The story of the week for February 25 to March 1 is…

Still by Miriam Stein

The story of the week for February 18 to 22 is…

Click by Johannah Lipscher Simon

The story of the week for February 11 to 15 is…

Finger by Ryan Borchers

The Story of the Month is chosen from the Story of the Week winners announced from the past month.

The finalists for January were:

Hunting Nightmares by Ran Walker
For Karen, from Seward, Alaska by Cinthia Ritchie
Pruning for Life by Janet Mackie
Jam by Jo Withers

The winner of the January 2019 Story of the Month, and the $10 prize, is…

Hunting Nightmares

I always love seeing stories come through the site featuring completely new themes and ideas, especially when they are as well delivered as this one. Ran Walker put together a genre, a world, an anti-hero, and an origin story plot, and did it all with style. The story created a world of opportunity, even promptly inspiring a fun unofficial sequel!

The story of the week for February 4 to 8 is…

Only Thing Left To Do Is What We’ve Always Done by Graham Scott
and
The Guardian by Susan Gale Wickes

The story of the week for January 28 to February 1 is…

Toms by Roy Gomez

The story of the week for January 21 to 25 is…

Jam by Jo Withers

The winner of the 2018 Story of the Year, along with the $50 prize and enshrinement in the Hall of Fame, is:

The Summer of Sweet Mary (circa 1972) by Bob Thurber

For the first time, 50WS has a two-time story of the year winner. It’s not surprising that Bob Thurber was the one to do it. His run of work this year was truly exceptional, earning repeated honours despite the increasing volume and quality of submissions we’ve been receiving month after month.

Honourable mentions to The Art of Disappearing by Patrick Mc Loughlin and Dependency by Carrie Backer, two more excellent stories that made it very difficult to choose the winner.

The story of the week for January 14 to 18 is…

Pruning for Life by Janet Mackie

I love taking a look back at the amazing work that landed at 50WS throughout the past year. It’s time to deliberate over the winner of the 2018 Story of the Year!

Here are the 12 Story of the Month winners for 2018.

JANUARY: Roommate From Hell by Sarah Krenicki
FEBRUARY: Gospel by Beverly C. Lucey
MARCH: Sidewalks by Arlene Antoinette
APRIL: The Night the News Came by Bob Thurber
MAY: The Art of Disappearing by Patrick Mc Loughlin
JUNE: Dependency by Carrie Backer
JULY: Another Misadventure of the Broken Boys by Bob Thurber
AUGUST: Pizza Night by Maura Yzmore
SEPTEMBER: The Summer of Sweet Mary (circa 1972) by Bob Thurber
OCTOBER: Understanding by Katherine DeGilio
NOVEMBER: Archived News Clipping (Filed Under Irony) by Jo Withers
DECEMBER: The last time I saw my brother by Guy Preston

The winner, as chosen by editor Tim Sevenhuysen, will be announced on Sunday, January 20!

The prize for the Story of the Year winner is:

• $50 (Canadian)
• Enshrinement in the 50WS Hall of Fame

Let everyone know your favourite story in the comments!

Throwback: In 2015, Bob Thurber won the Story of the Year award with his piece The Mapmaker’s Calligraphist Daughter. In 2016, Guy Preston took the prize with One Job Away From Retirement. The 2017 winner was Jennifer L. Freed, for Aunt Peg. In 2018, Constellations by Jonathan Kosik won the award.