Every year, New England Review sees poems, stories, and essays from among its pages receive honors and distinctions from respected publications that recognize and anthologize works of literary merit. Our recent prizewinners and honorary mentions are listed below by year.

 

2018

PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers (August 2018)
Celeste Mohammed, “Six Months” (38.1)

Pushcart XLII (November 2017)
Safiya Sinclair, “Good Hair,” 37.2 (Poetry)
Ethan Chatagnier, “Miracle Fruit,” 37.4 (Fiction)
Special Mentions:
Lia Purpura, “All the Fierce Tethers” (Nonfiction)
David Brainard, “In the Desert” (Fiction)
Ben Eisman, “Right-Hearted” (Fiction)
Wayne Miller, “On Progress” (Poetry)

 

2017

Best New Poets 2017
Kai Carlson-Wee, “Rail,” 38.3 

Best American Essays 2017
Notable: Alia Volz, “Chasing Arrows”
Lia Purpura, “All the Fierce Tethers”

Best American Short Stories 2017
Notable: Christine Sneed, “Older Sister,” 37.1

Best American Poetry 2017
Monica Youn, “Greenacre,” 37.1

O. Henry Prize Stories
Genevieve Plunkett, “Something for a Young Woman,” 36.3

Golden State 2017: The Best New Writing from California
Vincent Poturica, “Dad’s House,” 36.4 (Fiction)

Pushcart XLI
Lisa Taddeo, “Forty-Two,” 36.1 (Fiction)
Eric Wilson, “I Sing You for an Apple,” 36.2 (Nonfiction)
Emma Duffy-Comparone, “The Devil’s Triangle,” 36.4 (Fiction)
Special Mentions:
Cate Marvin, “High School in Suzhou,” 36.1 (Poetry)
Ocean Vuong, “To My Father / To My Unborn Son,” 36.1 (Poetry)
Camille Dungy, “A Shade North of Ordinary,” 36.2 (Nonfiction)

(Congratulations are also due to our fiction editor Janice Obuchowski, whose story “Sully” garnered a special mention in Pushcart XLI. It can be found in the Summer 2015 edition of the Gettysburg Review)

 

 

2016

New Stories from the Midwest (New American Press)
Emily Mitchell, “Three Marriages”
Distinguished:
Christine Sneed, “The Couplehood Jubilee,” 34.1; “Clear Conscience,” 35.3
Charlie Baxter, “Sloth,” 34.3-4

Best American Short Stories 2016
Sharon Solwitz, “Gifted,” 36.2
Notables:
Carla Panciera, “The Kind of People Who Look at Art,” 36.2
Michael X. Wang, “Further News of the Defeat,” 36.2
Rav Grewal-Kök, “The Bolivian Navy,” 36.4
Mateal Lovaas Ishihara, “Crossing Harvard Yard,” 36.4

Best American Essays 2016
Jill Sisson Quinn, “Big Night,” 36.1
Notables:
Kelly Grey Carlisle, “Permutations of X,” 35.4
Ursula Hegi, “I’m Searching for a Home for Unwed Girls,” 36.3

Best American Poetry 2016
Patrick Rosal, “At The Tribunals,” 35.4
Cate Marvin, “High School in Suzhou,” 36.1

 

 

2015

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Best American Series
Short Stories
Laura Lee Smith, “Unsafe at Any Speed,” 35.1
Notables:
Charles Baxter, “Sloth,” 34.3-4
Leslie Bazzett, “Studies in Composition,” 34.3-4
Ricardo Nuila, “At the Bedside,” 35.1
Christine Sneed, “Clear Conscience,” 35.3
Mysteries
Steven Heighton, “Shared Room on Union,” 35.1
Essays
Kate Lebo, “The Loudproof Room,” 35.2
Notables:
Jeff Staiger, “Kindle 451,” 34.3-4
Larry I. Palmer, “The Haircut,” 35.1
Ben Miller, “Village Bakery,” 35.2

Pushcart XXXIX
Tarfia Faizullah, “The streetlamp above me darkens,” 34.1 (Poetry)
Special Mentions:
Michael Coffey, “Sons,” 34.1 (Fiction)

 

 

2014

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Best American Series
Short Stories
Notables:
David Heronry, “Less Awful,” 33.4
Essays
Notables:
Kathleen Chaplin, “The Death Knock,” 34.1
Marian Crotty, “It’s New Year’s Eve and This Is Dubai,” 34.2

O. Henry Prize Stories
Maura Stanton, “Oh Shenandoah,” 33.2

Pushcart XXXVII
Jake Adam York, “Self-Portrait as Superman,” 33.3 (Poetry)

 

 

2013

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Best American Series
Essays
Matthew Vollmer, “Keeper of the Flame,” 33.1
Mystery
David McFadden, “The Ring of Kerry,” 33.2

Scribner’s Best American Poetry
Laura Kasischke, “Perspective,” 32.4
Adrienne Su, “On Writing,” 33.1
Paisley Rekdal, “Birthday Poem,” 33.2