We are thrilled to announce the winners of our 2023 Flash Fiction Contest as chosen by guest judge Jennifer A. Howard!
About the author:
Jessica Lilien has had stories published in Meridian, The Chattahoochee Review, Columbia Journal, LUMINA Journal, and the collection Night Terrors III, among other places. She lives in Brooklyn. jessicalilien.com
Jennifer's note:
In “The Human Baby Sleeps Slumped Sideways in a Stroller Like a Doll,” Jessica Lilien strangifies the common with a charmingly uncanny point of view. Her work has a queerly insistent prose rhythm that knocked my socks off. I can’t tell if Lilien is a scientist, a comedian, or a philosopher, but I want to rush out and read more of her work straightaway.
Read Jessica's winning story here.
About the author:
Sasha Wolff is a queer writer living in NYC. She received her MFA in Fiction from Columbia University. Since then, she has been a Popcorn Girl, Ticket Lady, Bar Runner, Study Guide Writer, Usher for Disney-on-Broadway, and (when she can locate her shoes) one of those Crazy Distance Runners. Her work can be found in Parhelion Literary, Flash Fiction Online, The Oxonian Review, and 365 Tomorrows, among others. She currently lives in Harlem with three men and a doggy.
Jennifer's note:
“The Adventures of Octopus Girl” had me at “a corn dog of a moon.” Sasha Wolff washed me in sentences I wanted to read aloud, and did! Her prose sank me fast into an intense empathy with our main character, and a love for her that spanned the story from start to finish. I’d follow Octopus Girl anywhere, as long as she would promise to narrate our trip together out loud.
Read Sasha's winning story here.
Watch Sasha's IG Live Q&A with editor Mollye Miller Shehadeh.
Stay tuned to learn more about our 2023 winning writers in upcoming Q&A's on our Features page.
About Jennifer:
Jennifer A. Howard teaches and edits Passages North at Northern Michigan University, in the snowy Upper Peninsula. Her latest chapbook is Flat Stanley Reports Back to His Third Grader, published by The Cupboard Pamphlet. She photographs chickadees, crochets granny squares, and swims in inland lakes until late in the summer when Superior finally warms up.
