FLASH FICTION CONTEST

2021 RESULTS

FIRST PRIZE ($1,000):
“13 Tips for Photographing Your Nephew’s Bar Mitzvah When You Still Can’t Forgive Your Brother-in-Law”
Nancy Ludmerer

SECOND PRIZE ($100):
“The Tea Taster”
William Torphy

HONORABLE MENTIONS ($25):

“Where the Dandelions Grow”
Genalea Barker

“Rerun”
Yvonne Navarro

“Santa Fe”
Dawn Burns

“The Light of a Nearby Moon”
Heather Pfeffer

NOTABLE STORIES:
“Gotcha Day” by Laura Ruth Loomis
“At Nola’s Kitchen” by Elaine Alarcon
“Brown-Eyed Cricket” by Odessa Honey
“The Alligator” by Theresa R. Knapik
“Ever Again” by Jessica Barksdale
“Animal” by Joshua Beggs
“The Joy of Water” by William Sears
“A Family Vacation Near Akumal” by Melody Graulich
“More Magical Thinking” by Thomas Puckett

Thanks so much to all who entered! It was an honor to read your work and see the world through your eyes.

Thanks also to our wonderful team of volunteer readers without whose dedication and insight this endeavor would not be possible. We salute you!

Peace!

— David Bright, Editor

FIRST PRIZE ($1,000):
“13 Tips for Photographing Your Nephew’s Bar Mitzvah When You Still Can’t Forgive Your Brother-in-Law”
Nancy Ludmerer

SECOND PRIZE ($100):
“The Tea Taster”
William Torphy

HONORABLE MENTIONS ($25):

“Where the Dandelions Grow”
Genalea Barker

“Rerun”
Yvonne Navarro

“Santa Fe”
Dawn Burns

“The Light of a Nearby Moon”
Heather Pfeffer

NOTABLE STORIES:
“Gotcha Day”
by Laura Ruth Loomis
“At Nola’s Kitchen”
by Elaine Alarcon
“Brown-Eyed Cricket”
by Odessa Honey
“The Alligator”
by Theresa R. Knapik
“Ever Again”
by Jessica Barksdale
“Animal”
by Joshua Beggs
“The Joy of Water”
by William Sears
“A Family Vacation Near Akumal”
by Melody Graulich
“More Magical Thinking”
by Thomas Puckett

Thanks so much to all who entered! It was an honor to read your work and see the world through your eyes.

Thanks also to our wonderful team of volunteer readers without whose dedication and insight this endeavor would not be possible. We salute you!

Peace!

— David Bright, Editor

2020 RESULTS

FIRST PRIZE ($1,000):
“In Passing: A Carriage to Clarksville”
Harper Darnell

SECOND PRIZE ($100):
“Driver”
Barbara J. Ritchie

HONORABLE MENTIONS
($25 EACH):

“Breakfast with Henry”
Nancy Ludmerer

“We’re All in This Together”
JoeAnn Hart

“Inside”
Steven Michael Abell

“Caffeinated”
Ernie Sadashige

NOTABLE STORIES:
“I Believe” by Jeremiah Beaty
“Quarantine” by Richard Vadimsky
“Me, LB & Q” by Kerry Rawlinson
“Nancy Kerrigan in the Olive Garden” by Liz DeGregorio
“The Viewing” by Shiva Musicant
“Sammy Shoes” by Ben Umayam
“The Stanton Harbor Grocery Massacre” by Roy Dorman
“Running Heartbeats” by Elizabeth Mullen
“Natural Affairs” by Aaron H. Aceves

Thanks to all who entered!

Thanks also to our amazing team of volunteer readers who sifted through the gold mine to help us find the gems.

Peace!

— David Bright, Editor

2019 RESULTS

FIRST PRIZE ($1,000):
“Surrectus”
B. V. Lawson

SECOND PRIZE ($100):
“How I Became a Sex Writer”
Ellaraine Lockie

HONORABLE MENTIONS ($25 EACH):

“Heads or Tales”
Gordon Pinckheard

“The Audition”
Anders Cato

“The Door”
David Mathews

“Drown”
Michael Devine

NOTABLE STORIES:
“Singers and Sinners” by Cindy Rosmus
“The Road to Espoo” by Tim Lehnert
“The Incident” by Donald Cirulli
“A Yearning for Bananas” by Taria Karillion
“Munchkin” by Ken Margolin
“Ernie and the Carrot Seeds” by Sherry Morris
“Resurrection” by Rachel Caruso-Bryant
“Gold of a Fool” by Cynthia Singerman
“Unplanned Company” by Phyllis Stewart-Ruffin

2018 RESULTS

FIRST PRIZE ($1,000):
“The Old Point”
Leslie Anne Mcilroy

SECOND PRIZE ($100):
“On Puraran Beach”
Luke Tennis

HONORABLE MENTIONS ($25 EACH):
“The Last Poet”
Jacob Cockcroft

“On Exhibit”
Liz Killian

“Good Will”
N. L. Pillman

“Tea Cup”
A. C. Koch

NOTABLE STORIES:
“Summation” by Nancy Ludmerer
“Medihoney” by Rebecca Timson
“The Clap Clinic” by Michael Hurst
“On Wing” by Rebecca Glazer
“Momentum” by Ryan Stone
“Not So Fast” by Andrew Newall
“What’s Done in the Dark” by Gordon Pinckheard
“An Appointment with Julie” by Ken Margolin
“Actorsville” by Don Shook
“Date Night” by Marie Anderson

2017 RESULTS

FIRST PRIZE ($1,000):
“Neptune Society”
by Kim Trevathan

SECOND PRIZE ($100):
“Schadenfreude”
by S. R. Larin

HONORABLE MENTIONS ($25 EACH):
“The Emancipation of Bourbon Straight Up” by Lee W. Sang
“Her First Husband” by K. L. Cook
“Mayonnaise Thanksgiving” by Avee Chaudhuri
“My Neighbor, Who My Wife Thinks Is a Prostitute” by Efrem Sigel

NOTABLE STORIES:
“Encounter with a Saint” by Peggy Schimmelman
“The Daffodils Outside the Post Office” by Anders Cato
“Namaste” by Jeanne Althouse
“Leftovers” by Leslie Pietrzyk
“Burning Girl” by Nick Stoner
“Christian Warrior” by Ellen McGrath Smith
“Full” by Rose Andersen
“Judith” by Steve Wechselblatt
“Hatchlings” by Katherine Perry
“Apples” by Laura Maynard
“Encore” by Meredith Boe
“Mathematics” by Eve Mastro
“Sunday” by Carrie Seymour
“Destination Dispatch” by Eileen Malone
“Spontaneous Human Combustion” by Marilyn Moriarty

2016 RESULTS

FIRST PRIZE ($1,000):
“Stolen Memories”
by Timothy Jay Smith

SECOND PRIZE ($100):
“Porcelain Prison”
by Michelle Cox

HONORABLE MENTIONS ($25 each):
“Jane Bond” by Sarah Marie Kosch
“Blood Drive” by Chris Callard
“The Closet Artist” by Phylis Campbell Dryden
“Circulation” by Sara A. Lewis

NOTABLE STORIES:
“I’ve Been Blind” by Vicky Santiesteban
“Regret” by Jason E. Gillikin
“Past the Pines” by Emily A. Beston
“Where Are We Going?” by Phyllis Reilly
“Bernadette” by Cara Suglich
“Anansi” by Sally Toner
“Top Hat” by ERA
“The Young Lion” by Diane de Anda

2015 RESULTS

GRAND PRIZE ($1,000):
“When the Bees Come Back”
by Ashley Morrow Hermsmeier

SECOND PLACE ($100):
“The Abbey”
by Kirsten Steen

HONORABLE MENTIONS ($25 each):
“Performance” by Robert Morgan Fisher
“A Swim Lesson” by Maria Judnick
“The Top Floor” by George Buelow
“Regret” by Nancy Ludmerer

NOTABLE STORIES:
“The Butcher” by Dakota Snow
“Knockoff Miracles” by Sarah Krenicki
“Cora” by Pam Goldman
“Ten Thousand Joys, Ten Thousand Sorrows” by Jody Callahan
“The Headhunter” by Alexandra Vadarlis
“Bell Tower” by William J. McIlwain
“Morosa” by Phylis Campbell Dryden

2014 RESULTS

Grand Prize:
“The Night My Father Danced Like Fred Astaire”
by E.E. King ($1,000 prize)

Second Place:
“The Wormhole” by Keren Toledano ($100 prize)

Honorable Mentions ($25 each):

“A Strangulation” by Tara Carnevale
“The Barber” by Sherry Morris
“Uli” by Dana Reva De Greff
“Lasting Formations” by Marcia Peck

Notable Stories:
“Tick, Thump” by Kat Hawthorne
“A Dinner of Import” by Justin Hudnall
“Soda and a Steak” by Shane Hall
“Salt Lake City, 1967, Snow” by Corrinne Clegg Hales
“The Tattoo Artist” by Sarah Sorensen
“The Wanted” by Rajni Gupta
“Favor for a Friend” by Cyrus Ahalt
“What Counts” by Frank Carden
“What We Learn” by John Estes

2013 RESULTS

Grand Prize:
“Home Be More Somethin'”
by Excell Hunter ($1,000 prize)

Second Place:
“Stretched”
by Michael Pearce ($100 prize)

Honorable Mentions ($25 each):
“On Becoming Mrs. Robinson” by R.L. Smith
“Why I Built the Despair Ray” by Scott Russell Duncan
“Sparkly Thing” by Chip Houser
“Reagan’s Switch from Boxers to Briefs” by S. Brady Tucker

Notable Stories:
“Every Night Brushing Hair” by Jeanne Althouse
“Preparations” by Debra A. Daniel
“Lake Shawmee” by Anton Frost
“Fire Witch” by Amanda Mack
“First Shift” by Claire Hawkins
“MacPhee” by Adrienne DiFranco
“Bronx Silo” by Annie Lanzillotto
“Without” by John Leo
“Bass Weather” by Michael Smith
“Chandra’s New Clothes” by Belinda Erere
“Rampage to Morbidity” by Don Fred

2012 RESULTS

And the Grand Prize winner Is…..

“Always There”
by Andrew Stancek ($1,000 prize)

Second Place:
“Heal Me”
by Cindy Rosmus ($100 prize)

Third Place:
“The Strangers of Dubai”
by Victoria Kelly ($50 prize)

Honorable Mentions:
“Counting to One Hundred” by Li Miao Lovett
“Crates” by J.S. Kierland
“The Play’s the Thing” by Todd Benware
“Late Note” by Chloë Boxer

Notable Stories:
“Beirut” by Francine J. Sanders
“Handicapable” by C.D. Johnson
“After Dinner” by Nancy Ludmerer
“Execute” by Anders Benson
“Jackyo” by James Gish Jr.
“A Photographic Memory” by Len Dawson
“Elephant” by Marilyn Fahey
“Murky Waters” by Jessica Wortsman
“Convertible” by Lauren Kauai Childs
“Build a Teepee, Come Inside” by Kip Hanson
“The Misfits” by Yenny van Andel

2011 RESULTS

Cheers to the Grand Prize Winner!
“Drinks on the Doctor”
by Xavier McCaffrey ($1,000 prize)

Second Place:
“Death in Nairobi”
by Agatha Verdadero ($100 prize)

Honorable Mentions:
“A Sip of Blackberry” by Todd Benware
“Suspicious Package” by Laura Loomis
“The Tip” by Corey Ginsberg
“The Bridesmaid” by Heather Sappenfield
“A Knife or a Blade?” by Geoffrey Uhl

Notable Stories:
“What Happens Now” by Liz Ference
“Damn Lucky Sometimes” by Sultana Banulescu
“Morning in San Pedro” by Dee Hubbard
“I Want to Show You the World” by Evelyn Krieger
“A Sibling’s Rival” by Denise Heinze
“Seven Years Old” by Shruti Choudhary
“Stolen” by Michelle Pretorius
“An Interview with J.D. Salinger” by Edward Lee
“The Bathroom of My Ex-Lover’s Wife” by Kathleen Spivak
“Bus Fight in Surrey” by Sam Wiebe
“Self Portrait in Red Chalk” by Danielle LeDuc
“Trees That Bear Fruit” by Pete Clark

2010 RESULTS

1ST PLACE ($1,000 Prize):

S. J. Cahill “Lines of Force”

2ND PLACE ($100 Prize):

Micah Herzog Stack “The Synchronous City”

HONORABLE MENTION:

Elizabeth Barton “Three Minutes”

Maija Rhee Devine “The Translator”

Kelley Gregg “Flowers”

Gloria Nixon-John “Ironing”

2009 RESULTS

FIRST PRIZE ($100):

Beverly Akerman for “PIE”

HONORABLE MENTION:

V.R. Shankar, “THE PERCUSSIONIST”

Audrey Webb, “STALL”

Kate Maruyama, “the weight of things”

Melindy Wynn-Bourne, “LEFT”

Jessica Wortsman, “SNIP, SNIP”