ISSUE 173, April — June 2020
(a Press 53 publication)
Since July 1, 2010, Prime Number Magazine has been home to distinctive poetry and short fiction from around the world.
We thank our readers and writers for their continued support.
Browse our selections by clicking on the author photo or the title of the poem or story.
Everyone at Press 53 and Prime Number Magazine wish our authors and readers a safe and COVID-19-free time during this coronavirus pandemic. Please avoid crowds, wash your hands often, wear gloves when you have to get out, and take care of yourselves and those around you. We hope this issue of Prime Number Magazine brings you joy.
Winners of our Flash Fiction Contest
October-December 2019
The Prime Number Magazine Flash Fiction Contest runs annually with a low $7 reading fee and a $353 First Prize, $151 Second Prize, and $53 Third Prize. The next contest opens July 1.
First Prize ($353): “Cooper” by Alan Sincic
Second Prize ($151): “Cracked” by Danielle Gillespie
Third Prize ($53): “Natural as a Sigh” by Christopher Notarnicola
Winners of our FREE Monthly 53-Word Story Contest
Judged by the Prime Number Magazine / Press 53 editorial team
Winner receives a free book from Press 53
Winners for January, February, and March are listed below with the 53-word story prompt in parentheses
January 2020: “Breakaway” by Scott B. Shepherd (cavity)
February 2020: “Endurance” by Elizabeth Barton (run)
March 2020: “Virginia Cabin” by Eric Waddon (green)
Editors' Selections
Each issue, we ask our guest editors to select their favorite poems or stories from those submitted during our open submission period. Submissions are free and only accepted through Submittable.
Guest Editor for Poetry
michael beadle
Michael Beadle is the author of Beasts of Eden (Press 53), which was a finalist for the 2018 Roanoke-Chowan Poetry Award. He’s published four other poetry books, a poetry CD, and three photographic history books about Haywood County in western North Carolina. His poems have found homes in journals, newspapers, magazines, a cookbook and a city bus. In 2012, Michael was selected as a poet-in-residence at the North Carolina Zoo. He’s also been an emcee for the N.C. Poetry Out Loud state finals and served as statewide coordinator of student poetry contests for the NC Poetry Society. Over the past 20 years, he's performed poetry and taught creative writing workshops for students and teachers throughout North Carolina.
Guest Editor for Short Fiction
clifford garstang
Clifford Garstang is the author of a novel, The Shaman of Turtle Valley, and two collections of short stories, In an Uncharted Country and What the Zhang Boys Know, winner of the Library of Virginia Literary Award for Fiction. His new short story collection, House of the Ancients and Other Stories, will be published by Press 53 in May 2020. He is also the editor of the three-volume anthology series, Everywhere Stories: Short Fiction from a Small Planet, and the co-founder and former editor of Prime Number Magazine. He holds a BA in Philosophy from Northwestern University, an MA in English and a JD from Indiana University, an MPA from Harvard University, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Queens University of Charlotte. His work has appeared in numerous literary magazines, including Bellevue Literary Review, Blackbird, The Hopkins Review, Cream City Review, and Whitefish Review. His book reviews have appeared in Virginia Quarterly Review, Shenandoah, Rain Taxi, Washington Independent Review of Books, and elsewhere.
Meet Our Guest Editors for Issue 181, Oct-Dec 2020
(Submissions open April 1 - June 30 at Submittable)
felicia mitchell
Guest Editor for Poetry
Shuly Xóchitl Cawood
Guest Editor for Short Fiction
Felicia Mitchell, who grew up in North and South Carolina, has lived in the mountains of Virginia since 1987. An award-winning teacher of English and creative writing at Emory & Henry College, she spends a lot of time in the natural world when she is not in the classroom. Press 53 published Waltzing with Horses, her first full-length poetry collection, in 2014. One poem included in this collection, “Up from Tumbling Creek,” was selected by Claudia Emerson for an art installation in the Dulles Corridor Metrorail system.
Read “A Day Without a Poem” from Waltzing with Horses
Shuly Xóchitl Cawood grew up writing stories on her father’s blue Selectric typewriter. Her debut story collection, A Small Thing to Want, will be published by Press 53 in May of this year. She is the author of two other books: The Going and Goodbye: A Memoir (Platypus Press, 2017) and 52 Things I Wish I Could Have Told Myself When I Was 17 (Cimarron Books, 2018). She earned her MFA from Queens University of Charlotte, and her writing has been published in Brevity, The Rumpus, Cider Press Review, and others.
Read “Hank’s Girl” from A Small Thing to Want