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Flash Fiction Prize 2019: Results, Short & Long-lists

Winners

Short-list

Long-list

 


 

Winners

Here are the 10 winning Flash Fiction Stories, as chosen by judge Pamela Painter, to be published in the Fish Anthology 2019

The Fish Anthology 2019 will be launched as part of the West Cork Literary Festival  (July 2019).
All of the writers published in the Anthology are invited to read at the launch.

Top 10 stories will be published in the FISH ANTHOLOGY 2019
1st prize: €1,000
2nd: €300
3rd: Online Writing Course with Fish

Pamela Painter. Writer.

Pamela Painter

Comments on the winning flash stories are from Pamela Painter, who we sincerely thank for her time, expertise and enthusiasm in judging the prize. (Two extra flash stories, that were closest to making the final ten, have also been listed below.)

 

 

FIRST PLACE

Teavarran by Louise Swingler (Yorkshire, UK)
“The landscape of Scotland is a powerful and delicious element in this story. The narrator is on the verge of leaving behind a man who will never accept or fit into this world. He is perfectly captured in his two complaints, and she in her keen observations of the land of her childhood home. The perfect two-word ending delivers a moving and delicate story.” – Pamela Painter

 

SECOND PLACE

Micromanagement by Jim Fay (London, UK)
“I loved the arc of this story that spools forward to a surprise with so few words. We trust the child’s observations of her parents’ stunted lives—her mum sitting silently in her little chair, her father leaning his bent and bowed back against the wall, in their house with “no fancy tie-backs of curtains.” And then with just a few “adjustments,” she lovingly improves their lives.” – Pamela Painter

 

THIRD PLACE

Seeing Stars, 1933 by Gail Anderson (USA)
“A great unfolding of a story. The details deftly tell two narratives as the tale moves forward—the past in which his father ‘taught him the night sky,’ and the present moment when he is directionless with the puzzling memory of ‘the rope behind his knees.’ The narratives intertwine until finally they converge when Jack reenters the ring, which was there all along, with ‘his father’s star in his eyes.’” – Pamela Painter

 

SEVEN HONORABLE MENTIONS (In no particular order)

Metamorphoses   by Deborah Appleton (USA)
Great imagination, humor– and compassion.” – Pamela Painter

 

 

Vigil by Berta W Money (Ireland)
“The next to last paragraph about the father is wrenching. ‘(He) …. knew when to give in….’” – Pamela Painter

 

Down Mexico Way by David Horn (Fermanagh, N. Ireland)
“Loved the two boys and their hiding place. And what a moving end as Frankie thanked Alex for the job he’d done. The paragraph with Old Seabourne could have been slightly clearer. So it was the ‘board rubber’ that split Frankie’s head—and done on purpose?“ – Pamela Painter

 

Bashful Becomes an Outlaw and Laments the Marriage of a Close Friend by Debra Bokur (Colorado, USA)
“Great line about the prince: ‘You could tell by the way he sat his horse.’ And poor Bashful, who once ‘stood upon a bench’ and really deserved Snow White.” – Pamela Painter

 

Mr. Splendiferous and the Shadows in the Alley by Debra Bokur (Colorado, USA)
 “A surprise move from the ‘short man in the satin cape’ to the girl in the red coat clutching her books to the boy ‘whose hand fills with a pony’s mane.’ And then the dark turn at the end as the boy imagines that the next time he might produce a wolf. A superb setting established in just the first line.” – Pamela Painter

 

Zodiac by David Rhymes (Navarra, Spain)
“Cheryl is a doozy of stand-in for the mother who left her kids ‘for Jack-shit.’ And of course she is going to help the father ‘navigate the divorce’ just like her car’s playlist takes the kids to school in a sweet swell of Motown schmaltz.” – Pamela Painter

 

Toby by K J Howard
“This story aptly captures a stoned father’s puzzled moments of grief over his child’s death.” – Pamela Painter

 

TWO THAT ALMOST MADE IT INTO THE ANTHOLOGY

 Blue Angel by Michelle Bitting
“The ‘suicidal’ dives of furry baby birds in the first line, ‘not knowing how to fly,’ effectively foreshadow the story’s end. Nice bird imagery.” – Pamela Painter

 

Becoming by Ferdia Lennon
“Stories should not begin with characters waking up. (Unless you are Kafka.). This story would have been more appealing if it had begun with the second paragraph.   Fascinating twist at the end.” – Pamela Painter

 

MORE ABOUT THE WINNERS:

Louise Swingler writes fiction and poetry, makes colourful things from yarn and thread, and works in a local library. She was born in Manchester and is also a Londoner, having lived there for many years. She loves going to art galleries and bookshops – especially their cafes – and eats far too many scones. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Manchester Metropolitan University. She is married to Tim and has one daughter, Amie.

Jim Fay grew up in Gateshead and now lives in London, with stints in Glasgow, Berkeley, and New York along the way. He loves both reading and writing hard-to-love characters with no self-awareness, and often looks to reality TV for inspiration. Jim worked in marketing and publishing and is now doing bits and pieces here and there while working on finishing a novel. Micromanagement is his first published work.

Gail Anderson is overjoyed to be included in two consecutive Fish Anthologies – 2018 and 2019! Having drifted through numerous careers (stop-motion animator, librarian, musical instrument repair technician, graphic designer) in the US, Scotland and South Africa, she currently resides in England and does communications for Oxford University. Recent creative work appears in Strix, The Southampton Review, and the Aesthetica Creative Writing Annual. Her future plans include a sailboat. Say hello: @smallgreenberd

Deborah Appleton spends most of her time travelling on low budget airlines around Europe. She is always writing. She has lived in many different countries on different continents. Her novel Alphabet Women, currently in search of a publisher, concerns stories of women who also travel the world in search of themselves, hmm, imagine that! 

Berta Money grew up in Santa Barbara, California. In 1973 she moved to Ireland and worked as a teacher of students with special needs. She is a prose writer and an Affiliate of Amherst Writers and Artists (Massachusetts) and a Founding Member of Amherst Writers  Ireland. She leads creative writing workshops, where she  lives in Co. Sligo, on the west coast of Ireland. She is also a grandmother and a passionate gardener.

K J Howard is a twenty-four old woman living here and there. This is her second publication. 

David Horn was born and raised behind the twitchy net curtains of suburban England. Giving up on office cubicles and turning instead to the wilds of Fermanagh, he has taken to writing. Short stories and the inevitable novel in progress, fall within his purview for now. He has a strong dislike of peanut butter and wet cardboard, but finds comfort in all the usual places.”

Debra Bokur is frequently accused of drinking too much tea and getting lost deliberately. She is the award-winning author of The Fire Thief, a mystery forthcoming from Kensington Books in 2020. A contributing author to Spreading the Word: Editors on Poetry (The Bench Press, 2001), she’s the former poetry editor at Many Mountains Moving literary journal and has been an editor at publications including Global Traveler Magazine. She divides her time between Colorado and coastal Maine. 

David Rhymes is a Nottingham-born writer living near Pamplona. His Novella-in-Flash “Kremlin Quixote” was shortlisted for the 2019 Bath Flash Fiction Award. He previously placed third in the June 2017 Bath Flash Fiction Award, and was shortlisted in February 2018. His story “A German Fable” appears in the Desperate Literature 2018 prize anthology, “Eleven Stories” and three more stories will be published in the forthcoming 2019 Reflex Fiction anthology.

 

 


 

Short-list:

(alphabetical order)

There are 46 flash stories in the short-list. The total entry was 970.

 

Title

First Name

Last Name

Seeing Stars, 1933

Gail

Anderson

Metamorphoses

Deborah

Appleton

Blue Angel

Michelle

Bitting

Mr. Splendiferous and the
Shadows in the Alley

Debra

Bokur

Bashful Becomes an Outlaw and Laments the Marriage of a Close Friend

Debra

Bokur

Hower ya

Deb

Carey

She Walks Through Mud

Dreena

Collins

Case File No.1

Geraldine

Creed

Bound

Mark

Dalligan

Cold Wet Flesh

Travis

Dorsey

Micromanagement

Jim

Fay

Toe tap

Maureen

Flynn

Four Four Time

Jane

Fraser

Winter Blues

Gretchen

Friel

An Exercise In Style

Fergal

Greene

SURVEILLANCE

Marc

Harshman

Bitter Herbs

Leontine

Hartzell

The Grandmother

Tania

Hershman

The Wish Thief

Tova

Hope-Liel

Toby

K J

Howard

Down Mexico Way

David

Horn

So Pretty

Mandy

Huggins

The Day Kennedy Died

Samantha

Keller

Becoming

Ferdia

Lennon

Charon’s Obol

Adam

Lock

Personal Trainer

Elizabeth

Mazzola

On it goes

Rachel

McDonnell

One day, one life, one chance

Paul

McKeogh

Warts

Bruce

Meyer

Vigil

Berta W.

Money

The Never Ones

Michelle

Morouse

Was I your first?

John

Mulligan

Seven Deadly Sins

Martine

O’Donovan

The Movement of Heavy Furniture

Alyson

Porter

How to be a Good Mother

Charlotte

Pregnolato

Zodiac

David

Rhymes

Virginia?

Allie

Rogers

The Kindling

Alison

Raine

Split

Alicia

Ruskin

Rabbit

Kirsty

Seymour-Ure

Sunday

Susan

Tepper

Ticket

Sherri

Turner

Observant

Rachel

Twyford

Fall Catalog

Lavanya

Vasudevan

In other times they
have their customs

Alice

Walsh

19 Crimes

Mick

Wilson

There There

Anne

Worthington

 

 


 

Long-list:

(alphabetical order)

There are 151 flash stories in the long-list. The total entry was 970.

 

Title

First Name

Last Name

     

Descent

Gail

Anderson

Reformation

Gail

Anderson

Seeing Stars, 1933

Gail

Anderson

Metamorphoses

Deborah

Appleton

Grateful

Jessica

Argyle

The Ring

Susie

Banta

Blue Angel

Michelle

Bitting

Bashful Becomes an Outlaw and
Laments the Marriage of a Close Friend

Debra

Bokur

Mr. Splendiferous and the
Shadows in the Alley

Debra

Bokur

Aftertaste

Molly Moylan

Brown

Gene Therapy

Judith

Bruce

Road Safety

Judith

Bruce

The Perfect Poem

Judith

Bruce

Pickle Puss

Lisa K.

Buchanan

This is Your Horoscope Talking

Heather

Cameron

Hower ya

Deb

Carey

Excelsior

Robyn

Carter

The Rage of a Fool

Harley

Carter

What I learned about zombies
from my heroine

Sandra

Castico

She Walks Through Mud

Dreena

Collins

Growing Up Fast

Tim

Craig

The Silence of the Movies

Tim

Craig

Case File No.1

Geraldine

Creed

Broken Eulogy

Michael

Crook

Bound

Mark

Dalligan

Housework

Elizabeth

Desmond

A Writer’s Inspiration

Issa

Dioume

Cold Wet Flesh

Travis

Dorsey

I Can Make It Work

Rory

Duffy

Old Naughton

Rory

Duffy

Shall We Exit

Angelina

Dunbar

Feelin’ Good

Alan

Egan

The book that used to
be my favorite

Elizabeth

Endara

The Accident

Laura

Fanning

Micromanagement

Jim

Fay

The Same Train

Conor

Ferguson

Toe tap

Maureen

Flynn

The Bridge

Donna

Foxcroft

Four Four Time

Jane

Fraser

Winter Blues

Gretchen

Friel

Don’t Live Forever

Frances

Gapper

Collapsing Under Her own Weight.

Ruth

Geldard

The Return

Ryan

Gelshenen

Echoes

M

Gethins

Flight 800

Gordon

Gilbert

Playground

Aber Ozram

Grand

The bang of the gun

Jennifer

Gray

An Exercise In Style

Fergal

Greene

Reading Oedipus

Hardy

Griffin

Aftershock

Kim

Hare

The Last Migration

Neil

Harrison

SURVEILLANCE

Marc

Harshman

Bitter Herbs

Leontine

Hartzell

Trail of Loss

Phil

Hawtin

The Grandmother

Tania

Hershman

Mickey Mouse

Anne-Marie

Hoeve

A Route Plan From Dad to Dad

Marissa

Hoffmann

Ships on their Tongues

Brian

Holland

Teething, or grieving

Patrick

Holloway

The Big Sleep

Jo

Holmwood

The Wish Thief

Tova

Hope-Liel

Toby

K J

Howard

Down Mexico Way

David

Horn

The Simplest Creature to
Experience Loss

Conor

Houghton

So Pretty

Mandy

Huggins

Chain Reaction

Maggie

Jackson

The Day Kennedy Died

Samantha

Keller

The Woman In Paris Who
Walked Her Cat

Joe

Kilgore

M1

Anne

Kilminster

Dublin Bus Moments

Melinda

Kugyelka

Least Bad Wine

Keith

Law

Help Me

Barbara

Leahy

white shiny shoe box

Frank

Lee

Becoming

Ferdia

Lennon

“LOVE SPEED”

Scott

Lipanovich

Charon’s Obol

Adam

Lock

Blue

Amy

Lord

Different Perspectives

William

Lyne

The Execution of Emperor Maximilian, Edouard Manet. Kunsthalle, Mannheim. 1868-1869.

Thomas

Malloch

Master and dog

Ken

Mangroelal

Stone Skin

Una

Mannion

Honey

Jenni

Mazaraki

Personal Trainer

Elizabeth

Mazzola

On it goes

Rachel

McDonnell

Forty Years in the Writing

Dermot

McGillicuddy

One day, one life, one chance

Paul

McKeogh

It’s a Girl!

Bruce

Meyer

Warts

Bruce

Meyer

Elephant

Ines

Meza-Mitcher

Augury Under the Arch

Hailey

Millhollen

The Night Nurse

Hailey

Millhollen

The Devil To Pay

Cullen

Moloy

Vigil

Berta W.

Money

Beyond the Horizon

Joseph

Moore

From Diego Rivera’s Detroit Industry
to his lost Man at the Crossroads

Michelle

Morouse

The Never Ones

Michelle

Morouse

Was I your first?

John

Mulligan

The Grief Vampires

Rachael

Murphy

Swamp time

Aongus

Murtagh

Cover

Etan

Nechin

Banana Cake

Lindsay

Nicholson

Allstar

Anne

O’Carroll

Seven Deadly Sins

Martine

O’Donovan

Hush, Dear.

Nora

O’Dwyer

Every Thing We Own

Amy

O’Neil

Tedium

Gabriela

Paloa

Caught in the Act

Jane

Paterson

The Movement of Heavy Furniture

Alyson

Porter

How to be a Good Mother

Charlotte

Pregnolato

The Kindling

Alison

Raine

A Thirst for Life

Russell

Reader

Zodiac

David

Rhymes

Fallen Fruit

Johanna

Robinson

Your call cannot be connected

Peter

Rodgers

Tove

Allie

Rogers

Virginia?

Allie

Rogers

Beyond the Rattling Gate

Dettra

Rose

Split

Alicia

Ruskin

TQ249095

Christina

Sanders

A Slight Encounter

Enda

Scott

HOW OLD DO YOU THINK I AM?

Kevin

Scully

16/2/19

Max

Segal

Rabbit

Kirsty

Seymour-Ure

Running with Scissors

Kirsty

Seymour-Ure

Foregone Dawn

Aviad

Shely

Paths Not Taken

Isabelle

Shifrin

Sue

Karen

Smyte

Instant Oatmeal

Phillip

Sterling

She finds herself in the place

Phillip

Sterling

Lady Pan Gets Heated

Mashal

Sultani

A brand new day

Karl

Sweeney

Teavarran

Louise

Swingler

Sunday

Susan

Tepper

Ticket

Sherri

Turner

Observant

Rachel

Twyford

Mother’s Song

BE

Van de Veire

Fall Catalog

Lavanya

Vasudevan

Matchless

Lavanya

Vasudevan

Suddenly, She Is Woke

Lavanya

Vasudevan

The Finish

Wester

Wagenaar

The Loughlin Place

Julian

Wakeling

In other times they have their customs

Alice

Walsh

One For The Road

Darren

Walsh

The Lump

Patrick

Walsh

Young Love

Henry

Ward

19 Crimes

Mick

Wilson

Donny

Mick

Wilson

Glasgow, Sunday Morning

Christine

Wilson

Milk

Elisabeth

Winkler

There There

Anne

Worthington

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On behalf of all of us at Fish, congratulations to all of you who made the long list.  The short-list and final results will not be published until 10th April. This is due to unforeseen circumstances and we apologise for any inconvenience that it causes. To preserve the anonymous nature of the judging, we are […]

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  Winners Short-list Long-list     Winners: Here are the 10 winners, as chosen by judge Billy Collins, to be published in the FISH ANTHOLOGY 2023. The Anthology will  be launched as part of the West Cork Literary Festival, (The Maritime Hotel, Bantry, West Cork – Tuesday 11th July – 18.00.) All are welcome! Second […]

Flash Fiction Prize 2023: RESULTS

10th April 2023
Winners Short-list Long-list   From all of us at Fish, thank you for entering your flashes. So many gems deserving of a readership have left their imprint on the Fish editors and judge, Kit de Waal. It was an honour to read them all. Congratulations to the writers whose Flash Stories were short or long-listed, […]

Short Memoir Prize: Results 2023

31st March 2023
Winners Short-list Long-list   On behalf of all of us at Fish, we congratulate the 10 winners who made it to the Fish Anthology 2023, and to those writers who made the long and short-lists, well done too.  Thank you to Sean Lusk, for the time and enthusiasm that he put into selecting the winners. (About […]

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