THIS YEAR’S NOMINATIONS

THE HARDEST PART of selecting nominees for compilations like Best of the Net is choosing between many excellent works all of which we love or we wouldn’t have accepted and published them to begin with. Instead of “the best” of our site over a one-year period, maybe it’s better to call them the best examples of what we like and hope to offer readers on a consistent basis. Here, then, are our eight nominees for fiction and poetry for the 2026 Best of the Net anthology, chosen from our New Pop Lit and Fast Pop Lit sites.

FICTION

“The Memorial” by Brent King. Published on 10/4/2024.

An excellent story, filled with compassion and humanity.

“Ghost in the Machine” by Andie Weber. Published on 5/23/2025.

Well-written, imaginative, timely and topical.

POETRY

Poetry is a more indefinable art, with appeal to the senses and the intellect but also the subconscious. Here are our six choices.

“Facial Recognition” by John Zedolik. Published on 7/12/2024 (third of four poems).

“Man Shouts” by James Croal Jackson. Published on 8/8/2024.

“To the Editor” by Nancy Byrne Iannucci. Published on 9/20/2024.

“unprocessed thoughts” by Bach Le. Published on 10/8/2024.

“There Where the Weather” by Christopher Landrum. Published on 11/5/2024.

“On the Killing of Brian Thompson and the Coronation of Luigi Mangione” by Bud Sturguess. Published on 6/19/2025.

Reactions? Disagreements? Thoughts? Feel free to respond!