In 2020 we made a commitment to our submitters to nominate for best-of collections. Here’s who we nominated in 2021!

2021 Best of the Net Nominations

The Best of the Net is an awards-based anthology (created by Sundress Publications) designed to grant a platform to a diverse and growing collection of writers and publishers who are building an online literary landscape that seeks to break free of traditional publishing. This space has been created to bring greater respect to the continually expanding world of exceptional digital publishing. The work nominated must have been first published between July 1, 2020 and June 30, 2021. We’ve nominated:

For Poetry:

• Mara Panich, “Daily I Read Something More Disturbing than the Last,” Volume 11, Issue 3 (Summer 2020), pg. 5
• AnnMarie McQueen, “Dragon’s blood,” Volume 11, Issue 4 (Autumn 2020), pg. 26
• Tamara Al-Qaisi-Coleman, “For Afaa,” Volume 12, Issue 1 (Winter 2021), pg. 4
• Pam R. Johnson Davis, “Annulment,” Volume 12, Issue 1 (Winter 2021), pg. 11
• Maia Joy, “To the White Boy at the Subway Station Wearing a ‘Virginity Rocks’ T-Shirt that Will Not Stop Staring At Me No Matter How Much Distance I Force Between Us,” Volume 12, Issue 2 (Spring 2021), pg. 4
• Sanah Singh, “They buried me in the soil like I was someone else’s problem,” Volume 12, Issue 2 (Spring 2021), pg. 15

For Fiction:

• Mordecai Martin, “Mother Tongue,” Volume 12, Issue 1 (Winter 2021), pgs. 8-9
• Yvonne Nezianya, “Another is Coming,” Volume 12, Issue 2 (Spring 2021), pgs. 12-14

For Nonfiction:

• Tai Farnsworth, “Seven Times I Came Out,” Volume 11, Issue 4 (Autumn 2020), pgs. 4-5
• Robert Fromberg, “Deathbed Entertainment,” Volume 12, Issue 2 (Spring 2021), pg. 32

For Artwork:

• Emily Rose Schanowski, “Geometric Bee,” Volume 11, Issue 4 (Autumn 2020), pg. 50
• Karin Hedetniemi, “Tracks,” Volume 12, Issue 1 (Winter 2021), cover art
• Dana Talbot-Heindl, “Watch Your Step,” Volume 12, Issue 2 (Spring 2021), cover art

2021 Pushcart Prize Nominations

The Pushcart Prize is an American literary magazine published by Pushcart Press that honors the best poetry, short fiction, essays, or “literary whatnot” published in the small presses over the course of the year. We’ve nominated:

• “birth & the undoing” by Jasmine Kapadia, The B’K Volume 12, Issue 3, pg. 5
• “the colonial ghosts of shimla” by Soumya, The B’K Volume 12, Issue 4, pg. 5
• “The Tragedy of Imelda Yeon” by Thea Chun, The B’K Volume 12, Issue 4, pg. 10-12
• “Death is a Way to Come Home: Rituals for the Estranged” by H.E. Casson, All My Relations, Volume 1, pgs. 6-9
• “Nukasāna” by Kayleigh Jayshree, All My Relations, Volume 1, pg. 11
• “Seeing the Real Her” by Pam R. Johnson Davis, All My Relations, Volume 1, pgs. 20-21

2021 Best Microfiction Nominations

Best Microfiction 2022 is published by Pelekinesis and considers stories of only 400 words or fewer that were first published in 2020. We’ve nominated:

• Zach Murphy, “Blue Earth County,” The B’K, Volume 12, Issue 1, page 37
• Cree Nichelle Pettaway, “Fragility,” The B’K, Volume 12, Issue 3, page 17
• Alicia J. Cartwright, “Ghost number 13,” The B’K, Volume 12, Issue 4, page 13
• Iona Murphy, “A Room in Ditchley Court,” All My Relations, Volume 1, pages 52-53

2021 Best Small Fictions Nominations

The Best Small Fictions (published by Sonder Press) features the best micro fiction, flash fiction, haibun stories, and prose poetry from around the world under 1,000 words, published in 2021. We’ve nominated:

• Mordecai Martin, “Mother Tongue,” The B’K Vol 12, Issue 1, pages 8-9
• Shaurya Arya-Kanojia, “The Bubble,” The B’K Vol 12, Issue 2, pages 18-19
• Nick Olson, “Residue of You,” The B’K Vol 12, Issue 2, pages 22-23
• Ra’Niqua Lee, “Of Pork and Pedagogy,” The B’K Vol 12, Issue 3, pages 12-13
• Mike Hickman, “Mr Binky Knibbles Unravels,” The B’K Vol 12, Issue 3, pages 34-35

It was incredibly hard to pick these pieces to nominate, so we want to thank and hold up all of our submitters for sharing their work with us this year. We wouldn’t exist without your talents.