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Tag: 2019 spring writing contest

2019 Spring Writing Contest Winner: Incensed by Alison Theresa Gibson

My sister was the only person I knew who took photos at funerals. The snap and whir of her SLR was hard to ignore as it echoed up the aisle from the back of the church. There was never a flash, only the windows offered light to the mourners, but that sound – I’ll never forget it.

She started with strangers, the white-haired shadows we saw shuffling to the church across the road from our house on Sundays. When a hearse crawled along the street and into the carpark, the driver’s face a sombre mask behind the window, she would throw on the black graduation gown that slid easily over anything she was wearing, and grab the camera. An hour later she would return, sighing with relief, like a burden had been lifted. Continue reading

2019 Spring Writing Contest Finalist: “School Bus” by Sara Backer


Sara Backer has two chapbooks: Bicycle Lotus (Left Fork) which won the Turtle Island Poetry Award and Scavenger Hunt (dancing girl press).  A book of poetry, Such Luck, is forthcoming from Flowstone Press. She holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and has recent or upcoming poems in Qu, Nonbinary Review, Crannóg, Tar River Poetry, Noble/Gas Qrtly, Hawaii Pacific Review, and Gargoyle. Website: sarabacker.com.

Announcing the finalists and winner of our 2019 Spring Writing Contest

Thanks so much to everyone who submitted to our 2019 Spring Writing Contest. This year’s theme was fury. We received hundreds of submissions, and it was a hard choice, but after careful consideration we’re thrilled to announce this year’s winner:

“Incensed” by Alison Theresa Gibson

Congratulations, Alison! She will be receiving $50. We’ll also be publishing a special print edition with her story and all of this year’s finalists:

FINALIST: “I Didn’t Cry At Her Funeral” and “Instead” by Rachel Nix

FINALIST: “Butcher” by Courtney LeBlanc

FINALIST: “School Bus” by Sara Backer

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