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:
– April 2021 Round –
The Judge: Anya Johnson
Anya Johnson is an Associate Editor with Exposition Review and an MFA Poetry candidate at Sarah Lawrence College. She is a multi-genre writer and reader with a predilection for the deeply personal and unexpectedly weird.
The Theme: The Other
From Anya:
“The Other encompasses the strange, the fantastical, the partner, the hidden partner, the multiple choice question you agonize about (how do we define race, gender, and occupation in 2021?). Socio-politically, The Other can designate a character or person that has a disparate identity from you. As an act, Othering suggests an ostracizing of that other identity and the consequences of designation.
Tell me a story about when you’ve been the Other in a relationship or when you’ve had to contend with an Other. Write me a poem that translates your identity as an Other. Give me your encounters with aliens. There is no day that you don’t encounter an Other, so bring on your lonely, your disenfranchised, your otherworldly stories!”
Ready to start writing? Please reach out to expositionreview@gmail.com with any questions.
Good luck!
– Submissions open from April 4–May 5, 2021 –
Photo Credit: Photo by Viktor Talashuk