

Thank you to all who submitted your beautiful words and to our wonderful guest judges, Douglas Manuel, Marco Wilkinson, and Kate Gale. We are pleased to present the finalists and winners for this year’s Honeybee Literature Prize in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry…
Stay tuned for the results of our stage and screen contest coming soon!



Fiction, selected by Kate Gale
- “Inspection Checklist” by Koree Schueler Winner
- “Joanie on the Spot” by Sarah Gilligan
- “A Decent Woman Doesn’t Want” by Shambhavi Roy
- “The Plat-Eye Tale” by Pamela Sumners
Nonfiction, selected by Marco Wilkinson
- “Here, Gone, Again” by Sarah Lass Winner
- “Water Land” by Melanie Hoffert Runner Up
- “Coats in Summer” by Christi Krug
- “Hiccup Man” by Christi Krug
- “Confessions of an Amateur Ghost Hunter” by Ashley Memory
Poetry, selected by Douglas Manuel
- “April is the Cruelest Month” by Pamela Sumners Winner
- “Poem Beginning with the Last Lines of a Failed Poem” by Partridge Boswell – Runner Up
- “This Old South” by Brenden Carroll
- “State of the Union, June 6, 2020” by Steve Barichk

from the archives:
“Famous Checkmates in Grabowski Family History” by KP Vogell – Issue III
I. Kevin Grabowski vs. Food
Kevin Grabowski, age three, is toddling around his parents’ kitchen. A half-open cabinet reveals a large, crinkly paper bag filled with two pounds of white granulated heaven. He shoves it by the fistful into his small mouth only to taste not sugar, but salt, and vomits immediately. The vomit is, for some reason, bright orange.
“Go Get the Gun” by Jim Peterson – Issue II
I took off my reading glasses and put on my far-sighted glasses. She came into better focus. Yes, I could now see that she was trembling. Her eyes were glassy with fear. “But Martha,” I said, “it’s dangerous to run around with a loaded gun unless you really need it,” I said.
“Extra Large for the Lord” by Tomas Baiza – Issue I
Joey, tragically White and clueless. Joey who’s in my English and P.E. classes, but thank God not Trigonometry or Health, well, homeboy yanks the half-burnt order ticket from under the sizzling pizza. He squints at it and twists up his face, pale fingers wrapped round the intercom mic. Beyond him, a packed dining room of Friday-night customers.
read all the archived good stuff here



Soundbites, The Good Life Review‘s podcast, is currently being reimagined. Catch up on a year’s worth of gossip and craft talk with our editors and contributors from issues one, two, and three on our soundbites page or on one of these podcast platforms:

submissions:
We are currently open for submissions for our Winter issue. The deadline for this submission window is November 30, 2021.
The Good Life Review accepts previously unpublished work in fiction, nonfiction, flash, poetry, stage & screen, translations, and everything in between, and we are always looking for original art. We nominate for Best of the Net and the Pushcart. Check out our submission guidelines here or on Submittable.
Photo cred: Zac Bunch

The Good Life Review is a literary journal made with ♥ from Omaha, Nebraska. We are committed to exploring the overlooked and are taking active steps toward a more diverse and equitable publishing platform. About us
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