The final Flash 405 contest of 2026 is almost here, and we’re excited to share that another member of the Exposition Review fam is joining the ranks of our guest judges! Former contributor Charles Jensen is stepping into the role for our August contest, which will be accepting short-form entries in all genres starting on August 4.
Charles Jensen was featured in Vol. VII: “Flux” and his brilliant nonfiction piece Psychological Thriller has remained an editor favorite. Exposition Review also co-hosted an event at Skylight Books featuring Charles, alongside former Expo Fiction Editor Shze-Hui Tjoa and our August 2024 Flash 405 guest judge Dr. Cecilia Caballero.
We are thrilled to welcome Charles as our latest guest judge and have him shake things up with his contest prompt: “Quake”!
– August 2026 Round –
The Judge: Charles Jensen
Charles Jensen (he/him) wrote Splice of Life: A Memoir in 13 Film Genres (SFWP, 2024), which braids together in each chapter traditional memoir storytelling with discussion of a single film. His most recent collection of poetry is Instructions between Takeoff and Landing (U of Akron Press, 2022). His previous books include two collections of poetry and seven chapbooks of cross-genre work. His writing has appeared in American Poetry Review, Crab Orchard Review, The Journal, New England Review, and Prairie Schooner, The Los Angeles Times, Exposition Review, and Passages North. He founded the digital literary magazine Villain Era to celebrate literature of revenge.
The Theme: Quake
From Charles:
“Earthquakes often arrive without warning and last only a few seconds. But in that time, they can either delight us with their little jiggle, or devastate entire cities. Quaking can also be our bodies’ natural reaction to too much stimuli—fear, cold, or even ecstasy.
Tell us about a time an unexpected event shook you to your core, whether it’s as tangible as the ground moving beneath your feet or a deeply internal shift no one else could see.”
Before submitting, we encourage you to read the full guidelines; these can be found on our Submittable (link below) or on our Flash 405 contest page, where you can also see past contests and winners.
Please reach out to expositionreviewflash405@gmail.com with any questions.
Good luck!
