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The SmokeLong Quarterly Award for Flash Fiction — The Winners

June 8, 2025

I know I probably say this every year, but narrowing down the top 25 entries to the group of stories we will eventually end up publishing was such a difficult task. Once an entry reached the second stage of the competition (meaning at least one of the first readers voted maybe), often 9 or more judges commented and voted. Congratulations to everyone who made the long- and shortlists. We’re sure your work will find a great home. There were some killer stories on these lists.

We are now excited to share with you the stories and their authors who will be published in the special SmokeLong Quarterly Award for Flash Fiction issue on June 16th! They are all varying shades of brilliant, and we can’t wait for you to read them. We have also added the authors’ names to the long- and shortlists.

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The SmokeLong Quarterly
Award for Flash Fiction –
The Winners

First Place: “Between Chamisa and Rengyō” by Mizuki Yamamoto
Second Place: “Man Spelt Backwards” by Chi Pham
Third Place:  “Special Occasion Italian Restaurant” by Valerie Fox

Finalists: 

“Ms. Pac-Man in the Maze” by Sarah Chin
“National Bird” by Jesse Ackles
“Savior” by Seth Gleckman
“(They Long To Be) Close to You” by Binh Do
“Wild Gazelle” by Glenn Orgias
“Zombie Duck” by Sara Hills

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A SmokeLong Summer 26!

A SmokeLong Summer 26 is closer than you think. This year we’re starting early and staying late. The summer just got longer.

As always, at the heart of A SmokeLong Summer is our peer-review workshop in small groups of around 15 writers, drafting to 3 writing tasks each week. Our peer-review workshop is all in writing, so you can participate from anywhere, anytime. This summer our writing tasks will be generative and thematically leaning towards community. Our theme this year: “The Global Flash Village”. Writing doesn’t have a be a game of Solitaire; it can be a team sport.

Our participants often say their writing has dramatically increased in community. A SmokeLong Summer 26 will take you around the world, introducing you to writers from every corner of our beautiful planet.