Monarch Queer Literary Awards 2026
We are pleased to announce our nominees for this year’s first-ever Monarch Queer Literary Awards! This new awards anthology recognizes queer writing and art published by literary magazines and independent presses. We are extremely excited to see a new set of awards honoring queer writers, and the Split Lip FAM would like to extend a very gracious thank you to Monarch for creating this space. Without further ado, here are our nominees!
Fiction:
Thomas Kearnes, “I Will Forget His Voice”
Neeru Nagarajan, “Deadheading”
Poetry:
Ally Ang, “From Holes We Emerged, and Into Holes We Shall Return”
Alex Bortell, “Cruising in the Motor City”
Séamus Isaac Fey, “Tove’s Cento: Youth”
Max Pasakorn, “Ghazal for My Gay Ass”
C. Russell Price, “Bisquick’s Dance Break”
Creative Nonfiction:
Ciara Alfaro, “Beauty Mark”
Dante Fuoco, “We’ve Got War to Cover”