2026 Spring Fiction Contest Winner
Your Mouth Gets Well by Lane Michael Stanley
2026 Spring Nonfiction Contest Winner
Yellow by T.C. Martin
2026 Spring Poetry Contest Winner
Ignite by Daniel Lurie
Fiction Runners-Up
A History of Smoking, Hit-and-Run, and Monsoon Season: A Flash Collection by Matthew Torralba Andrews
Below Parallel by Aurora Bodenhamer
Unsolicited Malady by Danielle Bradley
The Players by Sarah Destin
In the Dissonance by Maggie Hart
The Boy Who Almost Smiled by Wasima Khan
Hulk Princess Birthday Party by Sharon S.Y. Lee
The Venus of Oklahoma City by Leah Mullen
Nonfiction Runners-Up
Port Angeles, Summer, 2009 by Carson Sandell
protostar by jael jean
“Summer, 1998” and “The Word for Bowl” by Thuy Phan
Dios le pague by Anna María del Pilar Suben
Poetry Runners-Up
Jupiter Window by Adriana Grant
Ghazal Beginning With a Line by Frank O’Hara by adam gianforcaro
DANIELO HOME MOVIES [Last night, in bed, I heard the ocean] by Ja’Net Danielo
The Strange Architecture of Things by Grace McGovern
The Day The Women Walked Out From Their Frames by Amanda Chiado
Oscillating Bathrub, 1899 by Ross White
I Fucking Hate the Portland Trail Blazers by Samuel Piccone
Contentment by Donna Vorreyer
WHY DADDY SOLD THE MACHINE by SP Mulroy
Still Life with Hurricane Helene by Anna Drasko
Art Gallery
Masthead
Editor-in-Chief – Jacob Sharp
Managing Editor – Lee Krauss
Poetry Editor – Taylor Franson-Thiel
Assistant Poetry Editor – McKinley Johnson
Fiction Editor – Scott Hovdey
Assistant Fiction Editor – Griffin Hamstead
Nonfiction Editor – Austin LaVigne
Assistant Nonfiction Editor – David McMullen
Website Editor – Elena Macdonald
Social Media Editor – Meg Paulson
Incarcerated Writers Project Co-Coordinators – Katey Funderburgh & Maya Gudapati
Incarcerated Writers Project Co-Assistants – Sydney Floyd & Mckenan Bundy
Faculty Advisor – Jason Hartsel
Art Committee
Scott Hovdey, McKinley Johnson, Austin LaVigne, Lee Krauss, Elena Macdonald, Jacob Sharp, Taylor Franson-Thiel
Fiction Readers
Grace Donovan, Serena Grant, Jennifer Handford, Connor Harding, Alexander Holcomb, Erin Hoskins, Marissa Joyce, Shay McIntosh, Thomas McKenzie, Austin Miles, Abigail Mills, Kobimtochi Odo, Ezra Pilar Rodriguez, Grace Wood
Nonfiction Readers
Gemmalee DyerMok, Syd Floyd, Ian Garrabrant, Katherine Harnisch, Nikki Kazimova, Elena Macdonald, Chris Mcglone, Colleen McLean, Faith Palermo, Cheyenne Paterson
Poetry Readers
Noa Cohen, Maeve Flusser, Riley Johnston, Elena Macdonald, Isabella Newman, Elizabeth Ottenritter, Victoria Reynolds, Mariah Salazar-Solorzano, Rowan Stubblebine
IWP Readers
Chris Baah, Jessica Blanton, Jessika Bouvier, Kristen Brida, Jennifer Brown, Priyanka Champaneri, Kat Colvert, Lisa Corley, Jen Daniels, Will Fawley, Michaela “Mickey” Godding, Serena Grant, Connor Harding, Erin Hoskins, Margaret Hutton, Emilio Iasiello, Riley Johnston, Shellie Kalinsky, Judy Leserman, Amanda Mendoza, Victoria Mendoza, Austin Miles, Sharon Ritchy, Patti Russo, Shabryle Setliff, Kelsey Shelton, Kylie Smith, Rowan Stubblebine, Brailey Vine, Sakshi Wadhwa, Mary Winsor
Special Thanks
Jason Hartsel, David S. Carroll, Kathryn Mangus and the George Mason University Office of Student Media, Gregg Wilhelm and the George Mason University Creative Writing Program