Current Contest
12th Annual Summer Contests in Poetry & Flash Fiction
2023
JUDGES
Poetry
Jose Hernandez Diaz is a 2017 NEA Poetry Fellow. He is the author of The Fire Eater (Texas Review Press, 2020) Bad Mexican, Bad American (Acre Books, 2024) and The Parachutist (Sundress Publications, 2025). His work appears in The American Poetry Review, Border Crossing (CAN), Cincinnati Review, Circulo de Poesia (MEX), Gigantic Sequins, The Hooghly Review (IND), Huizache, The Iowa Review, The London Magazine (ENG), The Missouri Review, The Moth (IRE), The Nation, Poetry Magazine, Poetry Wales (UK), The Progressive, The Southern Review, TriQuarterly, The Yale Review, Witness, and in The Best American Nonrequired Reading. He teaches generative workshops for Hugo House, Lighthouse Writers Workshops, The Writer's Center, and elsewhere. He serves as a Poetry Mentor in The Adroit Journal Summer Mentorship Program.
Flash Fiction
Jessamyn Violet is a musician and author originally from Boston, MA, now based in Venice Beach. Her debut novel Secret Rules to Being a Rockstar was published by Three Rooms Press in Spring 2023. Her short fiction appears in Ploughshares, Lit Angels and more. She is also the drummer for the psych rock band Movie Club. More info can be found at www.jessamynviolet.com.
Submission Information:
Prizes:
Sponsorship Information
2023
JUDGES
Poetry
Jose Hernandez Diaz is a 2017 NEA Poetry Fellow. He is the author of The Fire Eater (Texas Review Press, 2020) Bad Mexican, Bad American (Acre Books, 2024) and The Parachutist (Sundress Publications, 2025). His work appears in The American Poetry Review, Border Crossing (CAN), Cincinnati Review, Circulo de Poesia (MEX), Gigantic Sequins, The Hooghly Review (IND), Huizache, The Iowa Review, The London Magazine (ENG), The Missouri Review, The Moth (IRE), The Nation, Poetry Magazine, Poetry Wales (UK), The Progressive, The Southern Review, TriQuarterly, The Yale Review, Witness, and in The Best American Nonrequired Reading. He teaches generative workshops for Hugo House, Lighthouse Writers Workshops, The Writer's Center, and elsewhere. He serves as a Poetry Mentor in The Adroit Journal Summer Mentorship Program.
Flash Fiction
Jessamyn Violet is a musician and author originally from Boston, MA, now based in Venice Beach. Her debut novel Secret Rules to Being a Rockstar was published by Three Rooms Press in Spring 2023. Her short fiction appears in Ploughshares, Lit Angels and more. She is also the drummer for the psych rock band Movie Club. More info can be found at www.jessamynviolet.com.
Submission Information:
- You may submit via Submittable up to three works of flash fiction OR poems per entry. Please put all three in the same file attachment.
- GS defines flash fiction as works of 1000 words/less. Poetry may be of any length.
- If you wish to submit more, do so again with an additional $6.00 fee/3 works
- Please do not put your name anywhere in the attached file containing your work or your submission will be void.
- Previously published work is not eligible. If your work has appeared in a "story" format via social media, however, we do not consider this to be previously published. If you work appeared online via your own personal blog or personal social and has since been deleted, we do not consider this to be previously published.
- Simultaneous submissions are permitted and, if accepted elsewhere, must be withdrawn using the Submittable system ASAP. We do not prefer simultaneous submissions to our contests but allow them. Do not withdraw your entire submission unless all work included has been accepted elsewhere.
Prizes:
- $100.00
- Publication in GS 15 (June/July 2024)
- Additional prize/s TBA
Sponsorship Information
- We are offering sponsorship program for our contests. If you would like to receive a sponsorship code if there is one available, fill out this form. GS is funding 15 entries to BIPOC &/or trans writers. Those in financial need and/or any BIPOC &/or trans writers who apply once we've awarded those 15 will get codes as sponsorships come in. Codes will be sent at our editors' earliest convenience and as they become available. The linked form above will be deactivated a week before the contests end.
- If you would like to sponsor a specific writer, please pay that writer directly.
- If you would like to sponsor any writer who has applied to be a sponsee, you can do so when you enter via Submittable. We will donate to this a non-profit extra sponsorship money to if we get more sponsors than sponsees.
- If you want to provide sponsorship funds but do not want to enter the contest, please email us.
- All entries and payments must be received through the Gigantic Sequins Submittable site unless you have a disability that prevents you from interacting with the Submittable interface; then, we will accept submissions via email. If this is you, please email us your entry during the open contest period, and we will coordinate payment from there.
- Friends, family, and students (current and former) of the judges are not eligible. Please do not submit if you know the judges personally or if they might recognize your work.
- All contest entries will be considered for publication in our next issue, GS 15, debuting in 2024
- All work submitted to the contests will also be considered for publication in GS issue 15.
Past Contests
2022
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11th Annual Summer Contests in Poetry & Flash Fiction
2022 RESULTS FLASH FICTION WINNER "The Blob Desires" - Ellen Rhudy FLASH FICTION FINALISTS "Picture the Peacock Eating a Pear" - Catherine Buck "That Summer, A Bewildering Heat" - Alyson Mosquera Dutemple "The Illusionist" - Mickie Kennedy "The Last Known Residence of Angelo Pulaski" - Dan Mancilla "Jack & Jill" - Amy Marques "Pillow Talk" - DW McKinney "Coven" - Ellen Rhudy POETRY WINNER Dead Ends - Grace Q. Song POETRY FINALISTS "School of Rock (2007)" - Luciana Arbus-Scandiffio "We Made a Hole in the Ozone Layer" - Taylor Cornelius "Black licorice" - Sara Ellen Fowler "Palinopsia" - Samuel Piccone poem from The Island - Abby Ryder-Huth Judges: FLASH FICTION JESSICA ALEXANDER co-authored That Woman Could Be You, alongside Vi Khi Nao. Her novella, None of This Is an Invitation (co-written with Katie Jean Shinkle) is forthcoming from Astrophil Press. Her story collection, Dear Enemy, was the winning manuscript in the 2016 Subito Prose Contest, as judged by Selah Saterstrom. Her fiction has been published in journals such as Fence, Black Warrior Review, PANK, Denver Quarterly, The Collagist, and DIAGRAM. She lives in Louisiana where she teaches creative writing and co-directs the Creative Writing Program at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. https://www.jessica-alexander.com POETRY VI KHI NAO is the author of six poetry collections: Fish Carcass (Black Sun Lit, 2022, A Bell Curve Is A Pregnant Straight Line (11:11 Press, 2021), Human Tetris (11:11 Press, 2019) Sheep Machine (Black Sun Lit, 2018), Umbilical Hospital (Press 1913, 2017), The Old Philosopher (winner of the Nightboat Prize for 2014), & of the short stories collection, A Brief Alphabet of Torture (winner of the 2016 FC2's Ronald Sukenick Innovative Fiction Prize), the novel, Fish in Exile (Coffee House Press, 2016). Her work includes poetry, fiction, film and cross-genre collaboration. She was the Fall 2019 fellow at the Black Mountain Institute: https://www.vikhinao.com |
2021
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"10th Annual Summer Contests in Poetry & Flash Fiction
June 1-August 1, 2021 Results: FLASH FICTION "Power Forward Christ" by Brett Biebel - winner, selected by Genevieve Hudson "A Cement Mother" by Elizabeth Brus - finalist "Practical Advice for Wayward Daughters Facing Fairytale Monsters" by Sara Fetherolf - finalist "Dad, Sought" by Dustin M. Hoffman - finalist "What Ravenous Beast Roams These Lands" by Kate LeMon - finalist "The Broken Ritual" by Emily Unwin - finalist "Linda Jr. is Ready" by Holly Wilson - finalist "Spoils, Ruin" by Nat Wisehart - finalist "Volo, Velle, Volui" by Nat Wisehart - finalist POETRY "self-portrait as a solar eclipse" by Karah Kemmerly - winner selected by Kayleb Rae Candrilli "I map beached whales on my bedroom wall" by Allison Bird - finalist "Dear Casey Kasem. I’ve been playing the victim" by Alexa Doran "jennifer’s body" by Karah Kemmerly - finalist "guilt here: with boardwalk fries" by Taylor Fedorchak - finalist "Afterparty" by Tawanda Mulalu "Breaking Water" by Philip Schaefer - finalist "O, Holy" by Meghan Sterling - finalist "Poem against the apparatus" -by Stella Wong - finalist Judges: FLASH FICTION Genevieve Hudson is the author of the novel Boys of Alabama, which was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award, and the story collection Pretend We Live Here, which was shortlisted for a Lambda Literary Award. Their work has appeared in ELLE; O, the Oprah Magazine; McSweeney’s; Catapult; and other places. They have received fellowships from the Fulbright Program, MacDowell, Caldera Arts, and the Vermont Studio Center, and they live in Portland, Oregon. POETRY Kayleb Rae Candrilli is the recipient of a Whiting Award and of a fellowship from the National Endowment of the Arts. They are the author of Water I Won’t Touch, All the Gay Saints, and What Runs Over. They live in Philadelphia with their partner. |
2020
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9th Annual Summer Contest Series in Poetry & Flash Fiction
June 15-September 1, 2020 RESULTS Flash Fiction "The Wool Skirt Frida" by Amy Eden Jollymore, finalist "3 ways to see into the future" by Matthew Kabik, finalist "Building Atlantis for an Older Brother" by Matthew Kabik, finalist "Teeth" by Andrea Marcusa, finalist "Oh, the Lovely Things" by Lauren Shimulunas, finalist "Motherfucker" by Elizabeth Upshur, winner, as selected by Maurice Carlos Ruffin "And All of the Grit Eating World" by Elizabeth Upshur, finalist "Separated at Birth" by Kathleen Winter, finalist Poetry "The Tropes" - V. Joshua Adams "Family Absence" - Ella Bartlett **WINNER** as selected by Arisa White "On oysters and pearls and their not-belonging to you" - Daisy Bassen "Echolocation" - Hannah Cajandig-Taylor "道听途说 (RUMORS)" - Michael Chang **HONORABLE MENTION** as selected by Arisa White "ODE" - Monica Gomery "First The Grasshopper" - Rhienna Guedry "LOVE POEM IN THE ZOETROPE" - Kevin Latimer "moral inventory" - Anthony Thomas Lombardi "nonstop" - SM Stubbs JUDGES flash fiction Maurice Carlos Ruffin is the author of We Cast a Shadow, which was published by One World Random House. The novel was finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and a New York Times Editor’s Choice. Ruffin is the winner of several literary prizes, including the Iowa Review Award in fiction and the William Faulkner–William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition Award for Novel-in-Progress. His work has appeared in the Oxford American, Garden & Gun, and Kenyon Review. A New Orleans native, Ruffin is a professor of Creative Writing at Louisiana State University, and the 2020-2021 John and Renee Grisham Writer-in-Residence at Ole Miss. poetry Arisa White is a Cave Canem fellow and the author of You’re the Most Beautiful Thing That Happened, A Penny Saved, and Hurrah's Nest. Her poetry has been nominated for a Lambda Literary Award, NAACP Image Award, California Book Award, and Wheatley Book Award. The chapbook “Fish Walking” & Other Bedtime Stories for My Wife won the inaugural Per Diem Poetry Prize. She's the co-author of Biddy Mason Speaks Up, the second book in the Fighting for Justice series for young readers, which received the Nautilus Book Award Gold Medal for middle-grade nonfiction. Forthcoming in 2021 from Augury Books is her hybrid collection, Who's Your Daddy? Arisa serves on the board of directors for Foglifter and Nomadic Press and is an assistant professor of creative writing at Colby College. arisawhite.com PRIZES $100 Publication in GS issue 12 Gift card & swag from Lagniappe Records Prize pack from Drew Falchetta |
2019
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8th Annual Summer Contest Series in Poetry & Flash Fiction
May 15-July 15, 2019 JUDGES in poetry... Marwa Helal in flash fiction... Imogen Binnie PRIZES $100, swag from Red Emma's, pottery from Inverted Earth Studio, & publication in GS 11.1 RESULTS 8th Annual Poetry Contest Finalists & Winner “Pelt” by Clare Welsh – finalist “Of The Macho” by Christopher Rubio-Goldsmith – finalist “When I Say Love I Mean El Greco’s The Assumption of the Virgin” by Sara Quinn Rivara – finalist “Foreplay” by Samuel Piccone – finalist “My Mania as an Alaskan Summer” by Zackary Medlin – finalist “LOVE IN THE ANTHROPOCENE” by Rachel Harkai – finalist “I Have Not Taken Proper Advantage of Scorpio Season” by Lauren Eggert-Crowe – finalist “I wish all children could touch the sky at least once” by Kayleb Rae Candrilli – winner, selected by Marwa Helal 8th Annual Flash Fiction Contest Finalists & Winner “Take Their Body” by Jen Cox-Shah – winner, selected by Imogen Binnie “Higher! Higher!” by Ellen Rhudy – finalist “A Hundred Small Lessons” by Daniel Goff – finalist “The Name of Death is—a Fungus—Girdle—Chitin Teeth—the Graying Valley” by Ashely Adams – finalist “Climate Change” by Epiphany Ferrell – finalist |
2018, June-August
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7th Annual Summer Contest Series in Poetry & Flash Fiction
JUNE 1-AUGUST 5, 2018 JUDGES in poetry... celeste doaks in flash fiction... Rachel B. Glaser POETRY RESULTS“Maadulampazham (In Which Her Daughter Hears the Diagnosis).” by Kari Ann Ebert, winner selected by celeste doaks “Annotations for [Redacted] Elegy” by Derek Berry, finalist “An Oral History of a City Destroyed by Fire” by Kitt Keller, finalist “IF I WERE ANY MORE AMBIDEXTROUS I’D SLAP MY OWN ASS LEFT HANDED” by Zachery Elbourne, finalist “Passed Down on Slow Hands” by Claire Fallon, finalist “Portrait of George Stinney, Jr, as Police Report and Trial” by Len Lawson, finalist FLASH FICTION RESULTS “The Collectors” by Julia Coursey – winner, chosen by Rachel B. Glaser “Evolution” Katheryn McMahon, finalist “Father’s” by Zach VandeZande, finalist “My Fake Brother” by Leonora Desar, finalist “The Murderous History of Tumbleweeds” by David Drury, finalist “Timber” by Christopher Linforth, finalist “Walks Like a Lion” by Nancy Au, finalist PRIZES $100, publication in GS 10.1, and swag from Small Fires Press. |
2018, January-March
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2018 Winter Contests in Flash Non-fiction & Poetry Comics
January 10, 2018-March 15th, 2018 JUDGES in flash non-fiction... Paul Lisicky in poetry comics... Gabrielle Bates WINNERS“31 – 4 – 25” by Doug Paul Case | WINNER, Flash CNF “Lightless” by Annalise Mabe | WINNER, Poetry Comics FLASH CNF FINALISTS “Essay in Which I’ve Borrowed my Boyfriend’s T-Shirt” by Doug Paul Case “Duck Duck” by Brooke Larson “Grief Studies” by Natalie Sharp “Landing” by Matt Stebbins POETRY COMICS FINALISTS “im dehydrated” by Zoë Blair-Schlagenhauf “my laptop is my lover” by Zoë Blair-Schlagenhauf “when im like, really depressed i have a lot of sex” by Zoë Blair-Schlagenhauf “Dominion” by Mercer Hanau PRIZES $100 & an original Matthew Mahaney cross-stitch inspired by the winning work! |
2017
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6th ANNUAL Summer Contest Series in Poetry & Flash Fiction
May 15th-July 20th, 2017 POETRY WINNER, selected by Eduardo C. Corral “The Luster of Everything I’m Already Forgetting” – Nicole Rollender FINALISTS “the ghost of the dead sea rewrites the history of drowning” – George Abraham “Womandream” – Caroline Chavatel “all the dead boys” – Sage Curtis “The Target” – José Hernández Díaz “Directions to My Body for the Uninitiated” – Alexa Doran “LOOK MUDHOLE, THEY BULLDOZED THE MTN & PUT A DOLLAR GENERAL IN” – Evan Gray “[Live]Stream” – Ashley Gong “Glazed Case” – Rebecca Hazelton “Consider” – Megan LeAnne FLASH FICTION WINNER, selected by Melissa Goodrich Blue Honey – Celia Daniels FINALISTS “A Hand to the Nearest” – Vincent Carafano “The Gargoyles Survey Their City” – Jennifer Fliss “Ketsui, the Town the Clouds Left Forever” – Youssef Helmi “How Then” – Anna Vangala Jones “Wheels and Bushings” – Maureen Langloss “Alvin” – Vincent Poturica “The Attraction of Older Traditions” – Anne Weisgerber “Princess Shipwreck” – Tessa Yang Thanks to Free Verse Farm and Hearth & Hammer for providing prizes! |
2016
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5TH ANNUAL Summer Contest Series in Poetry & Flash Fiction
May 15th-July 20th, 2016 JUDGES LUCAS DE LIMA (poetry) ANNIE LIONTAS (flash fiction) FLASH FICTION RESULTS WINNER "Lost and Father" by Kim Hagerich FINALISTS "Flat Stanley plays Crack the Case" by Jennifer Howard "Over Ben Aknoun" by Saul Lemerond "Julie’s Qualification, or Adolescence in Iowa and Other Irradiated Hideouts for God and Sex" by Marco Maisto "Record from a Farmhouse" by Wendy Oleson "Sister" by Wendy Oleson "Urban Coyotes at the Hyatt" by Tyler Phelps POETRY RESULTS WINNER “FOR A BURIAL FREE OF SHARKS" by Xandria Phillips FINALISTS “WHY DO PEOPLE DISAPPEAR IN THE DESERT THE UNITED STATES BORDER PATROL HAS A POLICY OF ACTIVELY DESTROYING LIFE-SAVING HUMANITARIAN AID DISTRIBUTED THROUGHOUT THE MOST DANGEROUS AREAS OF THE SONORAN EXPANSE THEY SLASH JUGS OF WATER THEY CALL THEIR MURDER OF MIGRANT CHILDREN “PREVENTION THROUGH DETERRANCE” I WOULD PREFER A MORE POETIC TITLE BUT WORKING WITH NO MAS MUERTAS I CAME ACROSS A CHILDSIZED SHOE ABANDONED AT A MAKESHIFT REST SITE THE SOLE WAS RIDDLED WITH HOLES ENCRUSTED WITH BLOOD” by Junior Dare “animal considers animal” by p.e. garcia “BLUEBERRY HANDS OUT ABORTIONS IN THE FIRST PERSON” by Joe Gutierrez “Sunday Evening Ionic Man” by Marco Maisto “a moon like this” by Katie Prince from The Immanent Field by Michael Martin Shea “Scrap Metal” by Jessica Tolbert PRIZES FOR THE WINNER $100, Publication in GS 8.1, Factory Hollow Press gift |
2015, July - September
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4TH ANNUAL Summer Contest Series in Poetry & Flash Fiction
JULY 10th-SEPTEMBER 15th, 2015 WINNERS "Dopamax" by Heather Bowlan, poetry chosen by Ronaldo V. Wilson "Am I Anna Karenina" by Lillian Ann Slugocki, flash fiction chosen by Leesa Cross-Smith POETRY RESULTS RUNNER-UP: “When an ordained instrument sings in an endless clearing under the midnight sun and is disturbed that her voice does not echo, does she learn anything from the term conceptual limit situation?” by Candice Wuehle HONORABLE MENTION: “Body in Expensive Heels the Studs a Bit Worn” by Travis Sharp FINALISTS: “Cities are for the Assholes” by Marty Cain “To Make This Banquet More Stern & Bloody” by Marty Cain “Husbands” by Tafisha Edwards “The surface of the water did not want to be baptized” by Jane Huffman “Sanity’s Song: How to Un-love” by Veronica Lupinacci “Excerpt: Sandy’s Diary” by Jessica Morey-Collins “Acreage: theme & variations” by Billie R. Tadros FLASH FICTION RESULTS FINALISTS: “The Horribles” by Michael Alessi “Arlene” by Libby Flores “Grass Islands” by Craig Foltz “Their Bodies Only Prettier” by Gary Joshua Garrison “My Mother and the Seven Silences” by Ingrid Jendrzejewski “Lies” by Myriam Lacroix PRIZES A Giftcard from Litographs, $75.00, a letterpress broadside of the winning work, publication in GS issue 7.1 |
2015, January - March
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2015 WINTER CONTEST SERIES:
POETRY COMICS & FLASH NON-FICTION CONTESTS January 15th-March 15th, 2015 FLASH NON-FICTION WINNER, selected by Mike Doughty “Appropriation” by Ingrid Jendrzejewski POETRY COMICS WINNER, selected by Bianca Stone Gabrielle Bates “As When Gone Wildabouting” FLASH NON-FICTION FINALISTS Laura Citino “Several Folk Taxonomies” Paul Rodgers “Magenemite” Doug Paul Case “Indiana, Newly Spring” Kayla Haas “Powerlines” Melissa Moorer “Dog Lover” Meg Reid “Summer Boat” Sarah Glady “Volta” POETRY COMICS FINALISTS Kaveh Akbar & Nikki Gardner “Mostly Hypothetical” Patrick Williams “Redactions” Kaveh Akbar & Nikki Gardner “Human Teeth.” Paul Siegell “Catherine Quirk” Peter Friedman “Pillow Carnival” shoney lamar from Outlook Good Lea Graber “Fuzz” Raychelle Duazo “What Holds You To Us” |
2014
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3RD ANNUAL Summer Contest Series in Poetry & Flash Fiction
May 15-August 1, 2014 Flash Fiction Winner, chosen by Mat Johnson "Tubs of Fun” by Katherine Ann Davis Poetry Winner, chosen by Dawn Lundy Martin “Fear is the beginning of Devotion / of a Dedication" by Carrie Lorig Flash Fiction Contest Finalists "Morsels" by Gessy Alvarez "Amphibious" by Michael Alessi "Mother & Her Twins a Ghost Story" by Joe Pan "White Sands, 1945" by Emily Kiernan Poetry Contest Finalists "Hail" by J.M Gamble "Seek" by J.M. Gamble "Down After" by Becky Robison "Tale of 3" by Marie Ségolène |
2013
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2ND ANNUAL Summer Contest Series in Poetry & Flash Fiction
June 1-Aug. 15 2013 Flash Fiction Winner, chosen by Lauren Grodstein "Carmella” by Nichole LeFebvre Poetry Winner, chosen by Jericho Brown “de Los Muertos” by Emily O’Neill Flash Fiction Finalists “The Noise Triptych” by Nadia de Vries “Semis” by Matthew Fogarty “Soft Teeth” by Rachael Katz “The Glass Piano” by Rebecca Meacham “2100″ by Andrew Payton Poetry Finalists “The Dream of Arms” by Hannah Aizenman “Excavation” by Emily Barton “The Erotic Objection” by Kelly Connor “Magpies” by Claire Cronin “Water in Summer” by Neele Dellschaft “Only Promise” by Willie Lin “Inlet” by Tim Lynch |
2012
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1ST ANNUAL Summer Contest Series in Poetry & Flash Fiction
June 1-August 15 2012 Flash Fiction Winner, chosen by Jennifer DuBois “Mermaids” by Justin Lawrence Daugherty Poetry Winner, chosen by Nick Flynn “Prypyat night song” by Eireann Lorsung Flash Fiction Finalists “In Great Leaps” by Will Kaufman “Unwrapping” by Jenny Adamthwaite “Youth Striding into Dusk” by David Nahm “Dog Years: Life as a Dog Faced Girl” by Angela Readman “Hunks of, Hunks of Burning Love” by Angela Readman from The Journal of Hybrid Morphology by Matt Tompkins “The Water Cycle” by Matt Tompkins Poetry Finalists “The Outpost” by Amelia Bentley poem from Body Series by Kate Menzies “That Memory Thing That Happens When You Unexpectedly Hear a Song, Like, Say, Marvin Gaye’s ‘Got To Give It Up’” by Micah Ling “Hemispheric Shift” by Eireann Lorsung poem from Political Essays by Toby Altman “A Spade A Spade” by Emily O’Neill “We Leg It Up the Hillside To Kill My Darlings” by KC Trommer “Theodicy” by Katie Willingham |
