We are thrilled to announce the winners for this year’s American Short(er) Fiction Prize, judged by Amber Sparks. Thank you to everyone who submitted. The winning stories will be published in the magazine’s fall issue.
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First-Place Prize:
“The Old Woman at the Edge of the Cliff” by Ariel Berry.
Judge Amber Sparks writes, “This incredible, careful story read like an excavated fairy tale—brand new to us, but also somehow old as humans, and strange and sad as the wilder parts of the world.”
Ariel Berry is editor in chief of Third Coast and associate prose editor for A-Minor. Her work has appeared in several literary journals, including 100 Word Story and Southword. She is a doctoral student in creative writing at Western Michigan University and lives in Albion, Michigan, where she surrounds herself with books and animals.
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Second-Place Prize:
“The Moths Came” by Elin Hawkinson
“Thanks to visceral, evocative language,” writes Sparks, “I could hear and feel and see the moths and the dread and excitement they brought; there’s something terrifying and thrilling about the breakdown of the thin barrier between the human and animal world and this story captured it perfectly.”
Elin Hawkinson holds an MFA in creative writing from Eastern Washington University, where she served as fiction editor for Willow Springs magazine. Her writing has appeared in Midwestern Gothic, The Inquisitive Eater, Lilac City Fairytales Vols. 2, 3, & 4, and others. Currently, she works as a writer for the University of Buffalo College of Arts and Sciences.
Amber Sparks (judge) is the author of two short story collections, including The Unfinished World and Other Stories, published by Liveright and the recipient of praise from The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Paris Review. Her short fiction and essays have been featured in Tin House, American Short Fiction, and Granta, among others. She lives in Washington, DC with two cats, a toddler, and an adult human, but you can find her most days online at ambernoellesparks.com and on Twitter at @ambernoelle.
Congratulations to the winners, and many thanks to Amber Sparks!
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While our Short(er) Fiction contest is now closed, our Halifax Ranch Prize contest is currently accepting submissions and will be judged by acclaimed author ZZ Packer. Click here for more information on how to submit your work.
