Welcome to Prime Number Magazine!
Issue 131, April — June 2018
(a Press 53 publication)
Winners and Finalists named in the 2018 Prime Number Magazine Awards!
Prime Number Magazine is home to distinctive poetry and short fiction from writers around the world. Browse our selections by clicking on the author's photo or title of the poem or story.
Winners of our monthly Flash Fiction Contest
Low $7 entry fee (a prime number) and a nice prize of $251 (also a prime number)
November 2017: "Jesus When I Am Seventeen" by Jade Ramsey, judged by James Claffey
December 2017: "None of It's Been Good" by Stephanie Friedman, judged by Joseph Rein
January 2018: "The Parable of the Yacht" by Lindsey Griffin, judged by Wendy J. Fox
Winners of our FREE 53-Word Story Contest
Winner receives a free book by that month's judge
December 2017: "Inheritance" by Colleen Maloney, judged by Holly Iglesias, author of Sleeping Things: Prose Poems
January 2018: "Taking Stock" by Meg Freer, judged by Felicia Mitchell, author of Waltzing with Horses
February 2018: "Bedtime Shadows" by Joyce Ann Wheatley, judged by Garrett Kim, our spring semester intern from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, School of Filmmaking
Editors' Selections
Guest Editor for Poetry
Yahya frederickson
Yahya Frederickson teaches writing and literature at Minnesota State University Moorhead. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Montana and a PhD in English from the University of North Dakota. Between graduate degrees he taught for six years in Yemen, initially as a Peace Corps Volunteer. He has served as a Fulbright Scholar in Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Kyrgyzstan. His most recent book is In a Homeland Not Far: New & Selected Poems
"In Its Distance" by Cheryl Wilder
"Sense of Snow" by Dmitry Blizniuk, translated by Sergey Gerasimov from Russia
"Skinny" by Sorella Lark Andersen
Guest Editor for Short Fiction
ray morrison
Ray Morrison's debut short story collection, In a World of Small Truths, was published by Press 53 in 2012 and included the story "Laid to Rest," winner of the 2011 Press 53 Open Award for Short Story (now the Prime Number Magazine Awards), judged by Chris Offutt. His stories have appeared in numerous publications. His second collection, I Hear the Human Noise, will be published by Press 53 in September 2018.
Meet Our Guest Editors for Issue 139, Oct-Dec 2018
(Submissions are open now through June 30 at Submittable)
Guest Editor for Poetry: Richard Garcia
Read Richard's bio and his poem "Regret" from Porridge, winner of the 2016 Press 53 Award for Poetry, judged by Tom Lombardo
Guest Editor for Short Fiction: Jodi Paloni
Read Jodi's bio and her story "Deep End" from her debut collection of short fiction, They Could Live with Themselves, runner-up for the 2015 Press 53 Award for Short Fiction
prime number
: any integer other than 0 or ± 1 that is not divisible without remainder by any other integers except ± 1 and ± the integer itself (Merriam-Webster's Dictionary)
In literature: poetry and prose that is distinctive and unique (Prime Number Magazine)
Prime Number Magazine is a Press 53 publication, founded by Clifford Garstang and Kevin Morgan Watson on July 1, 2010, beginning with Issue 2 and continuing in prime numbers.