God’s County by Henry Osborne
I am pleased to (belatedly) share the second runner-up for the 2025 Grouse Grind Lit Prize for V. Short Forms, Henry Osborne’s God’s County! This piece takes us on a journey past the end of the road, urging us...
Judge’s Essay: Molly Cross-Blanchard
For this year’s Jacob Zilber Contest for Short Fiction, PRISM International was lucky enough to work with Molly Cross-Blanchard as a judge for our final shortlist. Molly was fair, thoughtful, and caring. Below is her judge’s essay about the...
On Afterbirth and Transformations: An Interview with Emma Cleary
I had the pleasure of meeting Emma when she presented at the CRWR Faculty & Alumni Showcase, sharing an art-and-movie-recommendations-filled presentation on the creative research that fuelled her debut novel, Afterbirth. (Thanks for the new additions to my Letterboxd!) ...
I Keep Touching Myself To The Theory That The Bullet Is A Metaphysical Construct by Michael Okafor
The first runner-up for the 2024 Pacific Spirit poetry prize, Michael Okafor’s I Keep Touching Myself To The Theory That The Bullet Is A Metaphysical Construct, lives up to the enormous promise of its name. This poem starts with...
From the Archives: STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN KNOWS WHERE by Stefanie Lee
Image: In From Out by Parsa Malihipour (fka Glossy Pupils) (from Issue 63.2, Spring 2025). Hello dear reader! Happy solstice to you and yours <3 As we wait for the days to slowly grow longer, I’d like to offer...
What happens to your submission?
Ever wondered what happens after you hit “submit”? Most writers who send their work to literary magazines know how mysterious and exhausting the submission process can feel. You upload your pieces to different portals, add them to your tracker...
From the Archives: Correspondence Rejected by Andrea Bishop
Here it is: the story our 2025 Jacob Zilber Prize judge Christina Cooke described as “Textured and full-throated… as much capricious as it is beguiling.” Andrea Bishop’s Correspondence Rejected was the first runner-up for this year’s prize. On this...
63.3 TEASER: Ears by Liane Wimhurst
This fall marks the release of our final issue from volume 63 of PRISM, with our upcoming launch on Monday, October 20 (come say hi!). Featuring selections by our former Prose Editor, Sierra Louie, I wanted to share one...
Writing Prompt: Love Letters
Image: Ocean of Tears by Rin Yu (from issue 63.2, Spring 2025). PRISM Prompts is a treasure chest full of muses, wonderings, and inspiration for both seasoned writers who are itching for a new approach to their craft and new...