Tag: writing contest

SPRINGTIME – WRITING CONTEST RESULTS

~ Brilliant Flash Fiction ~ 2 Comments

Many thanks to Judge Opal Palmer Adisa for judging this contest. We received 216 international entries.

Opal Palmer Adisa
Opal Palmer Adisa

First Prize: Here Are Some Legos by Joonho Jo
Second Prize: Grow Your Own by Deborah Carey
Third Prize: The New Frontier by Christine Metsger
Honorable Mention: Red, Black and Noorie by Syed Zeeshan Ahmed

Judge: Opal Palmer Adisa
Theme: The Future

 

FIRST PRIZE: Here Are Some Legos by Joonho Jo

Judge’s comments: “The future is about building and this story effectively does that—builds, destroys and rebuilds again the human pain and triumph, while poignantly showing that it is possible for each of us to create our own reality as children aptly do.”

Here Are Some Legos
By Joonho Jo

Here are some Legos.

Build the house first. Build the living room with the old box TV that you and your brother JJ watched Spongebob on. Build the flowers in the front yard you watered every day and kneeled next to, waiting for something magical to happen until Mom told you to come in because it was getting dark. Build the kitchen where you heard the clanking of pans as you patiently waited for Mom to cook your favorite dish, Kimchi jigae. Build the bedroom where you slept after Dad felt your forehead for your temperature—just in case you had a fever—and then tucked you in.

Then, build the school. Build Mrs. Wiegartner’s class and all your closest friends: Athena, Alec, Jacob, Madison, Natalia, Norman, Yasmine. Build the water fountain that you drank out of every day after recess. Build the seats in the school auditorium where Mom, Dad, and JJ clapped as you let out a sigh of relief after your first cello performance.

Then tear it all apart. Continue reading “SPRINGTIME – WRITING CONTEST RESULTS” →

SPRINGTIME FICTION WRITING CONTEST!

~ Brilliant Flash Fiction ~ 3 Comments

IMG_4227Theme: The Future
No Entry Fee
Word limit: 500 – 750 words, excluding title
Deadline: MARCH 15, 2016
Submissions: email to
brilliantflashfiction@gmail.com

Prizes:
50 euro first prize (or equivalent amount in your currency)
25 euro second prize
15 euro third prize
Judge: Opal Palmer Adisa Continue reading “SPRINGTIME FICTION WRITING CONTEST!” →

SCIENCE FICTION – CONTEST RESULTS

~ Brilliant Flash Fiction ~ 9 Comments

We received 423 international entries in this contest, and their creativity was exceptional. Contest judge Dr. Erin Macdonald gives her reasons for awarding the top three prizes:

Erin Macdonald
Erin Macdonald

First Prize: First Man by Mjke Wood
Second Prize: Mall by Else Fitzgerald
Third Prize: Domesticity Complex by Sasha de Buyl-Pisco

Judge: Dr. Erin Macdonald
Astrophysicist & Sci-Fi Lecturer

 

FIRST PRIZE: First Man by Mjke Wood
Judge’s comments: I thought this story was a great example of using science and the suspension of disbelief we often have to do in sci-fi set close-to-home to actually create tension for the reader. You know something is a little off, because the science is explained just enough to keep you questioning what is really going on. The imagery and setting was vivid enough that I continued to think about this story and picture it long after reading.

FIRST MAN
By Mjke Wood

The landing is gentle, a kiss and a roll. No wind. No drama. I step down off the lander, place a foot on the yellow surface, and pause.

Venus.

“Astarte, this is Ishtar Base. Looking good. A balmy day here at the beach.”

“Good to hear, Ishtar Base. I have clear video feed. Go to it.”

Will anyone recall those words in years to come? No. It can never be the same; each ‘first’ diluted by the firsts that went before. The Moon, Phobos, Mars … Neil Armstrong had no idea how great a giant leap was his.

There’s a ticking clock. This mission to hell will be brief. Surface temperature 460C, hot enough to boil lead. Atmospheric pressure: ninety times Earth normal. Survival time measured in minutes: each one, precious. Continue reading “SCIENCE FICTION – CONTEST RESULTS” →

SCIENCE FICTION WRITING COMPETITION!

~ Brilliant Flash Fiction ~ 46 Comments

Science Fiction Writing Contest
No Entry Fee
Word limit: 750
Deadline: JANUARY 15, 2016
Submissions: email to
brilliantflashfiction@gmail.com

Prizes:
50 euro first prize (or equivalent amount in your currency)
25 euro second prize
15 euro third prize
Judge: Dr. Erin Macdonald
Astrophysicist & Sci-Fi Lecturer Continue reading “SCIENCE FICTION WRITING COMPETITION!” →

BFF Writer Wins Write Well Award

~ Brilliant Flash Fiction ~ 4 Comments
Ann-Marie Lindstrom
Ann-Marie Lindstrom

Congratulations to Ann-Marie Lindstrom, who won a Write Well Award for Becky’s Song, originally published in the September 2014 issue of Brilliant Flash Fiction. For details, check out Write Well Award and be sure to read Ann-Marie’s award winning story below.

 

 

Becky’s Song
By Ann-Marie Lindstrom

When I was a little girl, Mama always called me light-headed. I never did know what that meant. Look at my hair. It’s always been the color of mud. Never was light.

Now light-fingered I knowed. Cousin Billy Frank was light-fingered. Couldn’t take him into Mr. Hobbs’ store without his taking something weren’t his. Billy Frank had a sweet tooth. And them light fingers.

And light-hearted I know. Granny was light-hearted. She could sing songs that would make you feel like things was going to be better. They might not be good right then, but you knew they was going to be better. Continue reading “BFF Writer Wins Write Well Award” →

FREESTYLE WRITING – CONTEST RESULTS

~ Brilliant Flash Fiction ~ 4 Comments

Many thanks to the 253 writers from Australia, Canada, England, Guyana, India, Ireland, Japan, Kenya, New Zealand, Ukraine, United States (and other undisclosed locations) who entered this writing contest!

Glen A. Bruce
Glenn A. Bruce

First Prize: Diane Donovan
Second Prize: Kirby Wright
Third Prize: Corinna Underwood
Honorable Mention: Helen Picard

Judge: Glenn A. Bruce
Scriptwriter, Novelist, Political Writer

 

FIRST PRIZE: The Strange Voyage of A Scarecrow, A Garden and Mr Crawfield by Diane Donovan
Judge’s comments:
I tend towards humor as, at the minimum, a device for relief. In this case, however, I found The Strange Voyage of A Scarecrow, A Garden and Mr Crawfield to be the cleverest writing of the lot. The premise is fresh and original, the execution fun and fairly precise, the use of language specific, and the tone whimsical. A good use of flash. Fun stuff.

The Strange Voyage of A Scarecrow, A Garden and Mr Crawfield
By Diane Donovan

Dear Mrs Crawfield,

I am writing this letter in my position as the Constable in Charge of Stapleton Police Station, and hope to set your mind at rest regarding the whereabouts of your husband, Harold.

You will recall that six days hence an earthquake of alarming severity occurred. This earthquake, while causing damage to many institutions, fortunately resulted in no loss of life.

Your husband was in his garden when the earthquake struck. He, along with his vegetable garden, various tools and a scarecrow, were shaken down a bank into the river that flows, very prettily, I’m sure, alongside your home. By some miracle the garden bed remained intact, conveying Harold rather as a raft would, rapidly downstream. The river being deep and wide took Harold and his garden through the countryside at a reasonable rate of knots (his words, dear Mrs Crawfield, and I hope they convey his excellent and undimmed sense of humour), resulting in many miles being covered over a period of four days. Continue reading “FREESTYLE WRITING – CONTEST RESULTS” →

FREESTYLE WRITING CONTEST!

~ Brilliant Flash Fiction ~ 9 Comments

IMG_5497September Freestyle Writing Contest
No Entry Fee!
Word limit: 600
Deadline: SEPTEMBER 15, 2015
Submissions: email to
brilliantflashfiction@gmail.com

Prizes:
50 euro first prize (or equivalent amount in your currency)
25 euro second prize
15 euro third prize Continue reading “FREESTYLE WRITING CONTEST!” →

EQUALITY- WRITING CONTEST RESULTS

~ Brilliant Flash Fiction ~ 8 Comments
Liz Nugent
Liz Nugent

First prize: Helen McMahon
Second prize: Toni Minoza
Third prize: Tim Roberts

Contest Judge:
Liz Nugent, author of Unravelling Oliver

 

FIRST PRIZE: Only Water by Helen McMahon
Judge’s comments: This beautifully written piece illustrates how every day, we have the opportunity to make a more equal society, but we allow our prejudices to get in the way. The narrator gives the homeless character a nobility and grace which make his/her avoidance of him all the more poignant.

Only Water
By Helen McMahon

You, crying, your mouth wide open, a silent howl. Like a child, in shock, the moment after a fall, before the hurt comes.

You sit in a shuttered doorway on the busy side street, the lower half of your body swaddled in a sleeping bag, filthy and ripped. Then the sound comes, the wail—a high, thin sound, unmanly. It catches me off-guard. I look at you. I hesitate. Then, though fearful, I cross the street to you. I kneel down in front of you. You do not see me. I say: are you okay? You do not answer. I reach across and put my palm on your cheek. I say: you poor man.

Slowly, you come from that place of grief, focus on my face. I take your hand. I say: come with me. I lead you down the street, taking you by the arm. You shuffle like an old man though you are young. In defiance of the manager’s hard looks, I sit you at a table in a coffee shop. I buy a pot of tea. You are surprisingly fussy about it. You insist, though your hands shake, on pouring your own milk. Continue reading “EQUALITY- WRITING CONTEST RESULTS” →

PHOTO PROMPT – CONTEST RESULTS

~ Brilliant Flash Fiction ~ 6 Comments

FIRST PRIZE WINNER of 100 EURO: 
Jessica Knauss

Photo by Theron Trowbridge
Laurie Scavo
Photo by Theron Trowbridge

Contest Judge
Laurie Scavo
Brilliant Flash Fiction
Webmaster & Photographer
Read more about Laurie HERE!

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_3120

FIRST PRIZE WINNER

Stairs to the Beach
By Jessica Knauss

Josie had the tunnel-staircase built because the children were fed up with the clifftop ocean view and no easy way to get to the beach below. To the children’s uproarious approval, I proposed a slide, so they could zip down onto the soft shore and get all their energy out swimming, building sandcastles, and trying to run on the tractionless surface of the sand. Then they would have to walk a mile or so around the cliff, back to the house, and I wouldn’t hear a peep out of them the rest of the day, I was sure. I could practice the viola or watch films that weren’t oriented toward children whenever I wanted.

But Josie insisted on the stairs to avoid long stretches of time when she couldn’t see her adopted dependents. In the beginning, it worked fairly well. All ten children loved hiking down the tunnel to be greeted by their own private piece of ocean, and by the time they trudged back up several hundred risers, all the sand had been knocked out of their crevices, so Roxanne didn’t have to do much cleanup in the foyer. But once they’d had time to tone their legs and exercise their lungs, they were shooting up that long staircase so fast, the sand had no time to dry, much less to let go of their sticky skin and sopping hair. Continue reading “PHOTO PROMPT – CONTEST RESULTS” →

EQUALITY WRITING COMPETITION!

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IMG_5298_1 No Entry Fee, Unlimited Entries
Send us your stories
written on the theme of EQUALITY
Word limit: 300
Deadline: JUNE 15, 2015
Submissions: email to brilliantflashfiction@gmail.com
Judge: LIZ NUGENT, Author of Unravelling Oliver
liznugent.ie
Prizes: 50 euro first prize (or equivalent amount in your currency)
25 euro second prize * 15 euro third prize
Winning stories will be published in
Brilliant Flash Fiction.