News and Announcements

Current Issues

Contests

2025 Contest Winners

New Ohio Review Annual Contest

Congratulations to Trent Lewin’s “Ghee,” selected as the winner of the 2025 fiction contest by Deesha Philyaw. It will be published in Issue 36.

Congratulations to Melissa McKinstry’s “Ways to Wear It” selected as the winner of the 2025 poetry contest by Ted Kooser. It will be published in Issue 36.

Congratulations to Siamak Vassoughi’s “Dear Yara,” selected as the winner of the 2025 nonfiction contest by Kerri ní Docharteaigh. It will be published in Issue 36.

NORward Prize Winners

Congratulations to Swathi Desai’s “Something You Should Know,” selected as the fiction winner of the 2025 NORward Prizes. It will be published in Issue 36.

Congratulations to Jasmine V. Bailey’s “Two Wars,” selected as the nonfiction winner of the 2025 NORward Prizes. It will be published in Issue 36.

Congratulations to Lane Devers’ “Ka-Boom,” selected as the poetry winner of the 2025 NORward Prizes. It will be published in Issue 36.

Ellis Prize Winners

Congratulations to Celeste Amidon’s “Turtles,” selected as the fiction winner of the 2025 Ellis Prizes by E.M. Tran. It will be published in Issue 36.

Congratulations to Caroline White’s “The Federal Government Banned Lead Paint in 1975,” selected as the nonfiction winner of the 2025 Ellis Prizes by Jaswinder Bolina. It will be published in Issue 36.

Congratulations to Sofie Riley’s “Displacement and Other Sins of the Flesh,” selected as the poetry winner of the 2025 Ellis Prizes by Zoë Bossiere. It will be published in Issue 36.

2024 Contests

The 2025 NORward contests in Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry opened on August 15, 2024 and will conclude on November 15th, 2024.

The 2025 Fiction, Poetry, and Nonfiction Contests will reopen on January 15th, 2025. Learn more on our Contests page.

2024 Contest Winners

Congratulations to Abby Horowitz’s “Mothers in the World Above and Below,” selected as the winner of the 2024 Fiction Contest by Kate Bernheimer. It will be published in Issue 35.

Congratulations to Jodie Vinson’s “Survival of the Unfit: A Retrospective,“ selected as the winner of the 2024 Nonfiction Contest by Lily Hoàng. It will be published in Issue 35.

Congratulations to Gail Griffin’s “Covenant” and “It Comes Down” and Jen Siraganian’s “Thinking about My Father’s Erector Set from 1948,” selected as the winners of the 2024 Poetry Contest by Naomi Shihab Nye. They will be published in Issue 35.

Congratulations to Michele Bombardier’s “Reading Shackleton During My Husband’s Cancer Treatment,” winner of the 2024 NORward Poetry Prize! The poem was published in Issue 34, released in June.

Award News

A complete list of work that has won or been mentioned for Pushcart, Best American, and other places can be found here.

2025 Pushcart Prize Nominees

New Ohio Review has nominated the following pieces for the Pushcart Prize this year: “This is It” by John Hodgen, “At the Dry Cleaner’s” by Lora Keller, “Ways to Wear it” by Melissa McKinstry, “Without a Net” by Nick Norwood, “Ghee” by Trent Lewin, and “Dear Yara” by Siamak Vossoughi.

Pushcart Prizes

The following pieces were nominated for the Pushcart Prize by New Ohio Review or the Pushcart Board of Contributing Editors: “Hunters in the Snow” by Linda Bamber, “Eavesdropping” by Taylor Byas, “Heist” by Chris Greenblaugh, “Viper” by Kimberly Johnson, “What I’m Telling You, Jessica, Is That Those Chickens Are Fine” by K. T. Landon, “Red Skies” by Danielle Batalion Ola, “Shed” by Ashlen Renner, “The lone wild goose sticks out his tongue at me” by Joyce Schmid, “What’s With All These Foxes” by Gwendolyn Soper, “How to Sweep a Garage Floor” by David Thoreen, and “Sometimes it feels so animal—” by Alice White.

Notable Best American Stories and Essays

The following poems were selected for Best American Poetry by Mary Jo Salter: “Irish Traveler’s Writer’s Block” by Joanne Dominique Dwyer and “A Message to Tony Hoagland” by Jeffrey Harrison

Arya Samuelson’s “I Am No Beekeeper” was selected as Notable Essay in Best American Essays.

2024 Best of the Net Nominations

New Ohio Review‘s poetry nominations for the 2024 Best of the Net are Joseph Capista’s “Improvisation for Beginners,” Mickie Kennedy’s “Grimace,” Olga Maslova’s “It’s Not Always About the Lemmings,” Dion O’Reilly’s “The Lyric Moment Lasts,” Craig van Rooyen’s “Craig’s List,” and Dan Wriggans’ “Snow Globe.”

New Ohio Review‘s fiction nominations for the 2024 Best of the Net are J. Dominic Patacsil’s “The Elko Butter Chase” and Steph Del Rosso’s “Skin Check.”

New Ohio Review‘s nonfiction nominations for the 2024 Best of the Net are Maya Afilalo’s “Praying I Wouldn’t Be Last,” and Mary Birnbaum’s “Down in the Valley.”