The Results: 2026 Lefty Blondie Press Editors' Choice Broadside Series

Congratulations to Emma Johnson-Rivard whose poem, "Cicada," will be made into a limited-edition handset broadside by letterpress designer, Ryan Kaune!

Emma Johnson-Rivard is a doctoral student in creative writing at the University of Cincinnati. Her work has appeared in Strange Horizons, Tales to Terrify, Red Flag Poetry, and others. She can be found @blackcattales on Bluesky social and at emmajohnson-rivard.com. Her poetry chapbook, mice inherit apocalypse, is forthcoming from Finishing Line Press.

In Emma's eight line poem, "Cicada," the reader transcends with the speaker and their feisty cat from an insular, private space, "[w]e are strange tonight, the cat and I," to an uncontrollable outer-sphere, where the "[t]he world loses its shape" and "[g]ravity / becomes petty." Despite the overwhelming feeling of collapse, Emma manages to leave us with hope, "[t]omorrow, we could be anything."

We can’t wait to see what Ryan designs for “Cicada.” In the meantime, treat your friends, treat yourself! Purchase the original handset letterpress work Ryan has created for Lefty Blondie so far! All sales go directly back into the press to support our mission to promote the poetry of women and non-binary people.

Pictured: limited-edition letterpress broadsides, bookmarks, and notecards with envelopes

Congratulations to our finalists:

Valerie Bacharach, Daniela Buccilli, Corey Ginsberg, Madalyn Hochendoner, Christina McKee, Clementine Mendelson, Dara Murray, and Vera Sirota

Congratulations to our semi-finalists:

Chandra Alderman, Linda Blaskey, Marie Brennan, Katie Cain, Victoria Dym, Darla Himeles, Sarah Key, Zoe Nace, Salem Paige, and Patricia Wallesverd

Thank you to everyone who submitted poems, contributed to our tip jar, and continues to support our mission to promote the poetry of women-identifying & non-binary people!