The end of 2015 is nigh, and for small publishers like Empty Sink Publishing, that means that exciting time of year is upon us—The Pushcart Prize nominations! For those unfamiliar with the award, this is an American literary prize that recognizes the best “poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot” featured in small presses over the previous year. Winners of the prize are published in a grand anthology; these anthologies have been published annually since 1976. Each publication can nominate up to six works they have published—and since we’re not the type to just stop short, we submitted the full six titles for the award this year.

Much like last year, the decision was difficult as we have been inundated with fantastic contributions, but these were the ones that stood taller than the rest. Somewhat confusingly, the best of 2015 are published in the 2017 titled anthology, but we’re not going to let that harsh our mellow. So without further ado, we would like to announce our six candidates for the prize this year. Drum-roll please!

Empty Sink Publishing nominations for the 2017 (like we said, it’s confusing) edition of the Pushcart Prize:

 
“Barter”: a short story by Sarah Khan, from Issue 11

“Brother’s Keeper”: short story by Paul Allison, from Issue 11

“The Melding Tree”: short non-fiction by Thomas N. Mannella III, from Issue 11

“Slow Drivers”: short story by Rachel Tanner, from Issue 12

“Exit Stage Left”: short story by Katrina Johnston, from Issue 13

“The Lightship”: short story by Eleanor Lerman, from Issue 14

 
We would like to congratulate these six talented writers, and we would also like to thank ALL of our contributors for making 2015 a resounding success!

Adam Dubbin
Publisher

On Monday, September 28, Publisher Adam Dubbin appeared on Empty Sink Publishing contributor Tammy Ruggles’ online talk radio program, The Promo Show 1, to talk with Tammy about various musings from inside and out of our humble publication. Follow this link or click on the image to the right to hear Adam discuss:

The internal mechanisms of Empty Sink Publishing and what we do

Details on Adam, Exec. Editor Branden Hart & Fiction Editor Suanne Schafer

The current climate of the online publishing industry

Tips on submission etiquette and how best to get published

An update on what our past contributors are currently up to

And other mental meanderings

 
And in case you missed it before, Branden was interviewed back in the nascent days of publication—December, 2013—by The Unavoidable Drudge podcast show. He has a great talk with the guys from Drudge, and it’s very nostalgic listening Branden discuss the early days, while Adam’s fresh news brings you from the past up to the present. Enjoy!