I woke up to a Pushcart Prize nomination

Or, as my friend calls it, a "huge, ginormous, massive fucking big deal"

Yesterday was a bit of a blur.

Image description: A screen shot of Olwen’s Twitter account, @Olwen_Allwen, that reads: “I highly recommend waking up to news of your first Pushcart nomination! (Even though it’ll make you feel like you’re still in a dream!) Thank you @BathFlashAward and congratulations to all nominees! It’s in response to the tweet by Bath Flash Fiction announcing the nominations. Hint: Don’t bother following Olwen on Twitter. She’s not on there often and only hangs on to it for news like this.

The lovely people who run the Bath Flash Fiction Award nominated my story, The Shape of the Situation in Apartment 23C on a Sunday in September for The Pushcart Prize.

It’s the same story that received a “highly commended” placement in their June award.

It’s only the second story I’ve ever had published.

I have a total of two stories published and I share this info simply because it shocks me. Even though I don’t often have the energy, enthusiasm or interest to submit a lot of work, I have a lot more rejections than acceptances. Writing takes a lot out of me even though I go at my own pace. But you know by now that I’ll go after opportunities that interest me. And I’ll enjoy the entire process. Even if it stings when it doesn’t work out. I love learning and experimenting and exploring my curiosities for the written word. And the writing process brings me a lot of joy, on its own.

However, and I want to be very clear about this, I am absolutely delighted to be nominated!!!

Especially after googling “Pushcart Prize” because… I really didn’t know what it was all about.

Sure, I’ve heard of it. Other writers I know seem to hold it in high regard. I’ve even congratulated people on their nominations in past years. But it never crossed my mind that this would be something I’d ever have to think about. So, I didn’t.

Until yesterday.

As per the home page of pushcartprize.com, “The Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses series, published every year since 1976, is the most honored literary project in America – including Highest Honors from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.”

Of course I did another google search after I read that blurb on my screen because I didn’t believe they had nominated me for that Pushcart Prize.

Thankfully, Dana Shavin’s article, What do Pushcart Prize nominations really mean, anyway?, informed me of the slim chance I have of making it into the small pile of nominations that will actually get published in the Anthology. It helped me get over myself so I could enjoy this experience.

But it was the Pushcart Prize’s nomination process that really got my attention.

Small presses from around the world can only submit six (6) writing pieces for consideration!

That’s such a small number compared to the hundreds of stories these presses are publishing each year.

AND nominations for the Pushcart aren’t accepted via email. They must be printed, sealed in an envelope, taken to a post office, postage paid, and dropped in a mailbox.

As someone who loves to receive physical mail but who will do everything in my power to avoid mailing anything to anyone, this amount of labour involved stuck out for me the most.

Can you imagine how much effort goes into choosing only six out of probably hundreds of wonderful writing pieces these small publishers have received? Then having to use snail mail and cross their fingers that their envelope of nominations get stuffed into an overcrowded P.O. Box in New York?

And all that effort was made for a Flash Fiction piece that I’m proud of.

It’s under 300 words. But those words were placed in a way that mean a great deal to me. And to some readers who read them.

For some reason, a person, or people, at the Bath Flash Fiction Awards championed my story as one of their nominations.

I am honoured by their support, and I appreciate the time they took in sending it in for consideration.

As fun as writing can be, it’s a lonely practice.

I’ve joined many writing groups, and classes to connect with other writers. While I’ve learned a lot, I’ve left many of them because I’ve been disappointed. For various reasons. Mainly because listening to racist, fatphobic, ableist crap that people think they should be allowed to share because it’s “just a shitty first draft” turns Olwen into a very grumpy group member who quietly quits most often.

So, while the idea for The Shape of the Situation in Apartment 23C on a Sunday in September was inspired by a few sentences I wrote in response to a prompt in one of my groups; I ended up scrapping most of what I had written during that Zoom call with the group. What ended up getting published came from spending time hunched over my desk, or propped up on pillows in bed, writing alone.

Which makes me agree wholeheartedly with everything that Bill Henderson, who started the Pushcart Prize Anthology with a few other founding editors, is quoted as saying in the same article linked above:

“I’m a writer too, and we are so often denigrated or just plain ignored. Anytime anyone takes notices of our work, it can change the way we feel about ourselves, gives us more confidence, which can in turn have a positive effect on our writing.”

As much as I preach about appreciating the fun and messy creative process, I also hope, to some extent, that what I actually create will receive some attention and a little love.

People took the time to show some of my writing a little love by way of this nomination.

I’m grateful for it.

And I’m grateful that you’ve read this far.

Thank you for celebrating this “huge, ginormous, massive fucking big deal”, as my friend calls it, with me.

What else are you celebrating?

Enjoy the rest of your day.

 Olwen

PS. Speaking of things that I’m celebrating…

You MUST read The Clothes Makes the Man by Finnian Burnett. It’s a beautiful novella full of stories that you’ll be thinking about long after you’ve finished reading them. Finn has taken so much care in crafting characters that you’ll absolutely fall in love with.

Because I don’t want to give away any spoilers, I’ll leave you with the description:

 "Arthur, a sensitive soul, navigates his life in academia with wit and insight that belies his own self-doubt. Told through a series of flash stories, Arthur’s search for love and acceptance means setting boundaries with his controlling mother, battling gender dysphoria, and struggling to overcome his biggest challenge – internalized hatred of his own fat, female body."