Featured Writing

Photo by Lhar Capili on Unsplash

By Our Gate

by Kenneth Pobo our white sweet pea  curls up and above   the top. We don’t let  the gate swing open  for fear of breaking it, no longer use the back  door until frost fells   the vine. My cousin  says we’re foolish—why  cater to a vine? Oh well,  we never did much  like her anyway. A vine  offers no opinions,  makes no demands.    Climb.    That’s what it does— and so well….

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The winners of the 2025 Penmen Review Fall Fiction Contest

Word for Word Celebrates the 2025 Fall Fiction Contest Winners

On Wednesday, January 14, 2026, the Word for Word Reading Series at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) featured the winners of the Penmen Review’s eleventh annual Fall Fiction Contest. This year’s contest had more than 900 submissions, from which five winners were chosen: First place, “How to Eat a Pomegranate,”…

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A neon sign that says, "What is Your Story?"

Meet the Winners of the 2025 Fall Fiction Contest

The 11th annual Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) Fall Fiction Contest brought writers from across the country together for a chance to win a scholarship to SNHU and publication in The Penmen Review. After receiving hundreds of submissions, a panel of creative writing experts considered several factors during their review,…

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