The Pushcart Prize XLVIII

This hit-or-miss collection gathers stories, essays, and poems published by small presses and magazines in 2022. With just three entries in translation, including Polish poet Krystyna Dabrowska’s middling “Travel Agency,” and with some prize winners having nominated each other, there’s an insular and self-congratulatory air to the proceedings. On one end of the quality spectrum, Lydia Conklin’s story “Sunny Talks” offers a searching and nuanced portrayal of an episode at a trans influencer convention; on the other end, Allegra Hyde’s “The Future Is a Click Away,” about an algorithm’s predictive shipments of consumer goods, evaporates into a gimmick. Still, all the pieces faithfully represent a devotion to the craft of writing, which editor Henderson claims in his introduction is a sacred space that must be protected from the encroachment of AI. The sacred is also touched on in the late Rev. Rob McCall’s stirring essay about the enduring power of traditions outside organized Christianity (“If, when you hear Native American or Celtic or African or other tribal music, you get excited, it is because of the Old Faith still alive in you”). The highlight of the collection, Peter Orner’s indelible “Four More Stories,” probes its characters’ inability to communicate (“What they wanted of each other was always lodged in their eyes. Words useless. Why say them at all?”). Hopefully next year’s edition will fulfill the prize’s promise by casting a wider net. (Dec.)