The editorial board at River Styx is thrilled to announce the 2024 Pushcart Prize nominations. As you know, we are only able to nominate six published works for the year, and we had an incredibly tough time deciding. We loved everything we published this year. Each piece exhibits strong talent, command of craft, and that special something that every editor hopes to find in a submission. What's more—the vast majority of what we published this year came from our open submissions period. There are very few works that we solicited.
In poetry, we nominated Justin Cox's serial "From 'Stock Pond,'" a take on deer hunting and ecology.
In creative nonfiction, we nominated two essays: Rajiv Mohabir's "From Sugarcane to Diabetes," an exploration of race, colonial legacies, and health; and Clare Walla's "Fractals," a lyric essay about a mother-daughter relationship that covers the pain and beauty—but ultimately the strength—of separation.
In fiction, we chose Gregory Brown's "Strays," a rugged, rural ghost story "full of grief and quiet, simmering hurt"; Parastoo Geranmayeh's surreal "The Last Thursday of the Century," wherein Neda visits her family in the North of Iran where, together, they celebrate Nowruz while Neda is haunted by memories and regrets, both while she is sleeping and when she is awake; and Fortunato Salazar's "Branches of the Service" (no spoilers!), forthcoming in our December issue.
River Styx is free for the world to read. We do not charge subscription fees. We have no paywalls. We hope you'll show your support by reading and sharing the nominated works listed above and by donating to our organization. Donations help us pay writers and artists, host events, and maintain operations.
Thank you to our readers for your continued support of River Styx!
2024 Nominations
Poetry
"From 'Stock Pond,'" Justin Cox
Creative Nonfiction
"Fractals," Clare Walla
"From Sugarcane to Diabetes," Rajiv Mohabir
Fiction
"Strays," Gregory Brown
"The Last Thursday of the Century," Parastoo Geranmayeh
"Branches of the Service," Fortunato Salazar
