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fractured lit flash fiction prize judged by Megan Giddings 

closed 6/30/2020

2020 Winners:

1st Place: Spaghetti Junction by Elisabeth Ingram Wallace

2nd Place: Southwest Loop 820 by Cyn Nooney

3rd Place: You Will Do This by Steven Simoncic

 

Honorable Mentions:

"Funeral Party" by Mariah Gese - "I loved the way this story kept ramping up the stakes. And like a ghost, it felt like it could be read multiple ways.

 

"When It Gets Cold In The South, The Youngest Baby Dies" by Exodus Brownlow - "Even the title is memorable! Strong lines, exciting images."

 

"We Are Still" by Chloe Clark- "This story had one of my favorite paragraphs in the shortlist about playing Hide and Seek with themself."

 

"The Future History of the Arctic" by Alexander Lumans - "The best of this story combines imagery and dread in a way that made me hold my breath while reading."

 

Shortlist:

You Married Mary Mccluske

Rada’s Story Masha Shukovich

Exigua Clare Gardner

Stories Steve Gilmartin

Consider the Shape of Your Fist Leah Dawdy

Benny Amanda Halm

There is No Ocean in the Bucket Rosaleen Lynch

Southwest Loop 820 Cyn Nooney

Funeral Party  Mariah Gese

The Future History of the Arctic  Alexander Lumans

Spaghetti Junction Elisabeth Ingram Wallace

When It Gets Cold in the South, The Youngest Baby Dies Exodus Brown

Crocodile Ashleigh Pedersen

Where is Stephanie East?  Hillary Leftwich

What Mrs.Chandler Wants To Know Lorna Brown

The Tick Brendan Driscoll

There, I Said It  Tori Malcangio

Counting Trees with Mr. Gillson  Mark Cassidy

Remember Tomorrow in Seasons Shingai Kagunda

You Will Do This Steven Simoncic

We Are Still Chloe Clark

Morning Linda Wastila

 

We invite writers to submit to the Fractured Lit Flash Fiction Prize from April 11 to June 28, 2020. Guest judge Megan Giddings will choose three stories from a shortlist.

 

Megan Giddings has degrees from the University of Michigan, Miami University, and Indiana University. She is a fiction editor at The Offing and a features editor at The Rumpus. In 2018, she was a recipient of a Barbara Deming Memorial fund grant for feminist fiction. Her stories are forthcoming or that have been recently published in Black Warrior Review, Arts & Letters, Gulf Coast, and The Iowa Review. Her novel, Lakewood, was published by Amistad in April 2020. She's represented by Dan Conaway of Writers House. Megan lives in the Midwest.

 

Thank you for your interest in partnering with us! 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.

 

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 wor
    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)
    We only read work in English
    We do not read blind
    Friends, family, and associates including current students of the judge are not eligible for consideration for the award
    Good luck and happy writing!