And Now, Some Awards

All of our nominations from the 2024 publishing season

Dear Identity Theory readers,

Today, we announced our final award nominations from the 2024 publishing season. We have now nominated for Best of the Net, Pushcart Prize, Best Microfiction, and today, Best Small Fictions.

So far, the “winners” of these anthologies/awards have not been announced—with the exception of Best Microfiction 2025. I’m pleased to report that we have two winners in that anthology: "Our First Night Together" by Chelsea Stickle and "Fish Soup" by Jenny Wong.

I want to extend a massive thanks to everyone who submitted to our magazine last year. I also want to honor the efforts of editors Vic Nogay (micro), Justin Aoba (poetry), and Sophie Newman (prose), who have done an excellent job keeping us running.

Submissions are currently closed as we finish making our decisions on the remaining 2024 submissions. We expect submissions to reopen in February.

Here are all of our award nominations from the 2024 season:

Best Microfiction 2025 Nominations

(Fiction Less Than 400 Words Published in 2024)

• “Corvus Corax” by Cristina Politano

• "Our First Night Together" by Chelsea Stickle*

• "Grandmother Is a House Y'all Tore Down" by Jessica Willingham

• "Fish Soup" by Jenny Wong*

• "Sunset" by Joshua Zeitler

*Winners of Best Microfiction 2025!

Best Small Fictions 2025 Nominations

(Fiction Less Than 1000 Words Published in 2024)

• "Do You Love Me?" by Anita Brienza

• “Heat-seekers” by Meg Pokrass

• “The Sisters of Saint Milburg” by Cristina Politano

• "Treasure" by Claire Taylor

• "Nascent" by Tara Isabel Zambrano

2026 Pushcart Prize Nominations

(Pieces Published in 2024)

• "Look Yourself" by Sara Lippmann (fiction)

• "Two Truths and a Lie" by Jackie Domenus (CNF)

• "Free Bleed" by Is Curtis (Micro CNF)

• "Letter to Persephone, Before Mother's Day" by Sarah A. Etlinger (poetry)

• "The Transitive Property of Despair" by Jed Myers (poetry)

• "M.A.S.H." by Abigail Raley (poetry)

2025 Best of the Net Nominations

(Pieces Published from Summer 2023 to Summer 2024)

• “Δ Means Change” by Corinne Cordasco-Pak (CNF)

• “I’m Sorry, I Know My Well-Being Is Bad for the Planet” by Francesca Leader (CNF)

• “Ganache Girl” by Aimee Campos (fiction)

• “Parking Lots” by John Newman (fiction)

• “Meteorite” by D.W. Baker (poetry)

• “In Honor of the Man Who Denied Bill Nye” by Alexa Doran (poetry)

• “The Second Scientific Revolution” by Taylor Franson-Thiel (poetry)

• “Luck” by Stefanie Kirby (poetry)

• “Call Me Baby” by Joseph Lezza (poetry)

• “Why Don’t We Paint the Town” by Jess Smith (poetry)

• Ampydoo Cartoon #122 and two other cartoons (#81, #109) from Alan Michael Parker (art)

Thank you for reading,
Matt Borondy
Editor, Identity Theory

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