Moon City Press

Catching up on some recent news, here's a new story from Kim Magowan, recently shared by New World Writing Quarterly:

Kim Magowan ~ The Habit Is You You acquire a habit, then the habit is you. You are a person-sized container that the habit pours into. The habit fills to your edges. You are a transparent piping bag, a pillow case, a jelly, a fr…

Congratulations to the Moon City Press authors named to the Wigleaf Top 50:

Andrew Bertaina, "The Shape of Things"
Kim Magowan, "Ontkommer"

Here's the complete list (be sure to click on the links to read the authors' stories):

w i g l e a f :  (very) short fiction An online journal of very short fictions -- under 1000 words.

The editors at Moon City Press would like to congratulate Paul Martinez P***a of Elmurst, Illinois, for winning the 2025 Moon City Poetry Award for his collection Floor, My Floor, My Loyal Lover. Paul will receive the $1000 cash prize and his book will be published by MCP in early 2027.

Paul Martinez P***a lives and works in northeastern Illinois. He is the author of the chapbook, Pepper Spray (Momotombo Press). His first full length book, My Kill Adore Him, was selected for the Andres Montoya Poetry Prize and published by University of Notre Dame Press. His second book, Domestic Co**se, was an honoree in the Midland Authors Awards and was published by Match Factory Editions. His poetry has been widely anthologized and was commissioned for a Chicago Public Radio project called "In Verse," which aimed to explore the emotional weight of gun violence. He is a Canto Mundo fellow and currently edits for Packingtown Review.

John Isles and Francine Witte are the runners up in the competition.

We would like to thank everyone who entered this year's contest, which always prompts so many amazing manuscripts. We wish everyone good luck with their manuscript and with all their writing endeavors.

The editors of Moon City Press congratulate Emily Rinkema of Burlington, Vermont, for winning the 2025 Moon City Short Fiction Award competition for her book, Dead Mother Card! Emily will receive the $1000 cash prize and see her book published by MCP in early 2027.

Emily's bio: Emily Rinkema lives in northern Vermont. Her stories have recently appeared in Cutleaf, Moon City Review, Milk Candy Review, and Wigleaf, and have been selected for The Best Small Fictions, Best Microfiction, and Best American Nonrequired Reading anthologies. You can read more at https://www.emilyrinkema.com/ or follow her on BS or IG .

Runners-up in the contest include Timothy Boudreau and Zachary Tyler Vickers.

Thanks to everyone who entered. We received a record number of submissions this year, so many of them worthy of this honor. We are excited to be a publisher in this extremely exciting time, with so many talented writers.

Last day to enter the Moon City Press Moon City Short Fiction Award competition!

Moon City Press - The 2026 Moon City Short Fiction Award • The Moon City Short Fiction Award is for an original collection of short fiction, written originally in English by a single or collaborative author. • Individual pieces in the collection may be published in periodicals but not yet collected and published in full-length manuscript form. • Ent...

Last day to enter the 2026 Moon City Press Moon City Poetry Award competition!

Moon City Press - The 2026 Moon City Poetry Award • The Moon City Poetry Award is for an original collection of poems written in English by a single or collaborative author. • Individual poems in the collection may be published in periodicals or may have appeared in a chapbook, but poems should not be previously published in full-length manuscr...

Ten days left to enter the 2026 Moon City Press Moon City Short Fiction Award competition!

Moon City Press - The 2026 Moon City Short Fiction Award • The Moon City Short Fiction Award is for an original collection of short fiction, written originally in English by a single or collaborative author. • Individual pieces in the collection may be published in periodicals but not yet collected and published in full-length manuscript form. • Ent...

Ten days left to enter the 2026 Moon City Press Moon City Poetry Award competition!

Moon City Press - The 2026 Moon City Poetry Award • The Moon City Poetry Award is for an original collection of poems written in English by a single or collaborative author. • Individual poems in the collection may be published in periodicals or may have appeared in a chapbook, but poems should not be previously published in full-length manuscr...

Happy Thursday! Here's a new micro from Michelle Ross, newly posted at The Citron Review:

https://citronreview.com/2026/04/29/childhood/?fbclid=IwZnRzaASNJsFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEe7ksaHYuiU2OMFdF_jN3WCaVoQxZ4J2eX6ExhsX0XmypOEPeHZQ8r-INp3Ow_aem_ZzZvpWrWjG8xppigxPoHcg

Childhood by Michelle Ross   Woods in early morning. No sunrise—only a slow bleaching. Ghostly glow of X-rayed bones. The wind coughs. Trees rattle and hiss. Something stirring in the leaves. Something …