Our first contest has come to a close, and we are pleased to announce the winners.
We asked for poems and stories based around the prompt “intrusive thoughts,” and received many fantastic entries as a result. In fact, so many high quality works were sent to us that we have decided to name three winners — two for fiction and one for poetry — as well as five talented runners-up.
Winners will receive publication in our debut issue, which will be available to read for free this December.
CATEGORY: POETRY
WINNER:
Nikhita Dodla, “I’d Prefer if You’d Knock Before Entering My Head.”
Nikhita Dodla is an American student living in California. Dodla’s poems have appeared in Creative Communication publications and regional magazines.
I could.
Stop. Let the bystanders go.
my hands hurt.
I can make them hurt
You can read the rest of Dodla’s powerful poem when our debut issue is released online this December.
RUNNERS-UP:
Maragaret King, “The Tilted House.”
Margaret King is a Wisconsin writer who enjoys penning poetry, short stories, and young adult novels. In her spare time, she likes to haunt the shores of Lake Michigan, similar to many of her fictional characters.
Omer Zamir, “That.”
Omer Zamir lives in Israel. Chrysopylae was published through Deerbrook Editions. He likes Krapp’s Last Tape by Samuel Beckett, and The Chairs by Eugene Ionesco.
Kristin Garth, “Flutter.”
Kristin Garth is a poet from Pensacola. Her poetry has been featured in Infernal Ink, Anti-Heroin Chic, Quail Bell Magazine, Digging Through the Fat, The Society for Classical Poets, Mookychick, Moonchild Magazine, Occulum and other publications. She’s currently constructing a poetry dollhouse chapbook project entitled Pink Plastic House. Follow her on Twitter: @lolaandjolie.
CATEGORY: FICTION
WINNERS:
Phantasmagothica, “Black Satin, Black Lace.”
A writer from India, Phantasmagothica has been heavily inspired by Gothic literature since the age of 13. She draws inspiration from VC Andrews and Stephen King. Her writing can be found online at www.phantasmagothica.wordpress.com, on Twitter as @phantasmagothic, and Instagram as phantasmagothica.
Waste that had buried itself half-heartedly in the riverbed was catching between my toes. I was too slow, and she was too far.
You can read the rest of Phantasmagothica’s intriguing story when our debut issue is released online this December.
Stella Turner, “Salvador’s Lobster Telephone.”
Stella Turner was sent to Coventry, England at birth. She’s been published in Take a Leap Anthology, Connections Anthology, NFFD 2013 Anthology, and several FlashDogs anthologies. Her writing has also been published on 330words, 1000words, Postcard Shorts, Paragraph Planet, 99fiction and National Flash Fiction Day: The Journal, and National Flash Fiction Day’s Flash Flood. Follower her on twitter @stellakateT.
I feel the dampness of the water on my uniform as the message is relayed. Staccato like Morse code. It is she. She wants me home. I am home. It is she who is not here.
You can read the rest of Turner’s thought-provoking piece when our debut issue is released online this December.
RUNNERS-UP:
Ilana Lindsey,”Echolalia.”
Ilana Lindsey is a graduate of Richard Skinner’s Faber Academy Write a Novel course, and has a short story that was long-listed for the CWA Margery Allingham Short Story Competition in 2015. Lindsey’s inspirations and favourites include Margaret Atwood, Katherine Dunn, David Mitchell and Kazuo Ishiguro.
David Henson, “Yellow Water.”
David Henson’s work recently won the 2017 So Say We All Literary Prize in fiction and the 2016 Problem House Press short story contest. He writes and records music under the name Shadows on a River, which can be heard at shadowsonariver.bandcamp.com and tweets @davidbhenson.
Thank you to everyone who participated! Reading your entries was a thrilling, thought-inspiring experience. It’s exciting to see so many different voices creating unique works around the same theme. We hope to run a similar contest again in the future.
It has been a privilege to read your work. Thank you again for making this contest a success.
Victoria Elghasen & Michelle Baleka
Editors
déraciné 