fractured lit flash fiction prize judged by K-Ming Chang
closed 7/18/2021
2021 Winners:
1st Place: Everything Will Be Okay in the End by Lindy Biller
2nd Place: Self-Portrait as Everything You’re Not by Jasmine Sawers
3rd Place: Day Trader by Dominic Reed
Honorable Mentions:
A Language Is a Story by Olga Musial
Baby Teeth by Katherine Van Dis
In Memory of Boots by G.C. Gunn
Shortlist:
Somebody Lonely by Marilyn Dees
Other Women by Caitlin McCormick
Easter Morning by William Hawkins
White Powder by E Madison Shimoda
First Comes Love, Then Comes Marriage by Tian Yi
Thoughts Before the Group Session by Peter Hoppock
The Swimming Lesson by Nadia Born
Mother Tongue
A Perfect Facsimile of Flight by Audrey Burges
Nicky True by Kris Faatz
The Grip of a Girl’s Legs by Meg Tuite
How A World-Famous Pianist Arrives At His Venue Where He Plays Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No 2 In A Slightly Out-Of-Tune C Minor by Noémi Scheiring-Oláh
The Trade by Erin MacNair
The Trouble With Quantum by Tong Qiu
Whisper Down The Lane by Mubanga Kalimamukwento
Have Yourself a Merry Little by JSP Jacobs
little piggy and the seven seas by Thomas LeVrier
Pioneers by Shannon Bowring
Robot You by Heidi Kasa
The Four Worst Paint Names We Came Across At Home Depot Upon Failing To Pick A New Color For The Empty Spare Room by R.S. Powers
We invite writers to submit to the Fractured Lit Flash Fiction Prize from May 15 to July 18, 2021. Guest judge K-Ming Chang will choose three winning stories from a shortlist. We’re excited to offer the winner of this prize $3000 and publication, while the 2nd and 3rd place winners will receive publication and $300 and $200, respectively along with publication. K-Ming Chang is a Kundiman fellow, a Lambda Literary Award finalist, and a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree. She is the author of the New York Times Editors’ Choice novel Bestiary (One World/Random House, 2020), which was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award. Her short story collection, Gods of Want, is forthcoming from One World in June 2022. More of her work can be found at kmingchang.com. Fractured Lit is looking for flash fiction that lingers long past the first reading. We’re searching for flash that investigates the mysteries of being human, the sorrow, and the joy of connecting to the diverse population around us. We want the stories that explode vertically, the flash that leaves the conventional and the clichéd far behind. Fractured Lit is a flash fiction-centered place for all writers of any background and experience.
guidelines
- Your $20 reading fee allows up to two stories of 1,000 words or fewer each per entry-if submitting two stories, please put them both in a SINGLE document
- We allow multiple submissions-each set of two flash stories should have a separate submission accompanied by a reading fee
- Flash Fiction only-1,000 word count maximum
- We only consider unpublished work for contests-we do not review reprints, including self-published work
- Simultaneous submissions are okay-please notify us and withdraw your entry if you find another home for your writing
- All entries will also be considered for publication in Fractured Lit
- Double-space your submission and use Times New Roman 12 pt font
- Please include a brief cover letter with your publication history (if applicable). Please mention any content warnings as necessary to protect our readers!
- We only read work in English
- We do not read blind. The judge will read anonymously from the shortlist.