Welcome to Winter and the Best of our Best: A Stunning Collection of Poetry, Prose, and Artwork
January 8, 2026
Dear Lit Mag Enthusiasts,
We’re excited to announce the release of Issue #22 ~Winter 2026. This issue is a “Best Of” Edition that features some of our prize-worthy pieces from the past two years, plus bonus new work from Matt Mason (Nebraska State Poet 2019-2024), Jake Bienvenue, Frank Gaughan, and the Nebraska Writers Collective 2025 Kate Sommer Memorial Poetry Prize winner, Rebecca Oliver! We’re honored to share and celebrate this bountiful collection of amazing work!!
More in Poetry…
Best of the Net Finalist: How to Hear God While Making Thanksgiving Dinner by Charlene Pierce, 2026 Best of the Net Nominees: what to make of autism by Tim Raymond and ephemera 31 by Chris Lisieski , Pushcart Nominee: Arouse Yourself, why do You sleep, O LORD? by Yin Cheng, and Editor Selected Pieces: Mosaic by Muiz Ọpẹ́yẹmí Àjàyí, True Apothecary by Ellie Gold Laabs, They Put the Graffiti On by Matthew James Babcock, The Year I Carried You by Sara Shea, and 2025 HoneyBee Poetry Prize Winner, Autobiography of a Violin by Cassie Burkhardt
In Short Fiction… Palimpsest by Jake Bienvenue and The Grieving Scar by Frank Gaughan, Pushcart Nominees: Tbilisi by Sara Maria Hasbun, and Mall Goddess by Marilee Dahlman, and 2025 HoneyBee Prize Winner When Mr. Boppo Joined the Cohort by Sharon Lee Snow
In Flash Fiction…
Best Small Fiction Winner Razia, Razia by Sara Siddiqui Chansarkar,
2026 Best Small Fiction Nominee and 2025 HoneyBee Prize Winner: While Making Out the Lineup for Tomorrow’s 12U Softball Championship Game by Jim Parisi, other Best Small Fiction Nominees: The Next Empty Cup by Myna Chang and The Summer He Left by Alison Ozawa Sanders
In Micro Fiction…
Best Small Fiction Nominees: Return by Adesiyan Oluwapelumi and Drunk Husband Crashes Yard Sale by Alice Kinerk, and Best Micro Fiction Nominees: Closure by David Obuchowski, A Haunted House at the End of the World by Autumn Bettinger, and Once I Lived in Heaven by Mea Cohen
In Short Creative NonFiction…
2025 HoneyBee Prize Winner: The Laundry Hangs at Noon by Ginger Tolman and Editor Selected: Rearview Mirror by Brad Snyder
In Flash Creative NonFiction…
Best of the Net Nominees: My Mother, the Story-Weaver by Kiana Govoni and The Crush of Dusk by Michaela Evanow, 2025 HoneyBee Prize Winner: I Conjure My Great-Grandmother In a Dream; She Gives Me a Lesson on Revision by Alayna Powell, and Editor Selected: I Am a Body Lying in the Grass by Allison Hughes and the doctor says i must milk her body by Camila Cal Mello
In Micro Creative NonFiction…
Editor Selected: Alary Things by Hilary Fair, Boyfriend Jeans by Heidi Bell, Detroit Salt by Linda Drach, i use google more than i care to admit by Jessica Hudson, and Dungeons and Dragons is by Ryan Stiehl
In Artwork…
Cover Art and Best of the Net Nominee: “Impressions of Waking Cranes” by Kim McNealy Sosin, plus other Best of the Net Nominees: “Haley and Celeste” by Cameron Shipley and “Kunik” by Hiokit Lao, and new art by Maia Brown-Jackson. For all art accompanying the pieces in this issue, visit the Issue #22 Artwork page.
We hope you enjoy all of these pieces as much as we do!! This issue will be available in print in a few short weeks. More on that soon!
As always, thank you for visiting, reading, supporting independent journals, and believing in the arts!
Cheers,
~Shyla, Tacheny, and The Good Life Review Team
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Issue #22 Editorial Team: M.A. Boswell, Ashley Espinoza, Tacheny Perry, Tana Buoy, Patrick O’Dell, Carina Faz, Amy Crawford, Annie Barker, Debra Rose Brillati, Erin Challenor, Cid Galicia, Terry Belew, Michelle Pierce Battle, Cat Dixon, Stepha Vesper, and Shyla Shehan
Issue #22 Readers: Jamie Wendt, Toni Allen, Zach Vesper, Jill Veltkamp, Julie Johanning, Brittany Turek, Miranda Jansen, Madeline Torbenson, Mitra Vajjala, Julia Sample, Ashley DeVrieze, and Christine Nessler
