Yellow Arrow Publishing Blog
Meet the 2026 Yellow Arrow Publishing Pushcart Prize Nominees
The Pushcart Prize honors the incredible work of authors published by small presses and has since 1976. And since then, thousands of writers have been featured in its annual collections—most of whom are new to the series. The Pushcart Prize is a wonderful opportunity for writers of short stories, poetry, and essays to jump further into the literary world and see their work gain recognition and appreciation.
The Prize represents an incredible opportunity for Yellow Arrow Publishing to further showcase and support our authors. Our staff is committed to letting our authors shine. Every writer has a story to tell and every story is worth telling. We are so proud of everyone we publish at Yellow Arrow. Without further ado, let’s meet the 2026 Yellow Arrow Pushcart Prize Nominees!
Emily Decker
“Finding Home in a Villanelle”
from Homing: Poems
~ i found you once between the creases,
and i’ll find you again, just in pieces. ~
Emily Decker is a writer in Baltimore, Maryland. Her poems have appeared in Yellow Arrow Journal, Full Bleed, Hole in the Head Review, and Campfire Stories: Chesapeake Bay. Her debut collection Homing: Poems is available through Yellow Arrow. She holds a bachelor’s degree in literature and a master’s degree in secondary English education from Georgia State University. When she’s not writing or reading, she is usually out on the Chesapeake Bay, on or behind a stage, or plotting her next adventure. Follow Emily on Instagram @emadeck or at emilydeckerpoetry.com.
Johanna Elattar
“Under the Siren: Alexandria, 1973”
from Yellow Arrow Journal Vol. X, No. 2, KAIROS
~ The siren taught me silence. But the cake, the song, the mimed applause—they taught me something stronger. Joy doesn’t need permission. It can whisper and still survive. ~
Johanna Elattar is a writer from Brooklyn whose work explores memory, faith, and resilience through intimate, character-driven storytelling. Influenced by early childhood experiences in Alexandria and a life shaped by displacement, survival, and devotion to truth, she writes toward quiet revelations and the subtle moments that define a life. Her writing has appeared in Yellow Arrow Journal, Lunch Ticket, Muslim Matters, and other publications, and she was recently featured in an Oxford University Press anthology. Elattar believes in the dignity of ordinary lives, the endurance of the human spirit, and the duty to bear witness. She currently lives in upstate New York with her rescue animals and is at work on a novella.
Johanna contributed her creative nonfiction piece “Under the Siren: Alexandria, 1973” to Yellow Arrow Journal Vol. X, No. 2, KAIROS, and can be found in the Yellow Arrow bookstore.
Ann marie Houghtailing
“Little by Little”
from Little by Little
~ Even the wisdom was small
Three words
you could fit into the palm of your hand ~
Ann marie Houghtailing has a graduate’s degree (ALM) in American literature from Harvard University Extension. She has delivered a TEDx Talk entitled Raising Humans, and performed her critically acclaimed one woman show, Renegade Princess, in New York, Chicago, Santa Fe, San Francisco, and San Diego. Houghtailing is a visual artist and cofounder of the firm Story Imprinting. Her writing has appeared in the Washington Post, Huffington Post, Daily Worth, XO Jane, San Diego Business Journal, Yahoo! Finance, and Thought Catalog.
Ann marie’s chapbook Little by Little was released in April 2025 and can be found in the Yellow Arrow bookstore.
Majiq Vu Mai
“The Metamorphosis”
from Yellow Arrow Journal Vol. X, No. 1 UNFURL
~ What could small flying creatures like us do after a life shaking fall like that, but take our time? ~
Majiq Vu Mai (magic/they/he/we) is a multiplicity of madness, writing themselves alive. An alchemist of flesh and memory, they write whatever burns inside of them like a searing ache and find relief in giving voice to their truths through language. For Majiq—we write to collect the pieces of ourselves we have lost along the way and to remember our possibilities through the creative act of storytelling.
Majiq contributed their piece “The Metamorphosis” to Yellow Arrow Journal’s Vol. X, No. 1, UNFURL, and can be found in the Yellow Arrow bookstore.
Vic Nogay
“Appalachians”
from Naming a Dying Thing
~ I know your hills
are a small bump, emptying, cowing to the weight
of loss, of naming a dying thing. ~
Vic Nogay is a Pushcart Prize and Best Microfiction nominated writer from Ohio. Her work has been published in Gone Lawn, Tiny Molecules, Fractured Lit, Lost Balloon, and other journals. She is the author of the micropoetry chapbook under fire under water (tiny wren, 2022) and is the microeditor of Identity Theory. Find her online @vicnogaywrites or haunting rural roadsides where the wildflowers grow.
Vic’s chapbook Naming a Dying Thing was released in October 2025 and can be found in the Yellow Arrow bookstore.
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Yellow Arrow Publishing is a nonprofit supporting women-identifying writers through publication and access to the literary arts. You can support us as we BLAZE a path for women-identifying creatives this year by purchasing one of our publications or a workshop from the Yellow Arrow bookstore, for yourself or as a gift, joining our newsletter, following us on Facebook or Instagram, or subscribing to our YouTube channel. Donations are appreciated via PayPal (staff@yellowarrowpublishing.com), Venmo (@yellowarrowpublishing), or US mail (PO Box 65185, Baltimore, Maryland 21209). More than anything, messages of support through any one of our channels are greatly appreciated.