Last year, I had the honor of judging the fiction section of the Indiana University Southeast Writing Contest. It was a wonderful experience reading such talented writers, and I was doubly honored this year when those students invited me to campus to read from Hagridden and give a talk on fiction writing.
But then the university went further still and invited me to once again judge the writing competition, this time in the flash fiction category.
The IU Southeast has now announced the winners and held their awards gala (I’m told my friend Steve Bowman, who teaches at IUS, made kind mention of me, too — thanks, Steve!).
I offer my congratulations to all the writers who submitted their wonderful flash fiction, and extra applause to the winners: Tanya Le (1st place for “Crying While Laughing”), Josh Medlock (2nd place for “The Last Valentine’s Day”), Deanna Babcock, (3rd place for “Neighbors”), and Katelyn Hamilton (Honorable Mention for “Gone”). It’s worth pointing out, too, that Deanna Babcock and Katelyn Hamilton also place in other categories — clearly, the writers at IUS are multitalented!
Best of luck to all the writers as they keep at the craft! Send your work out into the world, gang, and here’s to many future publications!
Samuel Snoek-Brown 