Tag: honeybee

Winner:

Jaime Gill for “Things To Talk To Jim About”

Here’s what Juliana Lamy had to say about “Things to Talk To Jim About”:

This stunning story is a brief masterclass in pacing and natural characterization. Each event occurs precisely when it means to, each character emerges with their own network of faults and feelings intact. The revelations in this piece feel inevitable, yet strike with the oblique, off-center shock of the surprising. There are beautiful moments of language here that, at certain points, seem to be all that stands between the reader and an emotional totaling.

First Runner-Up:

Ryan Mattern for “Veer”

Winner:

Randy Bynum for “Electric Eclectic Strong”

Here’s what Matt Mason had to say about “Electric Eclectic Strong”:

This poem is a beautiful celebration of music and radio. With great use of sound and language (musically put together!), it deals with frustrations that music can’t eliminate but can give a respite from so that we can gather ourselves back together and be able to deal with the madnesses of the world. With a conversational style, it draws you in like a friend’s voice and holds you to the last, gorgeous lines.

First Runner-Up:

Genevieve N. Williams for “A Beginners Guide to Yoga”

Winner:

Frankie Concepcion for “Origin Stories”

Here’s what Teri Youmans had to say about “Origin Stories”:

What I loved about “Origin Stories” is that it revolves around a particular experience of childhood, but through that experience the writer effortlessly explores relationships with beauty, with the maternal, with spirits, with fear, with longing and inheritance. I also appreciated the strong sense of physical place in the story, but even more so, the child struggling to understand her place in that world. All of this happens as an unfolding, rather than a forcing.

I felt the invisible cuts on my skin made by the sharp grasses, the grip of the mother’s too firm a hand and the fearful child’s reckoning with the ways beauty can lead to one’s demise. Each reading brought new pleasures.

First Runner-Up:

Kelsey Ferrell for “Eloise”

Fiction Winner:

Birds of Prey by Tiffany Promise

Here’s what Roxane Gay had to say about Birds of Prey:

Birds of Prey is a confluence of contradictions. There are events in a person’s life that are often joyful but as this economic story unravels, it is clear that there is no happy ending to be found here. Written with a bold and unique voice, this language-driven story about predator and prey is a masterful example of what flash fiction can be.

Runners-up:

The Language of Family by Hemmy So and Pretty Women by Blake Kinnett

Poetry Winner:

“For Kenny” by Kelsey Smoot

Here’s what Rodrigo Toscano had to say about “For Kenny”:

Too often these days, poems either lack sufficient words or phrases that culturally locate a text, or worse, they are overstuffed with such cultural markers. “For Kenny”, strikes a compelling balance between the two extremes. While the poem is plainly sympathetic to the subject of its portraiture (“Kenny”), it doesn’t lapse into simplistic sentimentality. A stoic attitude pervades the whole piece. And it is by way of this moral-ethical distancing that the reader is given space to imagine scenarios in their own life that call out for poetic treatment. But not so fast! Despite the poem’s narrative drive, expressed by an ardent commitment to finely wrought detail, akin to the beginning of a great epic novel, the last line, “I’m not sure that I do”, separates this poem from the legions of wannabe novelettes that litter most poetry journals. The cathectic rupture caused by the line is instant and irreversible, and resets all that came before it as an unrecoverable alternate reality. That is, our grimy readerly hands are kept at bay, as the poetic subject, narrator, and reader are all tossed up into midair. And where we land is on a newfound desire to live a more observant, more judicious, and ultimately, more compassionate life. And of course, “For Kenny”, leaves us plenty hungry for more poetic works by Kelsey Smoot.

Runner-up:

Ras Tafari Ghazal by Oak Morse

Creative Nonfiction Winner:

“Selfishly, I Planted Flowers by Rachel Sussman

Here’s what Hugh Reilly had to say about “Selfishly, I Planted Flowers”:

“Selfishly I Planted Flowers,” is a lyrical exploration of lifelong friendship. Insightful commentary like, “You can share what you love with anyone, but for scorn you need a trusted friend,” stopped me in my tracks and made me read the line again and savor its power and truth. I thought of my own best friend and what it would be like to lose him. Authentic anecdotes like pulling weeds in your pajamas, help this story ring true. The careful word choice, the judicial use of repetition, and the consistent and memorable metaphor of a flower garden resonate and make this story unforgettable. The final paragraph reminds us that there is a finish, an end to all things, and an inevitable new beginning. Sorrow and hope intertwined.

Runner-up:

Coyote by Nicki Orser

• Contradictions of Being by Karan Kapoor
• the come back by Simone Flynn
• Ras Tafari Ghazal by Oak Morse
• Amnesty Week by R.J. Lambert
• “For Kenny” by Kelsey Smoot
• Obit by Kait Quinn
• To Brother-Ghost on Halloween by Pell Williams

• The Riddle by Devon Parish
• Selfishly, I Planted Flowers by Rachel Sussman
• Coyote by Nicki Orser
• First Wound by Natasha Chiam
• Endangered by Margaret Lynch

• Midway by Allie Dixon
• The Year of the Self by Brittany Cortez
• Pretty Women by Blake Kinnett
• Birds of Prey by Tiffany Promise
• Language of Family by Hemmy So
• Allie by Addie Lovell