In their citation, the judges noted: “Perennially curious, eager to reckon with the world head-on, Guernica draws readers into uncharted conversations and traces the complex ligaments connecting culture, politics, art, and ecology.

Over twenty years, Guernica has built an impressive record as a place of first publication for important writers and thinkers.”[21] Contributors include Lorraine Adams, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Jesse Ball, A. Igoni Barrett, Amit Chaudhuri, Susan Choi, Noam Chomsky, Billy Collins, Susan Daitch, Marguerite Duras, Stephen Elliott, Rivka Galchen, James Galvin, Amitav Ghosh, Mahvish Khan, Alexandra Kleeman, Eric Kraft, Kiese Laymon, Douglas Light, Sarah Lindsay, Dorthe Nors, Okey Ndibe, Meghan O'Rourke, Zachary Mason, Tracy O'Neill, Daniele Pantano, Matthew Rohrer, Deb Olin Unferth, Sergio Ramírez, Amartya Sen, Aurelie Sheehan, Jonathan Steele, Laren Stover, Terese Svoboda, Mitch Swenson, Olufemi Terry, Anthony Tognazzini, Frederic Tuten, Joe Wenderoth Patrick White, and Yaa Gyasi.

Guest fiction and poetry editors have included Alexander Chee, Roxane Gay, Francisco Goldman, Randa Jarrar, Sam Lipsyte, Ben Marcus, Claire Messud, George Saunders, Tracy K. Smith, and Frederic Tuten.

[24] In March of 2024, a disagreement over the publication of Israeli writer and translator Joanna Chen’s essay “From the Edges of a Broken World”[25] led to the resignation of some Guernica editors, as well as of co-publishers Madhuri Sastry and Jina Moore.

[29] In 2025, following a nine-month hiatus, Guernica was relaunched with two winter issues guest-edited by Valeria Luiselli, Heather Cleary, Kamila Shamsie, Nimmi Gowrinathan, Maaza Mengiste, Mirza Waheed, Jacqueline Woodson, Jamal Mahjoub, Salar Abdoh, and Nathalie Handal.