The story of the week for June 1 to 5 is…

Head Case by Mark Farley

It’s rare to see a story that’s so truly unique and evokes so much emotional complexity, but Mark pulled it off in spectacular fashion.

Due to an overwhelming flood of submissions over the past couple of weeks, I am now sitting on a mountain of unread stories that will likely take me three months to sift through at my current pace.

Because of this, I am forced to close submissions until further notice. I’m sorry if you were just preparing to send in your submission, but you’ll have to hold onto it for a little while!

Once the slush pile is down to a more manageable level, and once I’ve come up with a plan for dealing with this kind of thing better moving forward, I will be reopening submissions and letting everyone know.

Thank you so much to everyone for your submissions and your interest in the site!

Tim Sevenhuysen

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

The finalists for May were:

The Week the Circus Came to Town by Bob Thurber
The Beast by Holly Coombs
The Stranger by Gaghe MacWilliams
Handyman by Kathryn Trattner
The Writer’s Son by Guy Preston

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

The Writer’s Son

Congratulations, Guy! Your story is beautiful and innocent. A great piece.

The story of the week for May 25 to 29 is…

The Writer’s Son by Guy Preston

Great ambiance, great character building, and excellent emotion. Good job, Guy!

If you’ve sent in a story in the past month and a half or so, I’m sorry it’s taken so long to get back to you.

Unfortunately, the wait times are going to get longer before they get shorter. I’m not sure why, but over the past few days I’ve received a massive flood of submissions. It’s going to take a long time to go through all of the new stories, so if it takes two months or longer to respond, please be patient!

Thanks,

Tim

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

Handyman by Kathryn Trattner

There’s so little room in 50 words to set up emotional tension like this, let alone a thematic parallel. Very well done, Kathryn.

The Story of the Week for May 10 to 15 is…

The Stranger by Gaghe MacWilliams

This week was packed with great stories, mostly provided by a writing class from Prince Edward Island! It was hard to pick just one, but I picked Gaghe’s incredibly imaginative adventure.

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

The finalists for April were:

Note Left on a Car in a Grocery Story Parking Lot by Cynthia Franks
Duplicitous Haunts by Sarah Scott
The Things We Preserve by Bob Thurber
Smaller Than You by Mark Farley

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

Note Left on a Car in a Grocery Story Parking Lot

Congratulations, Cynthia! What a poignant character exploration. Excellent work!

The Story of the Week for May 4 to 8 is…

The Beast by Holly Coombs

By re-imagining a character who is seldom thought of as an actual character, Holly really created something unique and special.

Check out this contest, which has a 50-word stories connection via judge Bob Thurber, who is a member of the 50WS Hall of Fame!

Pulp Literature “Hummingbird Prize for Flash Fiction” Contest

Got something short, sharp and snappy to tell? Wow us with 1000 words of your economical and brilliant storytelling. Final contest judge is flash fiction master, Bob Thurber. Entry fee is $10 until May 14, then $15. Prize is $300 and publication in Pulp Literature Issue 9.

More Details:
Want feedback on your story? Get a professional critique from one of the Pulp Literature editors for only $15 more.

Contest opens: 1 May 2015
Deadline: 15 June 2015
Winners notified: 15 July 2015
Winners published in: Pulp Literature Issue 9, Winter 2016
First Prize: $300
Runner up: $75
Judge: Bob Thurber
Entry fee: $15
Editorial Critique: $15
Early Bird fee (before 15 May): $10

Read more about the contest on the Pulp Literature blog.