Our 14 judges have been hard at work over the last few days—and the last few months—narrowing down the field in our now-annual competition, The SmokeLong Quarterly Award for Flash Fiction (The Smokey), to the 60 titles you see below. Thank you to everyone who participated in this competition. We wish you all success with your work and hope that it finds its perfect home.
Our judging process, as well as our general editorial process, is anonymous. If the judges recognize an entry and are able to identify the author, the judges immediately recuse themselves, and the entry is assigned to a new judge. All entries in this competition were assigned to two judges first. If one of the two judges voted maybe, the entry was assigned to the senior editing team (the second round of judging).
Each of the stories on the long list sparked a discussion among our judges, and they are all still in the running to win The Smokey this year. Anonymous judging is ongoing. If you see your title(s) on the list below, please feel free to share your elation on social media, but please do so without identifying your work.
The SmokeLong Quarterly Award for Flash Fiction – The Long List
A Murmuration of Emily
Afterglow
Altitude
Amy’s Mom
Another Failed Test
Aunty Dolly Won’t Die
Bad Mouth
Before the Stars Rain Down
Between Chamisa and Rengyō
Brassicaphobia
Bridges We Can’t Uncross
Call me Marvellous
Correlation
Cut Flowers
Desert Religions
Discontent Warning – Amputated limbs are typically incinerated as medical waste
Even the Blade
exoskeleton
Grooves
I Learned Too Late Not to Save Things
I Miss Angelina Jolie
It’s Not the End of the World
How to Lose a Scarf
John
Little Coffins
Lower Mandible
Man Spelt Backwards
Mars is not as dry as they told us
Mother Said I Was Air
Ms. Pac-Man in the Maze
Mushroom Girl
My dog looks like a Republican
National Bird
Non-Existent
Not My Husband
Pickle Juice
Picture Day
Plotnick
Plummer Park
Public Record
Sand Fleas
Savior
Silent Disco on the Blue Line, 07/07/23
Silver People
Skirting Around Orange Trees
Sometimes Grief is a Moonrise
Special Occasion Italian Restaurant
The Burning Vows
The God-Line
The Magnanimity of It All
The Smoke of a Thousand Pyres
The Solid Fullness of Empty
The Waiting Room
(They Long To Be) Close to You
Trapeze Jesus
Unnova
When My Father Loses the Sight of Himself
Where Bon Bons Play
Wild Gazelle
Zombie Duck
The core workshop of SmokeLong Fitness is all in writing, so you can take part from anywhere at anytime. We are excited about creating a supportive, consistent and structured environment for flash writers to work on their craft in a community. We are thrilled and proud to say that our workshop participants have won, placed, or been listed in every major flash competition. Community works.