In April, author Liza Olson stepped into the role of guest judge for Flash 405 and crafted her contest around the theme “Home,” looking for stories that invited us into the contours and concepts of what a home can be. After receiving a number of incredible micro-narratives and careful consideration of each entry, we are now ready to announce the winners!
Our 1st and 2nd place winners received a cash prize, and their work, along with our honorable mentions, can be read below.
Judge’s Comments:
Reading these entries was an incredibly rich and rewarding experience, and I was continuously surprised by where this prompt of “home” was taken, by the brilliance and honesty and heart-hurt and stinging sweet moments. The home we find in other people, the one we stitch together from the broken remnants of past attempts, the one we run from or run to, the improvised definition of it that we create for ourselves.
Narrowing these down was very difficult. I had about ten selected for honorable mention that had to be brought down to three, and winners and placements cycled as well. In the end, I went with these pieces for their clarity, their abandon, and for the varied and powerful ways they took this prompt and ran with it. More than all of that, though, I picked them because they kept me thinking and feeling around about my own relationship with the concept of home, and I hope they do for you too.
– Liza Olson
1st Place:
A Curtain Child by Alina Kuvaldina (Fiction)
2nd Place:
Kitchen Dancing by Ani King (Fiction)
Honorable Mention:
We’re Running Through the Sprinklers Again by Michaela Chairez (Nonfiction)
Polite Things by Makenzie Ozycz (Nonfiction)
Eternal Rest by Goldie Peacock (Fiction)
Congratulations again to the winners!
Check out past contests and winners here. Our next contest, “Persona”, is currently accepting submissions through July 5!
For more submission opportunities, publication news, events, reading recommendations, and more, you can follow us on social media (Instagram, the platform formerly known as Twitter, and Facebook), or sign up for the Expo Extra newsletter.
Photo by Kelly Moon