon-Rein (224 words) http://star82review.com/7.3/gordon-rein-dogwood.html Good luck!

Every year, as an editor, I have a chance to nominate work to other presses. Orison Books , which describes itself as "a literary press, focused on the life of the spirit from a broad range of perspectives," puts out a call to editors for works that have a "transcendent effect" and "leads the reader into profound contemplation." I feel this way about nearly all the works that are featured in Star 82 Review , so, as usual, it's a hard call. Here are the nominations, from 2019, for the 2020 Orison Anthology. From 7.1 " Still, it's gone " by Simon Perchik " Timbrel Flowers " by Yoram Naslavsky, translated by Anthony Berris From 7.3 " Why We Sing " by Oak Morse " Time Over " by Nicholas DelloRusso Good luck to all!

As always, Contributors, whether you were nominated or not, I love all of your work. Here are the six poems, two fictions, two creative nonfictions nominated by *82 for 2018-19 Best of the Net, Sundress Publications . Good luck to everyone! POETRY Fall 6.3 Thinning Beets by Martha Christina http://www.star82review.com/6.3/christina-beets.html Fall 6.3 Flip it on the Solstice and rotate on the Equinox by Kali Lightfoot http://www.star82review.com/6.3/lightfoot-flip.html Winter 6.4 Stanley by Gale Acuff http://www.star82review.com/6.4/acuff-stanley.html Spring 7.1 Plane after plane by Simon Perchik http://www.star82review.com/7.1/perchik-plane.html Summer 7.2 Borders and Boundaries by Carol Dorf http://www.star82review.com/7.2/dorf-borders.html Summer 7.2 Gardening by Sarah Shapiro http://star82review.com/7.2/shapiro-gardening.html FICTION Fall 6.3 The Angels’ Day Job by Ona SIporin http://www.star82review.com/6.3/siporin-angels.html Fall ...

As an editor, I am allowed to nominate one flash fiction each year to submit for consideration for the VERAs, the award from Vestal Review . Star 82 Review 's nomination for work from 2018 (issues 6.1 - 6.4) is Ona Siporin's "The Angels' Day Job."  I just received news that it is a semi-finalist and will be forwarded to the finals. Good luck to Ona! You can read her short piece in issue 6.3 here . Previously, Gen Del Ray's story " Tough " was a finalist for the VERAs from issue 4.1 (2016).