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New Writers Story Contest
(currently closed)

2019 Grand Prize Winner

Gingerbread House by Daniel Zeiders

2019 Honorable Mentions/Contributors

Aisle 16 by Heather Hein

A Skin I Shed in Vegas, The Second I Brought Back 
by Sarah Ann Cohen

Conversations with a Monster by Karla Young

Fat Bitch by Ry Molloy

Good Luck Fox by Casey Gibson
I Can’t Believe I Didn’t See This Coming by Mary E. Monte

Old Ladies Who Love to Swim by Dawn Marie Martin

Reflections on the First Barter by Alexander Abbas Kayhani

Socks by Anne Katata
Stalker by Carter Keeling

The Day I Met My Mother by Patsy Lally

The Other Day by D.S. Waldman 

Vieques by Kathrine B. Dixon

Words as Weapons of War by Arien Reed

2019 Semifinalists​

7 Minutes by Laila James

A Maybug Year by Lena Kraus

A Miracle ​. . . or the Hand of God? by Donald R. Ackermann

​A Night to Remember by Olivia Patinkin

A Skin I Shed in Vegas, The Second I Brought Back by Sarah Ann Cohen

Aisle 16 by Heather Hein

​Benign Masochism by Danielle Orie

​Black Tide by Tara Gilmore

​Bread by Noelle Wells

Can’t Win by Kim Sealock 

Carnival by Kristen Hughes

Circles by Alexander Kupfer

Coffee with Mom by Regina Ludes

Conversations with a Monster by Karla Young

Cosmo Yarrow Blows His Brains Out by Ron Gephart

Crusty Comes Through by Laura M. Kemp    

Daddy’s Secret by Keri Kent

demolition by Maria Siminiuc Launeanu

Do You Know the Way to Monterey? by Joanne Easley

Escape by Michael Karolewski

Fat Bitch by Ry Molloy

Feathered Spirits by Merle Borg

Fly, Fly Away by Justin Redding

Gingerbread House by Daniel Zeiders

Glass Cage by Arien Reed

Good Luck Fox by Casey Gibson

I Can’t Believe I Didn’t See This Coming by Mary E. Monte

I Must Say: True Fiction Poetry by Dr. Ishmael Footfährt by Danny Griffin

I Remember/I Don't Remember by Laila James 

In the Footsteps of Giants by Erin Brennan

Jack by Laura Fanning

Ladies Lunching by Vivian Pisano

Life-Cycle of a Feeling by Olivia Patinkin

Morning by Kerry McCarthy

Night by Heather Harzold

No Grave but the Sea by Jae Yahkèl Estes XVX

Old Ladies Who Love to Swim by Dawn Marie Martin

Older by Julie Jensen

Reflections on the First Barter by Alexander Abbas Kayhani

Simple Comfort by Marion Immerman

Socks by Anne Katata

Stalker by Carter Keeling

The Cemetery Tree by Misti Duvall

The Day I Met My Mother by Patsy Lally

The End by Kelly Simundson

The Key to Being Broke by Edward Moreta Jr.

The Other Day by D.S. Waldman 

The Power of Twelve by Heidi Croot

The Promise by Martin Liggins

The Promotion by William Houston

The Strange Times of Horace Finklestein by Jacqueline Z. Rippee

The Torn Thread by E.A. Morris 

Things I Will Never Tell You by Jamie Randall

                        Three Letters I Am Ashamed Of by Oreoluwa Mary Oladimeji

Thursday 2:19 am by Anne Katata

Uncle by Terri W. Zimmermann

Vieques by Kathrine Dixon

Wartime Writer by Samantha Jane Kelly

What We Take and What We Leave by Laura Fanning

When I Drowned in John Henry by Bridgette Leigh Kern

Words as Weapons of War by Arien Reed

You Can Never Steal Our Voice by Raydyn World

This contest is for writers who have not yet been published. Specifically, we consider being published by a journal or magazine, in print or online, as being previously published (i.e., you sent out your work, and someone said yes).

We also consider self-publishing your book as officially being published.

However, if you post articles to a blog or put your stories up on your own personal website, that would not disqualify you for this contest. 

We are looking, as ever, for stories that need to be told. These can be fiction, nonfiction, or poetry—if it tells a story, it fits. 

We love it when contributors tell us that we are their first publishing credit, and this contest exists to provide more people with that opportunity.  ​

Return to the Guidelines page to enter.

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