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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.