The Association for Mormon Letters and Irreantum magazine are pleased to announce the winners of our 2011 literary contests. The response this year was robust: we received 73 fiction entries, 47 creative nonfiction entries, and 91 poetry collection entries. Entries were judged blind, and our contest committee had a number of strong submissions from which to choose. We are grateful to the Eugene England foundation for providing funding for our fiction and creative nonfiction contests, and to Mary Ann Taylor for providing funding for our poetry contest. These contests would not be possible without their support, as well as the time and thoughtful consideration offered by Irreantum’s editorial staff and literary contest committee. Thank you to all who submitted, and congratulations to this year’s winners.
Fiction:
1st Place ($300), “The Last Blessing of J. Guyman LeGrand” by Darrin Cozzens of Dobson, North Carolina
2nd Place ($200), “Anonymity” by Laura McCune-Poplin of Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts
3rd Place ($100), “The End of Happy Endings” by Courtney Miller Santo of Memphis, Tennessee
Honorable Mentions: “Fitness for Life” by Julie Turley of New York, New York; and “Our Students” by Ryan Shoemaker of Burbank, California
Creative Nonfiction:
1st Place ($300), “Seeing Stars” by Kathryn Lynard Soper of South Jordan, Utah
2nd Place ($200), “Being Alone” by Suzette Gee of Sugar City, Idaho
3rd Place, ($100) “Bridge to Elysium” by Melissa Dalton-Bradford of Singapore
Honorable Mention: “The Marriage Bed” by Shelah Miner of Salt Lake City, Utah
Poetry:
1st Place, ($200) “My Heart is Like a Bluebird on the Banks of the Sweetwater,” “Genesis,” and “In the River” by Javen Tanner of Sandy, Utah
2nd Place, ($150) “Celestial Bodies,” “Walking Through Winter in Rexburg, Idaho,” “After Reading Exodus,” “Poetry as the Art of Theft,” and “Speaking in Tongues” by Jared White of Tampa, Florida
3rd Place, ($100) “Intervention,” “A Day in the Life of Jesus,” and “Coals” by Lisa Rubilar of Niskayuna, New York
Honorable Mentions: “I Once Found Religion,” “Self Portrait with Closed Eyes,” “Landscape, with a Cricket’s Chirr,” “Litany, With Wings,” and “Pater Noster” by Tyler Chadwick of Pocatello, Idaho; and “Honeymoon at Thirty-Something,” “Fling,” and “Eve in the Garden” by Elizabeth Garcia of Duluth, Georgia
Thank you to all who submitted. The judges had a tough job — lots of great entries. Don’t forget to subscribe to Irreantum so you can read all the winners!
I send my congratulations as well. It was a good year. You’re going to enjoy reading these when they come out.
I’ve posted thumbnail blurbs about the winning stories, as well as a couple hints for writers interested in next year’s contest at my personal blog http://lisatorcassodowning.com/2011/08/31/a-few-words-about-irreantums-2011-fiction-winners/
If you writers haven’t been a regular visiter to my irregularly posted blog, take a look at the Discussions for Writers in particular. I’m working on upcoming posts about Ambiguity and Endings and also one specific to Mormon women who write literary fiction. Can’t promise when those will be up, but I’m gearing up for them.
And don’t forget, the Brookie and D.K. Brown Fiction Contest is around the corner. If your story didn’t top Irreantum’s list, return to it, re-evaluate it, and try again here. More information on this contest is found at: https://www.sunstonemagazine.com/2011-fiction-contest/
Clarification: I only speak of the fiction winners at my blog.
Another contest to know about:
“The Marilyn Brown Unpublished Novel’s annual October 1st deadline is approaching. Each year the winning author receives a $1,000 stipend, presented at the spring Dean’s Award Banquet for the UVU College of Humanities and Social Sciences. This contest is open to every author, whether published or not (although the submitted novel must be unpublished). Details for submission can be found at the following Internet address: http://marilynbrownauthor.com/award/mbna.html ”
“…the only requirement for the novel is that it be mainstream (not fantasy or science fiction) and deal in some way with western regional or LDS themes, either or both.”
Since science fiction and fantasy are excluded here, I have to wonder if other popular fiction genres, such as mysteries and thrillers and espionage and horror novels count as “mainstream.”
This link takes you to a PDF about the award. It indicates all genres are welcome, but preference is given to “literary mainstream.” That sounds like SF/F is okay. Who or what are you quoting, Kathleen? Is there conflicting info on this?
http://www.uvu.edu/english/marilyn_brown_novel/Marilyn%20Brown%20Novel%20Award%202011.pdf
Both quotes are from an email sent by the contest administrator, Jen Wahlquist, and the exclusion must be in accordance with Marilyn Brown’s wishes.
I was just wondering about the above definition of “mainstream.”
I will weigh in on this, okay? Since I’ve been “writing” more and “reading” less, I miss out on a lot of conversation about Mormon literature, much to my dismay. When I established the award, what I was hoping to get was excellent fiction that revealed the TRUE LDS culture, because the Martha Nibleys and Maurine Whipples shaded it for a national audience that believes we’re kooks. Naturally, the writers wish to SELL. The science fiction or fantasy sometimes serves as a screen for LDS writers to do what I’m hoping for. So these works MAY be absolutely fabulous. However, predominantly realistic literature that brazenly suggests that our culture is as amazing and as wonderful as it really is, seems to be lacking. Maybe I’m up in the night. But thank you for questioning and discussing this. I am SO GRATEFUL you encouraged entries. We got more than a couple of dozen this year (I’m in 2012 now as I speak) and we’re working on getting through them. Thank you again! And good luck! (Marilyn)