We always start to look ahead to to the next year a little too early, as we plan our editorial calendar and get psyched for the new opportunities we’re preparing for emerging writers, so we want to take a minute to reflect on what a terrific year this year has been (before we get too far ahead of ourselves). Fifty-two new stories, our thirteenth anthology published under the Best Emerging Writers title for the first time, three debut fiction prize winners, and Lisbeth White’s A Most Natural Thing: An Elemental Memoir—these are just a few of the things we’re grateful for in 2025. We hope you’ll join us for the ride in 2026.
“A Mirror for the Dead” by Kathryn Bratt-Pfotenhauer
“The Wound” by Josephine Wu
“Black Walnut” by Danielle Claro
“The Pick” by Emma Pacchiana
“Catch & Release” by Larry Flynn
“Here We Are” by Robyn Allers
“You Are the Greatest Lake” by Greg Schutz
“A Mother’s Face is an Atlas that Leads You Home” by Howard Meh-Buh
“Gnats” by Mark Bryk
“Never Rome” by S.G. Ondercin
“If I, He, They, She Had, Hadn’t, Had” by Allison Snyder
“Remembering Forget” by Sean Macgillicuddy
“Coup de Grâce” by Blaire Baily
“Leaving Paradise” by Kimberly Blaeser
“Blades of a Feather” by Laura Price Steele
“My Own True Name” by Vicky Grut
“The Real Boys of Summer” by Jillian Weiss
“(Other Mother.)” by River Lucero
“Disfigured: An Essay” by Emilie Pascale Beck
“SeaWorld” by Aurora Huiza
“Driftwood” by Elizabeth Kleinfeld
“Postictal State” by Margaret Adams
“In Praise of the Collective Noun” by Beth Richards
“Fermentation” by Jacqueline Gu
“Will You Listen to Me, Please?” by Emily Collins
“Leaving Home” by Phoebe Barr
“Every Night I Pretend to Save You” by Alex Dezen
“Metamorphoses” by Kathy Chao
“Year of the Bimbo” by Maureen Traverse
“Fat Cat” by Nathan Dixon
“Buckets” by Michelle Ross
“Rain” by Jill Widner
“Born of a Million Girls” by Inyene Ekanem
“I Trust Her Completely” by Christine Henneberg
“The Translated City” by Stephanie Y. Tam
“Simmer Dim” by Imogen Osborne
“These Days” by Jennifer Braunfels
“If on a Summer’s Night, a Blogger, or: How You Learned to Love El Barrio (and Not Exploit It)” by Hector Dominguez
“Eat Jimmy” by Payne Ratner
“Eat All You Can” by Erin Striff
“The Lack of Noise” by L.J. Bowden
“El Gallo de Oro” by Juan Fernando Villagómez
“Tell Me Who You Walk With” by Gabriella Navas
“Cortez Canyon” by Terry Engel
“African Milk Plant” by Allison Field Bell
“Sightline” by Rachael Riley
“Made in Wonderland” by Abigail Bokaer
“The Peace Bride” by Dilara Y
“Scapegoat” by Sara McKinney
“Valedictorian” by Annesha Mitha
“Gideon” by Rowen Jennings
“Visitors” by Jonathan Rose