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Some of the Pushcart winners for 2011

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Every year, the esteemed Pushcart Prizes are awarded to short stories and poems published in literary magazines, and then collected in an anthology. Last week, the outlets and authors who’d been selected for the 2011 Pushcart Prizes received notice of inclusion, and many of them blogged about it, made note on Twitter or posted the news on Facebook.

Who’s in?

Mary Beth Hughes for ‘Double Happiness’ in a Public Space Elliott Holt for ‘Fem Care’ in the Kenyon ReviewCheryl Strayed for ‘Munroe Country’ in the Missouri ReviewAlan Shapiro’s ‘Indoor Municipal Pool’ in the New Ohio Review Sarah Einstein for ‘Mot’ in Ninth Letter Martin Moran for ‘Analphabet,’ Brigit Pegeen Kelly for ‘Rome’ and L.S. Asekoff for ‘Hither & Yon,’ all from Ploughshares

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This is just a tiny sample: there will be dozens of stories and poems in the anthology, and many more included in its ‘special mention’ list. But I had to go looking to find even this selection.

That’s because the Pushcart Prize, founded in 1976, has never embraced the online world. Not only has it not posted a list of what will be found in the upcoming anthology; it never posts its table of contents. So what was in last year’s, or the year before, can only be found by cracking it open.

OK, just because I’m addicted to the internet doesn’t mean that everyone should be. The people behind the Pushcart Prizes have a lot of reading to do and have consistently pointed out excellent new writing being published. They don’t need to be distracted. But, really, wouldn’t it be nice if there were a complete list of its new Pushcart Prize winners online?

If you’ve been told you’re on the list, congratulations! Tell us all about it in the comments.
-- Carolyn Kellogg

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