Once again, I have slipped up. I expected the Pushcart Prize winners to be announced later than they were. I had intentions of releasing the names of my nominees prior to that, but I slipped up there too. In any event, I have not found a complete winners list yet, but as soon as I do, I will post the names of any Chamber winners immediately. If you have a list showing any winners from The Chamber, please send me a copy via email. In the meantime, here is the nomination letter I sent to the Pushcart Press. This was not an easy decision. The Chamber is full of talented and gifted writers. Selecting six out of the hundreds published is a challenging task.
I wish I could have nominated you all.October 3, 2022 Pushcart Press P.O. Box 380 Wainscott, NY 11975 631-324-9300 Dear Mr. Henderson, I would like to nominate these six writers for the Pushcart Prize. Copies of their stories are enclosed. All of these were published in The Chamber Magazine during calendar year 2022. 1. Patrick Crossen for “The Assistant” published September 2, 2022 2. Peter Portelli for “Read the Sign” published August 5, 2022 3. Gershon Ben-Avraham for “All’s Over Then” published June 3, 2022 4. Alan Catlin for “All the Coney Islands of the Mind” published April 1, 2022 5. J. Richard Kron for “A Vampire’s Internet Search History” published July 1, 2022 6. Elinora Westfall for “The Bird Woman and the Silent Minority” published July 1, 2022 All of the nominated showed exceptional skill in writing and creativity. Their literary “voices” are distinct. To the best of my knowledge, none of these stories/poems were published previously. The copies attached are how I received them. I don’t recall doing any editing for these, but if any was done, it was minimal, maybe correcting a typo or two. Respectfully, Phil Slattery, Publisher and Editor, The Chamber Magazine