Established in 2019 and open to published and unpublished writers over the age of 18, The Porch Prize honors fresh voices and excellent writing. In years past, our judges have included the notable writers
Megan Stielstra, Tiana Clark, Silas House, Edgar Kunz, Kristen Arnett, Margaret Renkl, David James Poissant, Maggie Smith, Aimee Nezukhumatathil, Natalie Lima, Marianne Worthington, and Kevin Wilson. We award a cash prize and Porch gift certificate to one winner in each category, and all finalists are acknowledged at our annual fundraiser. Winning entries are also published in
Nashville Review, the publication of Vanderbilt University’s Masters in Fine Arts in Creative Writing program.
Our winners for the 2023 Porch Prize are:• Fiction: Alease Robertson - "School Day"Alease Robertson has a B.A. from Vanderbilt University and M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Vermont College. Her short fiction has appeared in Crazyhorse, Zoetrope All-Story, and The Nashville Scene. She grew up in North Carolina tobacco country where her family made their living as sharecroppers and factory workers. She has lived in Nashville since 1978.
• Poetry: Laura Joyce-Hubbard - "Call Sign: Mother"
Laura Joyce-Hubbard’s work appears or is forthcoming in
Poetry, The Iowa Review, Sewanee Review, and elsewhere. She won
The Iowa Review’s 2022 veteran writing award. Her nonfiction is recognized as Notable in
Best American Essays of 2022 and is an AWP nonfiction selection for Intro Awards. A former C-130 pilot, Laura served in the Air Force for twenty years. She lives with her family in Illinois, serves as a fiction editor for
TriQuarterly, and is the inaugural Highland Park Poet Laureate. You can follow Laura on Twitter at @laurajoyhub, Instagram at @Laurajh, and Facebook at @Laura Joyce-Hubbard.
• Creative Nonfiction: Jonathan Sharp - "Voices"
After decades of moving as an Army brat,
Jonathan Sharp made a home in Seattle where he designs video games. He honed his writing by studying at the Pacific NW Writers Association, the Hugo House in Seattle and the Port Townsend writers conference. When not writing, he enjoys yoga, singing, theater, basketball, and hanging out with his cat - Evey. He has recently completed his first memoir. You can follow Jonathan on Twitter and Instagram at @jonathancsharp.
Our runners-up and finalists for the 2023 Porch Prize are:
FICTION
• Chad Broughman - "Countdown to retirement: Random journal entries of a public-school teacher’s final year" (Runner-Up)• Christopher Waldrop - "The Mirror Trick"
• Bill Woods - "Catch and Release"
• Pam Jones - "Just Meditating"
POETRY
• Jed Myers - "Empathy's Shadow" (Runner-Up)
• Rachel Clemens - "regulars"
• Lauren Turner - "Still on the Line"
• Aaron Shapiro - "White/Process"
CREATIVE NONFICTION
• Ash Weber - "Your David" (Runner-Up)
• Joanna Brichetto - "The Weed Tree"
• Joanna Brichetto - "Paradise in a Parking Lot"
• Billy Kilgore - "When We Needed It Most"
Much thanks to our Porch Prize 2023 final judges!
• Fiction: Destiny O. Birdsong
• Poetry: Nickole Brown
• Creative Nonfiction: Elissa Altman
