Spillwords Press Awards 2026

Suman Pokhrel is a Nepali poet, lyricist, playwright, and translator. He writes mainly in the Nepali language, but also writes in English, Hindi, and some other South Asian languages. His works have been translated into several languages across countries and have appeared in notable journals worldwide. His poetry is taught as part of the literary curriculum at two universities in Nepal and three universities in India. Some appreciators of his poetry have had verses tattooed on their body parts. Netizens frequently quote verses from his poetry and share them on social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. He has been awarded notable accolades, including the SAARC Literary Award in 2013 and 2015, among several others.

Phyllis Souza lives in Northern California and is retired from a long real estate career. After taking several on-line writing classes, she started writing flash fiction and short stories. Her stories have been published in Café Lit, Spillwords, Scarlet Leaf, and Friday Flash Fiction.

After a long career of tinkering in telecommunications, Jim Bartlett switched to tinkering with words, both, of course, requiring a stretch of the imagination. He has since been fortunate to have a number of stories, ranging from flash to novella, featured in Fiction on the Web, CrimeSpree Magazine, Short-Story.me, Ontologica, The Scarlet Leaf Review, Fairlight Books and a number of other wonderful publications. Most recently one of his stories was featured in the print anthology, The Best of Fiction on the Web, 1996 – 2017. While mentally he strolls along a warm California beach with his wife and golden retriever (shhh, she doesn’t know she’s a dog), physically they reside on a special little island in the Pacific Northwest.

I'm British and have been living with my German born wife in s.w. Germany for 30 years. I've been writing short stories for many years and they have appeared on Fictionontheweb, Short FictionBreak, Literally Stories, Spillwords and other sites. I also have a story in the book The Best of Fiction On the Web.

Franci enjoyed a dedicated career in the insurance industry for over 20 years being rewarded both professionally and personally. Now it’s time for Franci to follow her dreams by doing things she enjoys…spending time with family, learning, sharing, traveling, and writing poetry. Franci’s writing and creative endeavors can be found on her blog, Eugi’s Causerie. Franci has authored eBooks Fanciful Delights and Mama, me and Mother Nature, and also has writings at Spillwords, PoetrySoup, beBee, and various anthologies.

Novelist and poet Patricia Furstenberg has a degree in Dentistry and is the author of 18 books including DREAMLAND, 100-Word Stories, TRANSYLVANIA’s HISTORY A to Z, SILENT HEROES – chosen “One of the Five Books Everyone Should Read in Their Lifetime”, and JOYFUL TROUBLE – Amazon Bestseller. Patricia Furstenberg’s writing focuses on people, on how history surprised them, and on the footprints they left, memories that should not be forgotten.

Retired psychotherapist finally has time to indulge in her life long passion.

Valli Henry-Boldini hails from London but now lives in Venice, Italy. She is an educator, translator and vocal coach. Her writing began at an early age with diaries, poetry, lyrics then non-fiction/fiction. She is currently trying to write her autobiography. Her writing has appeared in Woman’s Weekly (Print version), Taste of the Caribbean and 101 Words Org to name but a few.

I am a mother and grandmother who enjoys writing but usually just for my own pleasure. I was born in Essex but spent many of my adult years in various overseas wherever my husband was working. I studied Sociology originally at University but began teaching English as a Foreign Language while abroad. On our return to the UK I began working in adult education teaching Literacy and Numeracy but always had a passion for Early Years education. As such I retrained and spent a number of years working as an early years practitioner, until I retired in November 2019. I now live in Leicestershire and have two grown up children and two young grandchildren with whom I love to play and read stories to.. During Lockdown I wrote a number of little short stories for them, which i recorded and shared with them just for fun. My first little children's story book Off to the Beach was published by Bumble Bee Books (part of Olympia Publishers) in April 2021. It really was a lockdown project!

Melissa Lemay lives in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, with her children, cats, and dog. She writes about God, addiction, trauma, healing, motherhood, and many other things. She enjoys spending time with family, drinking good coffee, and being outdoors. She loves animals. Her poem, "Ephemeral," was chosen as Poetic Publication of the Year for 2023 at Spillwords Press; she was Author of the Month for July 2024; and Author of the Year for 2024. Find her at Melissa Lemay at WordPress, Collaborature at Blogspot, and at dVerse Poets Pub.

Ernest Federspiel, a retired poet with a zest for life, has been writing and saving his poetry for over 30 years. Ernest’s quick-witted charm and journey’s through love, desire and pain resonate with fellow wanderers and dreamers alike. His quick wit and charming personality echoes the freedom and spirit of his journey through life in America.