Submissions for the 2027 Firecracker Awards will be accepted in fall 2026. See below for more information and guidelines.

2026 Firecracker Awards Winners

FICTION: Blood Work and Other Stories by Donald A. Carreira Ching, published by Bamboo Ridge Press
ISBN: 978-1-943756-13-1 | Distributor: Itasca Books

“Rarely is a collection written with such veracity and unwavering resolution. Blood Work and Other Stories delves into the contemporary lives of Hawaiians as they navigate grief, housing instability, and questions of belonging. These seventeen masterfully crafted stories are ones of grit, loss, and sorrow, while also erupting off the page with the unexpected splendor of pōhinahina growing in an ABC Store parking lot. They remind us that despite climate change and development, gentrification and intergenerational trauma, Hawaiʻi is a place of enduring beauty and strength. Donald A. Carreira Ching has written a marvel of a book that commands our attention and obedience.” —from the judges

Donald A. Carreira Ching, born and raised in Kahalu‘u on the island of O‘ahu, Hawai‘i, is the author of Blood Work and Other Stories (2025) and the novel Between Sky and Sea: A Family’s Struggle(2015), both published by Bamboo Ridge Press. In 2017, he was awarded an Elliot Cades Award for Literature. He earned his PhD in English from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and is an associate professor of English at Leeward Community College in Pearl City, Hawai‘i.

Bamboo Ridge Press is an independent, nonprofit press based in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi that was founded in 1978  to publish literature by, for, and about Hawaiʻi’s people. Each year, Bamboo Ridge produces a literary journal of poetry and fiction, featuring work by both emerging and established writers, and a book by a single author or an anthology focused on a special theme.

CREATIVE NONFICTION: Governing Bodies: A Memoir, A Confluence, A Watershed by Sangamithra Iyer, published by Milkweed Editions
ISBN: 978-1-571313-93-5 | Distributor: Publishers Group West

“Governing Bodies: A Memoir, A Confluence, A Watershed weaves together research and personal narrative in a genre-blurring work that is both a memoir and an argument. Within it, Sangamithra Iyer builds bridges between the different aspects of her identity, between humans and animals, between the past and the present. She writes to seek truth and reckon with grief. Iyer challenges us to have more compassion and empathy/sympathy for all living things, to think in a thoughtless world, and to feel when the world tries to numb us. The book is indeed a confluence, and one that offers a model to other writers who live intersectional lives and write intersectional stories that hold both the personal and the political. Governing Bodies is a stunning book, both in content as well as form, with a cover and table of contents whose designs are just as thoughtful as the words within.” —from the judges

Sangamithra Iyer is the author of the debut book, Governing Bodies: A Memoir, A Confluence, A Watershed (Milkweed Editions, 2025).  She is the recipient of a Whiting Nonfiction Grant for Works-in-Progress, a Café Royal Foundation Literature Grant, and the Diamonstein-Spielvogel Fellowship at the New York Public Library. Also an environmental planner and engineer, Iyer is the founder of the Literary Animal Project, for which she was awarded a Culture and Animals Foundation Grant. She lives in Queens, New York.

Milkweed Editions, founded in 1980 and based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is a nonprofit independent publisher of literary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. The press’s mission is to identify, nurture, and publish transformative literature and build an engaged community around it.

POETRY: The Choreic Period: Poems by Latif Askia Ba, published by Milkweed Editions
ISBN: 978-1-639551-18-7 | Distributor: Publishers Group West

“The Choreic Period is a striking contribution to contemporary disability poetics, challenging ableist reading habits and expanding what poetic accessibility and difficulty can mean. We were moved by its pared-down nature, its illustration of the relationship between syntax and disability, and its innovative formal elements, including interruptive punctuation, staccato lineation, multilingual code-switching, and deliberate difficulty. Its force and voice made this conceptually sharp, powerfully embodied book a clear choice for the Firecracker Poetry Award.” —from the judges

Latif Askia Ba, a poet with Choreic Cerebral Palsy from Brooklyn, New York, is the author of The Choreic Period: Poems (Milkweed Editions, 2025) and The Machine Code of a Bleeding Moon (Stillhouse Press, 2002). His work has also been published in Poetry Magazine, among many other publications. He received his MFA in creative writing from Columbia University and was the print poetry editor for the Columbia Journal’s sixty-first issue.

Milkweed Editions, founded in 1980 and based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is a nonprofit independent publisher of literary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. The press’s mission is to identify, nurture, and publish transformative literature, and build an engaged community around it.

MAGAZINES/BEST DEBUT: Elastic
Distributor: elasticmag.com

“The label debut implies newness, and in some cases, ideas that are not yet fully realized. Elastic is a new journal of visual art and writing that disproves that assumption with style and verve. A print magazine showcasing a wide range of psychedelic art and literature, Elastic takes a subject we might think we know and understand—psychedelia—and expands it beyond an homage to a bygone era and into an emphatic reimagining of radical creativity for our current times.  

Elastic’s distinctive design offers a lush playground for a heady mix of established writers and newer voices. The inaugural “The Dying Issue” includes everything from surreal collage art to short stories to essays that are equal parts surprising and beautiful. Perhaps most importantly, Elastic deftly harnesses the power of intrigue to remind readers of the simple pleasure of discovery that is so inherent to great literary magazines. A truly ambitious and accomplished debut that pushes the boundaries of what great literature can do, and what it can become.” —from the judges

Elastic, founded in 2025, is a print magazine of psychedelic art and literature. The magazine publishes visual art and writing that bend time and genre and perspective, blur waking and dreaming life, find sublimity and absurdity in the everyday, magnify the senses, multiply and distort the possibilities of narrative, and interrogate power by breaking form.

MAGAZINES/GENERAL EXCELLENCE: Oxford American
Distributor: oxfordamerican.org

“Through word and vision, Oxford American is an exceptional magazine celebrating the vibrancy of the contemporary and capacious American South. The stellar print magazine is anchored by an impressive foundation of beautifully crafted fiction, poetry, reportage, criticism, and art, with a powerful impact that succeeds beyond the sum of its laudable parts.

Its editorial dedication to literary excellence is matched by the magazine’s commitment to inclusivity and accessibility through a streamlined, robust free online presence, as well as the organization’s donation of print issues to those who might not otherwise have access. A range of events and programming further demonstrate this focus on local civics that cementsOxford American’s organizational ethos and mission statement.

We deeply admire Oxford American’s scope, its noteworthy artistic leadership, and its ambitious photography program, all of which speak to readers far beyond the South’s regional borders. The American South is a complicated, compelling, beautiful, and diverse region, and Oxford American celebrates its nuances and unique voices through striking writing and sumptuous visuals.” —from the judges

Oxford American, founded in 1992, is a quarterly magazine that explores the complexity and vitality of the American South through exceptional writing, music, and visual art. The magazine works to cultivate stories that challenge existing narratives about the South and champion the regional voices often left out of national conversations.

Fiction

Stacie Shannon Denetsosie, author of The Missing Morningstar: And Other Stories (Torrey House Press, 2023)
Mubanga Kalimamukwento, author of Obligations to the Wounded (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2024)
Mikey LaFave, general manager at Rec Room Books in Athens, Georgia

Creative Nonfiction

Poetry

José Angel Araguz, author of Ruin & Want (Sundress Publications, 2023)
Danny Caine, author of Jewish American Dream (Sarabande Books, 2025)
Esther Lin, author of Cold Thief Place (Alice James Books, 2025)

Magazines