2025 Anthony Grooms Short Fiction Price Finalists Announcement

News
Written By The Headlight Review

The Headlight Review is thrilled to announce the finalists for our 2025 Anthony Grooms Short Fiction Prize.

headshot of anthony grooms; a bald african american male with with a short beard

Anthony Grooms

· Finger Food – Claire Guo

· We Are All Strangers – Suzanne Martinez

· God of the Gator – Alan Sincic

· Three Stories – Kirk Sprockett

· Safe Share: Stories – Leslie Johnson

· The Volkswagen Prophesy – Mike Burrell

· Breakey’s Wars – Dennis McFadden

· Audiophile – Evan Morgan

· Backseat Myths of la Inmigrante – Richard Downing

· Three Stories – Ron Smith

· We Put the Moon to Shame – Megan Trihey

· Der Erkönig – Aislinn Amadeus Wallin

· Water Falls – Lois Wolfe

Finalists advance to the next round of judging, conducted by the illustrious James E Cherry. We expect to announce the winner before the end of the year. To learn more about the prize, click here. Congratulations to the finalists!

About the Judge

James Cherry before a lecturn. An african american male with short hair and horn rimmed glasses wearing a patterned blue shirt

James E. Cherry is the author of four collections of poetry, two novels and a collection of short fiction. His novel, Edge of the Wind, was reissued in 2022 from Stephen F. Austin State University Press and his latest collection of verse, Between Chance and Mercy was published by Aquarius Press/Willow Books in 2024. He has been nominated for an NAACP Image Award, a Lillian Smith Book Award and is the recipient of fellowships from the Martha Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing and Kimbilio for Black Fiction. Cherry has an MFA in creative writing from the University of Texas at El Paso and is Board Chairman of the Griot Collective of West Tennessee, a poetry workshop. He resides in Tennessee. Visit jamesEcherry.com for more.

The Headlight Review
Next

Singing in the Ruins: A Review of The Natural Order of Things by Donika Kelly