Summer Round Up
No bummers during THE FLORIDA REVIEW's summer!
What is this? The Florida Review is active during the summer. We are just as shocked as you are!
TL;DR:
Issue 49.2 (Spring 2026) is out now & available for purchase!
Aquifer piece included in Wigleaf’s Top 50 Very Short Fictions!
A special thanks to our contest entries!
Announcing our 2026 Editor’s Prize winners & finalists!
Announcing our Jeanne Leiby Memorial Chapbook Contest winner!
Despite no new published work in Aquifer: The Florida Review Online, still take the time to check out the site!
Issue 49.2 (Spring 2026) is Available for Purchase!
We are so excited to announce that Issue 49.2 (Spring 2026) of The Florida Review is out now! Our latest issue is available for purchase on our website for $12.50.
Issue 49.2 includes 2025 Editor's Prize winners Samuel Piccone, Sheree Chua, and Sharon Wahl. New fiction from Trudy Lewis and Andy Mozina, poems from Jesse Lee Kercheval and Jane Zwart, as well as nonfiction from Dylan Landis and Shala Erlich. There are so many more exciting voices to discover!
Aquifer Story Featured in Wigleaf’s Top 50 Very Short Fictions!
We want to congratulate Kim Magowan and her story, “Ontkommer” for being selected to Wigleaf’s 2026 Top 50 Very Short Fictions!
“Ontkommer” was published in Aquifer: The Florida Review Online and can be read here.
A Special Thanks for All Contest Entries!
This year we saw a record number of contest entries. We received 319 submissions in fiction, 367 in poetry, 116 in nonfiction, and 183 submissions to the Jeanne Leiby Memorial Chapbook Award. The revenue generated by the contests will allow us to continue to publish the print edition of The Florida Review in addition to Aquifer, its companion online edition and the annual chapbook series. Additionally, everyone who submitted to one of the 2026 contests will receive a subscription (two print issues per year) beginning with the issue that contains the contest winners (Spring 2027).
Editor’s Prizes Finalists & Finalists!
2026 Editor’s Prize in Fiction
We are thrilled to announce Alexander Weinstein as the winner of our 2026 Editor’s Prize in Fiction! “The Sorrow of Time Dealers” will appear in Issue 50.2 (Spring 2027) of The Florida Review, which will be on sale in March 2027.
Thank you to all who entered the contest & a special thanks to our finalists:
Anjelica Carroll, “Wishbone”
Alexander Fredman, “First Snow”
Ann Harleman, “For Hannah, in the Event of My Death”
Marcy Rae Henry, “Ellie—Aveux et anathèmes”
Dustin M. Hoffman, “Pieces of Eli”
Alex McWalters, “Fall”
Brenda Matheny, “Uncle Dan”
Justin Noga, “Be Thy Noose”
Leslie Pietrzyk, “Command Performance”
Young Rader, “The Lives and Deaths of Clyde Kidd”
Anna Story, “Gelman, Dancing”
2026 Editor’s Prize in Creative Nonfiction
M.D. McIntyre is the winner of our 2026 Editor’s Prize in Creative Nonfiction! As with Weinstein’s “The Sorrow of the Time Dealers,” “The Namesake” will also appear in Issue 50.2 (Spring 2027) of The Florida Review.
Again, a special thanks to our finalists:
Daniella Garcia-Novas, “Blueberries”
Benjamin Nimphie, “Provider”
Maureen Stanton, “My Mother of the Star-studded Heavens”
Nicole Wilder-Gutierrez, “Troublemakers”
2026 Editor’s Prize in Poetry
Andrew Hemmert is the winner of our 2026 Editor’s Prize in Poetry! As with Weinstein & McIntyre, Hemmert’s “Natural History” will appear in Issue 50.2 (Spring 2027) of The Florida Review.
One last time, thank you to our finalists:
Alyse Carlson, “Pyre”
Dorsey Craft, “Driving on I-10, 50 miles outside of Tallahassee”
Taylor Franson-Thiel, “Not Metaphor”
Anna Leonard, “Bloodline”
Kathleen Radigan, “Our Lady of Perpetual Sorrows”
Tim Stobierski, “Moneyshot”
Matthew Zhao, “Chinese Idioms for Chinese American Idiots”
Announcing our Jeanne Leiby Memorial Chapbook Winner!
The Florida Review is thrilled to announce our winner of the 2026 Jeanne Leiby Chapbook Award, Elizabeth Erbeznik! Her chapbook The Oboe Is a Duck will be published and available for purchase in late 2026.
Meet our contest judge:
Thank you to all who entered the contest & a special thanks to our finalists:
Vesuvio, Patricia Q. Bidar
Red Light in the Small Hours, Angela Edward
Hum, Lucas Flatt
The Whispers of Water, Fabián González González
Everything in My Life Up Till Now, Andrea Lewis
Trés Fronteras, Chip Livingston
Holiest, Crystal Odelle
Suburban Variations, Heather Sellers
Health Care Hopscotch: 2012-2022, Julie Marie Wade
Aquifer Round Up
Nothing here to report but still check out Aquifer: The Florida Review Online for some great works of fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, interviews, and graphic narratives!
Submit Your Work!
The Florida Review and Aquifer want your work! Our Submittable is always open for your fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and graphic narratives.
Before You Go!
We don’t want you to miss out on future publications, announcements, and calls for submissions. So follow us wherever you can find us:
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Also, keep up to date with us (in print) by purchasing a 12- or 24-month subscription of The Florida Review here.
P.P.S.
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