Over the last few months, we’ve been hard at work reading so many terrific excerpts—it’s always difficult winnowing down to just a small percentage of the great work we’re fortunate to review. Nick Fuller Googins is now in possession of the final fifteen novel excerpts from the 2025 Novel Excerpt Contest! Congratulations to our shortlisted writers, and thank you to all of our submitters. Check back in April for word on our winners, and stay tuned for news on this year’s contest!
“Timeline of Events in Lieu of a Lobotomy” by Cecilia Beard
“The Etherealist” by Elizabeth Brogden
“For the Realm” by Dakota Collins
“Separate Animals” by Shala Erlich
“Sometime Voices” by Ron Howland
“The End of Moving Pictures” by David Hudacek
“The Snag” by Nick Otte
“Fish Bones Picked Clean” by Quyen Pham
“Until She Says So” by Abhijith Ravinutala
“Wanted” by Elaine Ray
“Luchadores” by AJ Rodriguez
“Women of the Dusty Rose Hotel” by Lisa Julin Sharon
“Close to the End” by Rouan Wilsenach
“The Joy of Painting” by Jeremy T. Wilson
“Now I See the Sender of All Bones” by Christian Yeo