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

Waiting to be a Good Samaritan by Paul Beckman

Last week brought us an incredibly strong lineup of stories, but Paul’s contribution has me laughing afresh every time!

Throughout 2015, we got to read a ton of great stories, but only a few could rise to the top. Here are the 12 Story of the Month winners, which make up our finalists for the 2015 Story of the Year.

JANUARY: Math Lesson by Cathy Ulrich
FEBRUARY: Closing Time by Steve Lucas
MARCH: Striking Twice by Gina Lyle
APRIL: Note Left on a Car in a Grocery Store Parking Lot by Cynthia Franks
MAY: The Writer’s Son by Guy Preston
JUNE: Head Case by Mark Farley
JULY: Mr. Moon by Dan Niederloh
AUGUST: You Are Standing in My Moonlight by Jeff Holland
SEPTEMBER: One Job From Retirement by Guy Preston
OCTOBER: A Fleeting Childhood by Jason Huynh
NOVEMBER: Blind Date by Matthew Gregory
DECEMBER: Fairy Lights by Ellie Burkinshaw

The winner, as chosen by editor Tim Sevenhuysen will be announced next weekend!

The prize for the Story of the Year winner will be:

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

Let everyone know in the comments who you would give the award to!

Throwback: In 2015, Bob Thurber won the Story of the Year award with his piece The Mapmaker’s Calligraphist Daughter.

Resident Hall-of-Famer Bob Thurber will be judging the Bumblee Microfiction Contest, open to entries this month!

Head over to the contest page and send in your 50-word story. You could win a one-year subscription to Pulp Literature.

Entries will be judged by Bob Thurber.

Good luck to everyone who enters!

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

The finalists for December were:

The Magic Pencil by Joanne R. Fritz
Fairy Lights by Ellie Burkinshaw
All-Nighter Agony by Sally Basmajian
All Sales Are Final by Daniel Slaten
Surface Area by Bruce Meredith

The winner of the December 2015 Story of the Month, and the $10 prize, is…

Fairy Lights

Circuses are ripe ground for mystery, fantasy, and a tinge of darkness. Ellie took great advantage of that space for imagination, and created an entry point into a massive world of speculation and exploration.

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

New Year’s Resolution by Mary Steer

It’s always nice to start off a new year with a bit of humour!

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

Surface Area by Bruce Meredith

It’s rare to receive a story so uniquely creative as this one. I’m not sure what to think about it! It makes me smile, gets my brain spinning… And it clearly resonated with the readers, too.

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

All Sales Are Final by Daniel Slaten

A fun metaphor with some emotion behind it, like a solid meal with light flavors!

The story of the week for December 7 to 11 is…

All-Nighter Agony by Sally Basmajian
and
Fairy Lights by Ellie Burkinshaw

This was one of the strongest weeks we’ve had in a while! In the end, I had to pick two stories to honour, to reflect that. I know; I’m a rule breaker!

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

The finalists for November were:

The Last Day I Wore My Wedding Ring by Guy Preston
The End by Alison Carroll
The Death of a Dream by Devon R. Widmer
Blind Date by Matthew Gregory

The winner of the November 2015 Story of the Month, and the $10 prize, is…

Blind Date

I had a hard time selecting a winner, because all four finalists were really strong, each in their own way. In the end, I chose Matthew Gregory’s entry because of the powerful character building, the establishment of a well fleshed out scene, the advancement of a very nuanced plot, and the emotional investment the story elicits. There’s so much room to explore this world inside your own mind.

The story of the week for November 30 to December 4 is…

The Magic Pencil by Joanne R. Fritz

I feel like we’ve witnessed the birth of a super villain! But more meaningfully, Joanne has constructed a nuanced, layered modern fable about greed and contentment.