When Expo Associate Editor Madeline Grimm posed the theme “Persona” for our June 2024 Flash 405 contest, we were excited to see what stories it would inspire. This versatile theme encompasses explorations of “shifting identities and self-fashioning,” but Madeline also asked writers to confront our own personas—how we as writers create “a range of literary alter egos that tell [our] stories.”
The entries we received did not disappoint, pushing the theme beyond our expectations, and after much deliberation, we are excited to share the results with the world.
Congratulations to our winners! Their work can be read below.
Judge’s Comments:
When I chose the theme “Persona,” I hoped to read about experiences of transformation and the varied ways we present ourselves to the world. What surprised me was how writers pushed the theme beyond identity—touching on community, family, and home. So often a character’s transformation was triggered by their need for connection and acceptance. It made me reflect that choices about self-presentation are also choices about love. A mask is fun to wear only as long as someone else is convinced by it.
The contest winners created fully realized characters with compelling emotional dilemmas. I was moved by the vulnerability in these pieces and hope that other readers will be too. Thank you to all the writers who submitted and explored their dreams and desires for other selves.
– Madeline Grimm
1st Place:
All the Way Home by Sarah Freligh (Fiction)
2nd Place:
Old Grief Like Ghosts Rising by Allison Blevins (Nonfiction)
Honorable Mention:
Papel by Andrew Avalos (Fiction)
Congratulations again to the winners!
While Flash 405 has ended for the year, you can check out past contests and winners here, or learn more about submissions for our next annual issue, Vol. X: “Spring”, which will be opening Sept 15, 2024!
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 Marco Bianchetti