Recap: Our Digital Stories Vol. 8 with Exposition Review

Our Digital Stories

Our Digital Stories (ODS) is a group of writers, directors, and performers who during the pandemic created a new form of storytelling set in and created within the digital world. Using video conferences, phone calls, and text messages as settings, they call this hybrid between a short play and a short film “Digital Stories.”

After kicking off our first Flash 405 contest of the 2021 season with the theme “Your Digital Stories,” ODS brought the three winning scripts to life for Volume 8 this summer!

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Flash 405, June 2021: “Alchemy” Winners

It’s time to announce the results of our June 2021 Flash 405 contest “Alchemy”! Judged by Exposition Review Nonfiction Editor Ramona Pilar, this round of Flash 405 called for works that ignited transformation: discovery, curiosity, experimentation, failure, success. While all the entries we received were gold, only a select few could be chosen as the winners. After much deliberation, we have our winners!

Read on to learn more about Ramona’s selections and read the winning pieces!

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Call for Entries: Flash 405, August 2021: “House Party”

Flash 405 - Flash Contest Judged by Christopher Gonzalez - "House Party"on Content

When it comes to rounding out our Flash 405 season this year, we couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate than with, well, a party theme. As we prepare for a new season at Expo and celebrate seasons past, Barrelhouse fiction editor Christopher Gonzalez knows how to kick off the festivities with the theme “House Party” for our August Flash 405 contest.

Entries for this round will be accepted until September 5, 2021 via Submittable. We also encourage you to visit our Flash 405 page where you will find the full guidelines and can read past contest winners.

Read on to learn more about this month’s contest:

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Flash 405, April 2021: “The Other” Winners

Announcing the winners of our April 2021 Flash 405 contest! Expo Associate Editor Anya Johnson served as judge for this round and asked for submissions around the theme of “The Other”, exploring what it means to be or contend with an Other, whether that be a disparate identity, an ostracizing designation, or otherworldly encounter.

Read on to learn more about her selections and read the winning pieces!

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Flash 405, February 2021: “Your Digital Stories” Winners

We kicked off 2021 with a twist: a special collaboration with OUR DIGITAL STORIES, calling for short-form work set within the digital world and above all designed to be performed. This unique prompt was a reflection of the past year and how the social limitations of the pandemic also created new opportunities to tell and share our stories.

We are excited to present the winners who shared their own take on digital storytelling: from Zoom plays to Virtual Reality poetry. The winners will also be performed in the next volume of OUR DIGITAL STORIES, airing later this summer.

Read on to discover them for yourself!

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Call for Entries: Flash 405, June 2021: “Alchemy”

Could there be a better theme for 2021? As the world slowly re-opens and we can begin to see the transformations to our new normal, Expo Nonfiction Editor Ramona Pilar poses the theme “Alchemy” for our June Flash 405 contest.

Entries for this round will be accepted until July 5, 2021 via Submittable. We also encourage you to visit our Flash 405 page where you will find the full guidelines and can read past contest winners.

Read on to learn more about this month’s contest:

Continue reading “Call for Entries: Flash 405, June 2021: “Alchemy””

Call for Entries: Flash 405, April 2021: “The Other”

We’re kicking off another round of Flash 405 starting April 4, 2021! Judged by Expo Associate Editor Anya Johnson, we invite you to submit flash fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and experimental on the theme “The Other.”

Flash 405 is Exposition Review‘s multi-genre short form writing competition, awarding cash prizes and online publication to the winners. Entries will be accepted until May 5, 2021 via Submittable. Before submitting, take a look at Anya’s notes on the theme below. We also encourage you to visit our Flash 405 page where you will find the full guidelines and can read past contest winners.

Read on to learn more about this month’s contest:

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Call for Entries: Flash 405, February 2021: “Your Digital Stories”

We’re back for another year of Flash 405, and kicking off 2021 with a twist! Our February contest is a collaboration with one of our favorite creative orgs to come out of the pandemic: OUR DIGITAL STORIES!

Entries will be accepted from Feb 4–Mar 5, 2021 via Submittable.  You can read the full rules and find past contests and winners here, but note the rules (and prizes!) for this round are a bit different.

Read on to learn more about this month’s contest:

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Flash 405, August 2020: “Invented Language” Winners

It’s time to share the results of our final Flash 405 contest of this year! 2020 has been a wild, unwieldy, and at times horrifying rollercoaster, but we kicked off this season with “Bright Spot,” and Flash 405 has continued to remain as such for Exposition Review. The winners of 2020 have delighted us, moved us, and connected us in our love of good writing. With “Invented Language,” the winning works took this a step further, exploring the construction and meaning of words themselves to evoke powerful emotion. We are pleased to share those works now, selected by guest judge Rita Bullwinkel.

Read on to discover them for yourself!

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Flash 405, June 2020: “International Travel” Winners

With the theme “International Travel,” judge Dave Gregory asked to “see the world through your words,” and received numerous entries that did just that: stories that made us richer, even at a time when the desire to travel and boundaries—physical, emotional, and social—seem more keenly felt than ever. We are now pleased to share the best of those stories with the world! Plus, with a portion of the entry fees and Exposition Review matching the amount, we were able to donate to an important nonprofit in the Los Angeles community.

Read on to discover them for yourself.

Continue reading “Flash 405, June 2020: “International Travel” Winners”