Fairy Tale Review is pleased to announce the winners and finalists of our first annual contests in both prose and poetry. Each winner will receive $1,000 and publication in The Mauve Issue of Fairy Tale Review, forthcoming in 2015.
In prose, guest judge Sarah Shun-lien Bynum has selected “Brother and Sister” by Elise Winn. Of the winner, Bynum writes:
“Brother and Sister” is a jewel of a story, compressed and multifaceted and throwing off light, a tale of a parent’s unnatural desire and a resourceful child’s struggle to survive it. I love this young narrator, both for the clarity of her language and for the brave way in which she uses the tools of the fairy tale—flatness, repetition, animal transformations—to illuminate the darkness within her family that cannot otherwise be seen or spoken of.
Elise Winn’s stories have appeared in American Short Fiction, Hobart, The Indiana Review, and The Iowa Review. She was raised in Missouri and now lives in Northern California, where she is at work on a story collection and a novel.
In poetry, guest judge Ilya Kaminsky has selected “What Haunts” by Claire Cronin. Of the winner, Kaminsky writes:
I picked this piece not because it was the most wildly imaginative—among several wildly imaginative pieces in this finalists pool it was hard to pick just one!—but because it was the most perfectly executed lyric poem. This poem seems like it is complete.
Claire Cronin is an artist from Los Angeles. She is the author of the chapbook THERESE (H_NGM_N Books, 2014), and some of her work can be found in previous or forthcoming issues of DIALOGST, The Volta, Vinyl Poetry, and Yalobusha Review.
The judges have chosen the following as honorable mentions in prose and poetry:
Prose
“The Amazing Flying Velcro Twins” by Becky Blake
“Harvest” by Aimee Kwon
“Sole Tal Luna” by Thirii Myint
Poetry
“British Museum, Neolithic Deer Antler Headdress” & “Gwenhwyfar Through the Hours” by Majda Gama
“Antelopes of Thera” & “in the museum of made up memories” by Elizabeth Gross
“Selkie” by Kirsten Holt
“My Geppetto” by Jamie La Londe-Pinkston
“the rope-maker’s beautiful daughter” by Christian Rees
“With Child” by Helen Klein Ross
“The Man in Your Mouth” by Caleb Washburn
“Ban of the Wolf” by Candice Wuehle
“SIX” by Rachel Zavecz
And the remaining finalists in both prose and poetry:
Prose
Meredith Luby
Sam O’Brien
Kellie Wells
Christina Kloess
Courtney Sender
Gabriel Thibodeau
Wendy Fox
Helen Phillips
Julie Marie Wade
Poetry
Alexa Doran
Clara Changxin Fang
Mai Der Vang
Michael Schmeltzer
JD Scott
Kate Bonnici
Emma Bolden
Lesley Wheeler
Gretchen Steele Pratt
Addy Robinson McCulloch
Rachael Katz
Laura Romeyn
The editors would like to thank all those who submitted. We are continuously honored by the incredible display of interest in contemporary fairy tales. We are also delighted to announce again that ten percent of the proceeds from the contest will be donated to the Tucson Youth Poetry Slam, a non-profit that supports the diverse young voices of Southern Arizona.
Next year’s award judges will be announced soon.
A publication-ready press release can be found here.
