We are fascinated by the talent in this competition issue. The judging process was anonymous until the absolute final moments, so many of the judges–14 of our editors from 6 countries–will probably be seeing the names of the writers for the first time below. The brevity of flash facilitates multiple readings, and we certainly read these 12 entries dozens of times–and they held up the way flash should do.
Congratulations to everyone who made it to the long list and the shortlist. Your work impressed our judges and made it to the top of 1134 entries. We wish you all the best and much success with your work.
At SmokeLong we do a lot of soul-searching when we run competitions. Why run a competition when the competition to be published in the regular quarterly issue of the journal is often just as stiff? Why enter a competition when you could just wait for the free submission period? The answers to these questions are so interesting to me. Our mission is to provide an enormous, wonderful prize for the flash community–something and someone we can all celebrate. I’ll be talking more about this in the letter from the editor that will accompany the issue. All of the narratives below will appear in Issue 84 of SmokeLong Quarterly in just a few weeks on June 17!
Join us for the Issue 84 Launch on June 15 at 4pm ET. Request a Zoom Link: editor@smokelong.com
Christopher
The Winners and Finalists of The SmokeLong Quarterly Award for Flash Fiction 2024
First Place — “Grocery Store Mama” by Shayla Frandsen
Second Place — “Octopus Heart” by Latifa Ayad
Third Place — “Strong Female Character Goes by Her Last Name Only” by Stephanie Yu
Finalists in Alphabetical Order by Story Title
Ambrosia by H.J. Shepard
American Monster by Natalie Warther
And at Christmas I’ll Visit the Nursing Home, Pretend An Elderly Couple Are My Grandparents by Jo Withers
Bird Watching by Sara Kaplan-Cunningham
Hair on My Chest by Caroline Bock
Illusion Museum by SL Syarief
Pompeii by Sandra Khalil
Sarah draws little moustaches by Brendan Todt
The Maze by Denise Napoli Long
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