Andrew Porter, we don’t envy you. That’s right—the shortlist for Best Emerging Writers 2025 is now in the hands of Andrew Porter, our guest judge, who has the extremely difficult task of selecting only ten of these thirty phenomenal stories and essays, all submitted by some of the best emerging writers around the globe. We want to thank all of our submitters who stepped up to the plate this year and made our decisions so difficult. Please join us in congratulating our final thirty writers, and stay tuned for the results next month!
“How I Shucked Who People Thought I Was Or A Virgin and the Writers Workshop” by Katie Andraski
“The Seven Mysteries” by Alan Bell
“Milting” by A. L. Bishop
“Stay Put” by James Cato
“Each Other” by Cristina Chira
“Every Year the World Is Supposed to End” by Edward Daschle
“Confession with Erasures” by Shavahn Dorris-Jefferson
“Driving Lessons” by Rachel Farber
“Too Much Mars” by David Gillette
“He Said The House Was Haunted” by Amelia Christmas Gramling
“Sermons” by Katie Henken Robinson
“My Roommate, the Emperor” by Martha Hipley
“Miranda, Above and Below” by Catherine Hobbs
“Rolling Calf” by Stephenjohn Holgate
“Dog Years” by Katerina Ivanov Prado
“The Drift” by Robin Koczerginski
“A Drummer” by Stephanie Macias
“From One Jane” by Catherine Malcynsky
“If You Look Away You Will Regret It” by Abby Melick
“Thirty-Six Pomegranate Seeds before the Swing” by Brad Aaron Modlin
“Not Deer” by Sena Moon
“Friend in Town” by Ben Carter Olcott
“Animal Control” by J. Stillwell Powers
“A Servant’s Heart” by Katrina Prow
“Alcott on the Dunes” by Leo Rose Rodriguez
“Reach Out” by Danielle Sherman
“Maybe Someday” by Liz Shulman
“Kitty” by Megan Trihey
“The Sidewalk Farmer” by Sona Verdi
“Stargazers” by Amy Wilde