Announcing the Winners of The Gertrude Stein Award in Fiction by |

Eckleburg is pleased to announce the Gertrude Stein Award in Fiction winners. Thank you to all the talented writers who submitted and their incredible patience as we, our families and literary community recovered from the COVID pandemic. It is always a difficult task choosing among so many fine stories and it is truly the talents within our Eckleburg community that often kept us going. Much love to all. We look forward to reading more from you.

First Place Winner of The Gertrude Stein Award
“Frittura” by Judith Goode

Second Place
“Little Sister” by Jarrett Kaufman

Third Place
“The Angle of Desire” by Jason Harris

Honorable mention
“Next Stop” by Daren Schuettpelz

The Gertrude Stein Award in Fiction is open to submissions of all stories in English no more than 8,000 words. No minimum word count. Stories may be submitted by authors, editors, publishers and agents. Simultaneous and multiple submissions allowed. Award-winning manuscripts will be published by Eckleburg. Honorable Mentions will be listed with titles and author names.

Rae Cline

Rae Cline is the author of PRECIOUS UGLY, a debut novel (coming August 18, 2026 from 7.13 Books). She is also the author of the short story collection The Indefinite State of Imaginary Morals. Her stories, essays, and prose poetry have appeared in The Paris Review, McSweeney’s, and more. She earned an M.A. in Writing from John Hopkins University and an M.F.A. in Fiction and Creative Nonfiction from American University. A teacher for thirty-five years, she taught writing and literature at the secondary level as well as at her alma maters, the International Writing Program at Iowa State University, and other campuses. She is the founding editor of Eckleburg, where she writes the Openings column, and the founder of the Warm Words Project, a homeless and domestic violence outreach initiative. Born in Ohio, she now splits her time between New York City and the Gulf of Mexico. PRECIOUS UGLY is now available for preorder. Read more at raecline.com.