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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 


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PAST CONTESTS

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10th Annual Summer Contests in Poetry & Flash Fiction 
June 1-August 1, 2021

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.

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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


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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




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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.


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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!

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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!



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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

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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

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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”



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above: Dawn Lundy Martin headshot credit: Andrew Kenower
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 

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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

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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

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