Welcome
to Word Smitten's
Storycove
where flash fiction catches the next wave
We
are pleased to announce the winner of our 2003 Flash
Fiction Competition!
The
Storycove Award
for Flash Fiction goes to
John Ravenscroft
for his story:
Walking Upside Down
We
congratulate him for a great story and a great achievement!
(Scroll below for this story's link.)
In
selecting this year's Storycove Flash Fiction Competition winner,
our 2003 judge, Michael C. White, comments that out of the five
finalists he had two favorites making his task very difficult.
He finally selected a work by John Ravenscroft titled, "Walking
Upside Down" and of this amazing work he says:
"Walking
Upside Down" is a quiet story, about a moment remembered
many years later. Yet what impressed me was that the moment
was not only so vividly and erotically detailed ("the flawless
legs rise into the air," "the dark forbidden fork-a
place my eyes have no legitimate business," "her navy
blue knickers"), but it was also so life-affirming. Here
is a man lying near the end of life, and yet the image of Mary
Iris McCormack-Mim-standing on her head on one "hot yellow-blue,
small town afternoon" many years earlier, comes back to
him as pure joy. The moment is not lost to the man; he doesn't
pine over the years gone by or the "disappointment"
of love and youth having slipped away. Rather, the erotic and
lovely image of the pretty and daring Mim upside down coming
toward him in dreams, evokes in the narrator the present feeling
that if his nurse would only stand on her head, it "would
be something worth waking for."
What
I liked about this condensed gem is the fullness and richness
of lived life, and of a life lived without regret or self-pity.
The narrator feels that Mim might still get him "into trouble
after all these years." We get a sense of a complete life,
with all of its loss and all of its joy balanced perfectly.
"Walking Upside Down" is a real wonder.
~ Michael C. White
Michael
C. White, is a professor of English at Connecticut's
Fairfield University where he teaches fiction, writing workshops
and literature courses. Novels written by Michael C. White include
A Brother's Blood (Harper Collins),
which was a NY Times Book Review Notable Book of 1996
as well as a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers
Selection. To read more about Professor White and his work,
click here: Storycove
Judge.
Click
here for the winning entry by :
John Ravenscroft
Freiston Shore, Boston, Lincolnshire, UK
Title:
"Walking Upside Down"
Honorable Mention
Congratulations
to our finalists for their wonderful stories. Your fine work
made this a great event and it was difficult for our readers
to choose the best stories from the best submitted. We enjoyed
reading your work. We wish you all continued success with your
writing.
Gary
Cadwallader for his story Stargazer Lilies
Amy Culberg for her story Storms
Andres Moxey for Waiting Room
Renee K. Nicholson for The Diners Club
Ready
for some more flash? For those writers who entered this year's
competition and would like to gain more knowledge about the
art of writing flash fiction, or if you are not yet familiar
with the concept of flash fiction (or "sudden" fiction),
we recommend this book.
Flash Fiction - 72 Very Short Stories (W.
W. Norton) and if you would like to read an excerpt click
on this link: Finding
Flash at Word Smitten.
Read last year's winning Flash Fiction story: On
The Other Hand!
What's
next in Word Smitten?
Summer and Fall 2003
-
The
TenTen Fiction Competition. Our annual short
story contest provides an award of $1,010.00
to the winner. Deadline is July 1.
-
In
the next few weeks, look for an interview with
Brenda Copeland,
editor with a newly created
imprint, Atria.
-
Last
month, we talked with Diana
Finch, author's agent with the Ellen Levine Agency,
now merging with Trident Media Group.
Diana commented on the process of obtaining foreign
rights.
We'll have an update on Diana in an upcoming edition;
look for news about her change in direction!
-
In
addition, we'll be reporting on other writing
conferences and
giving you links to Web sites that provide great information
for the writing community.
-
We
feature current flash fiction work and short stories on
all the
Native Shore
Fiction pages. Grab your SPF 15, put your
Lands End shorts on and wade on in. Don't forget to tip
the cabana attendants. Most of them are disguised writers.
Especially the guy with the mustache.
The
TenTen Fiction Contest (Short Story Contest: $1,010.00
Award)
Reminder: Deadline for the Ten Ten is July 1, 2003.
Native Shore
Fiction (Short Stories)
