L’Esprit Literary Review
Judged by Lucy Ives || Read more about Lucy’s background below
As I write in the introduction to my forthcoming book, three six five, “We must make writing more prismatic and multisensory, combinatory and irreducible, porous and deep, vibratory and timely, young and old, all at once.” So, if you can manage it, do something like that.
–Lucy Ives
L’Esprit seeks short prose of exceptional vision and skill, now sponsored by Chill Subs’ Contest Transparency Program. After receiving 338 submissions, we’re thrilled to announce the results of the 2026 Clarissa Dalloway Prize for Short Prose:
2026 Clarissa Dalloway Prize for Short Prose
Guest Judge: Lucy Ives
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Grand Prize Winner || Publication in L’Esprit Issue Nine and $500 USD
A Clothes Line, Marilyn Abildskov
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Second Place Award || Publication in L’Esprit Issue Nine and $150 USD
Snowy Owls Delight Birders on Chicago’s Lakefront, Kate Bowers
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Third Place Award || Publication in L’Esprit Issue Nine and $100 USD
The Rest Cure, Maggie El-Masry
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Finalists || Publication in L’Esprit Issue Nine and $50
Harvey, K. R. Walrod
In This Cracked Composite Vapor, I, Mary Elizabeth Dubois
Shortlist:
In This Cracked Composite Vapor, I, Mary Elizabeth Dubois
The Hours Before Morning, Diana Champa
Reflection, Hannah Liberman
Snowy Owls Delight Birders on Chicago’s Lakefront, Kate Bowers
A Clothes Line, Marilyn Abildskov
Serpent Woman, 1965, Martha Hipley
The Rest Cure, Maggie El-Masry
Two Sketches, Niki Orfanou
Azules, Sofia Fernandez
Sea Legs, Camille Pirtle
Harvey, K.R. Walrod
Quiet Hours, Ted O’Connell
The End of Love, Kirsten Trantor
Moving, Thomas Bender
Electronic Medical Record, Arielle Arbushites
Longlist:
Thank you for your support of fearless writing.
Lucy Ives is a novelist and critic.
Her most recent books, both from Graywolf Press, are Life Is Everywhere: A Novel and An Image of My Name Enters America: Essays, winner of the 2024 Vermont Book Award in Creative Nonfiction. Her work has appeared in Harper’s, The New York Times Book Review, The Paris Review, and Vogue, among other publications.
A recipient of an Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant, she has taught at Brown, Cornell, and New York Universities. In May 2026, siglio press will release Ives’s three six five: prompts, acts, divinations, a year-long daybook of philosophical exercises for writing and other forms of creative practice.
in mediam mentem // Clarissa Dalloway Prize
