Exposition Review is excited to announce the latest winners of our Flash 405 contest! Our April contest, judged by Expo co-Editor-in-Chief Jessica June Rowe, called for narratives that explored the “intersections of times, cultures, and genres” through the lens of magic and mythology.
The submissions have been read, the winners selected, and now you can read these enchanting works for yourself!
Continue reading “Flash 405, April 2019: “Magic & Myths” Winners”
The winners of our first Flash contest of 2019 have been selected! Here at Exposition Review, we were thrilled to have Guest Judge Maureen Lee Lenker involved for this special February romance-themed contest, and now we’re even more thrilled to present the winning works.
Read on to read the winners of Flash 405, Februray 2019: “Happily Ever After!”
Continue reading “Flash 405, February 2019: “Happily Ever After” Winners”
The editors of Expo are pleased to announce the winners of our final contest of the year, judged by author Glen David Gold! The winning short form works evoked elegance in mysteries both solved and unsolved, leaving us intrigued, enchanted, and impressed.
Read on to discover these works for yourself:
Continue reading “Flash 405, August 2018: “Mystery” Winners”
Our latest round of Flash 405 was one for the record books! When “Nature” closed for submissions, Exposition Review editor Brianna J.L. Smyk had the daunting task of selecting just a few “vibrant pieces that dissect all the meanings of nature” from our largest entry pool yet.
Read on to explore the dark and light sides of human and Mother nature with the winners of Flash 405, April 2018: “Nature”!
Exposition Review is pleased to announce the next round of winners of Flash 405! Our April 2018 contest was judged by nationally recognized poet Edwin Bodney, who proposed the theme “Magnetism.” In doing so, he called for writers to explore how “the idea of being magnetized by known and unknown forces leaves an entire field for the many versions of ourselves to live in.”
We found ourselves attracted to many of the entries submitted, but a few stood out about the rest for their inherent tension and beautiful delivery. Read on to discover these powerful pieces for yourself!
Continue reading “Flash 405, April 2018: “Magnetism” Winners”
We opened our 2018 season of Flash 405 with a call to get selfish… or, more accurately, to explore selfishness, and avarice, and all other delightful and horrific forms of “Greed.” Judge Rebecca Luxton said of her theme that “greed is the beginning of so many great narratives,” and the submissions we received definitely reflected that.
Narrowing down these exceptional submissions was no easy feat, but we’re now excited to announce the winners of Flash 405, February 2018: “Greed”!
Continue reading “Flash 405, February 2018: “Greed” Winners”
Exposition Review is excited to announce the winners of Flash 405, August 2017: “Blue”! For our final 2017 round of Flash 405, guest judges David Lott and Michele Raphael, co-founders and editors of Angels Flight • literary west, called for works that would “take us into who and what we are and what we will become.”
Our winning writers delivered with some amazing pieces that take the reader through several lifetimes of emotion, of joy and pain, both real and imagined. Read on to see what our judges had to say:
Judge Laura Rensing started off describing her prompt “Nemesis” with a simple truth: “Everyone’s got one.” And based on the number of entries we received, it seems you agree! Over 100 talented writers submitted their interpretations and experiences with enemies, oppositions, and overcomings.
Narrowing down these exceptional submissions was no easy feat, but after much deliberation, we can now reveal the winners of Flash 405, June 2017!
When we opened submissions for our April Flash 405 round, we didn’t think guest judge Trinie Dalton’s theme, “Shangri-La,” could get any more relevant. And yet, it’s become more necessary than ever to persist against the “grim political carnival” we now face, one that seems to double-down on its absurdity with every passing day.
Continue reading “Flash 405, April 2017: “Shangri-La” Winners”
For our first Flash 405 contest of 2017, judge and Expo editor Lauren Gorski asked for short form narratives that explored “the abnormal, deviations from the acceptable, the outsiders”—and you delivered, with a “monster” number of submissions! From February 4 to March 5, we broke another Flash 405 record for most entries, receiving almost 100 submissions!
Among these entries were stories that scared us, thrilled us, and softened us to the gentle monster within. Lauren wanted “the emotion of Quasimodo compacted to 405 words. The violence of Grendel in 4-5 lines. The conviction of John Proctor in 4-5 pages.” We think she got it. The winners that emerged were able to deftly weave emotion, ugliness, and horror to create very human, but no less memorable monsters. Read on to discover them for yourself!
Continue reading “Flash 405, February 2017, “Monster” Winners”