miniStories: May 2008
miniStories: "Barnard" by Colleen Marlow
May 12, 2008
This winning miniStories short, "Barnard" by Colleen Marlow, was selected by novelist David Oppegaard.
Barnard
Barnard is tense. There are three of them in the bedroom discussing the matter.
"I wake up all week with paralyzing anxiety, and today I find this sticking out of my bed."
The fiber he holds between his fingers is an...
Begin browsing through the collection (click "Start Tour" above) to read this month's batch of the winning spring 2008 miniStories.
What is a ministory? We've deemed it to be a story told in 500 or fewer words. It is a distillation. It is naturally intense. It is easy to read on the web!
Our first miniStories competition was a fantastic success. The response from Minnesota writers was incredible--for this, the inaugural round of the competition, we received some 130 entries.
Our judges read fast and hard and made difficult choices (the quality in this first batch was really stellar). And, now, we have twelve award winners for the spring 2008 quarter, whose short stories will be published monthly, from April-June, on mnartists.org in batches of four.
Also keep in mind that we've got quarterly miniStories readings at the Ritz Theater where each season's winners perform their winning short-shorts. (The launch party in April was a hugely good time--you won't want to miss the next celebration.) The next miniStories reading is coming up in July 2008. We hope to see you there!
These winning pieces are spectacular stories--we couldn't be prouder to showcase the work of our inaugural miniStories authors.
--Geoff Herbach
This month's batch of four winning miniStories is:
A Plan for Mushrooms by David Bengtson
Wakey, Wakey by Beth Mayer
Souls '08 by Elizabeth Noll
Barnard by Colleen Marlow
We have a miniStories Grand Prize winner for the spring 2008 cycle of the competition: author David Bengtson! You can read his winning entry, A Plan for Mushrooms this month. Then, look for his second, newly-commissioned story to appear on mnartists.org in June.
About the series: miniStories is mnartists.org's quarterly flash fiction competition. This new literary series is coordinated by Electric Arc Radio's Geoff Herbach (author of newly released novel, The Miracle Letters of T. Rimburg, published by Three Rivers Press), and it showcases previously unpublished short stories by Minnesota writers. These winning short-short stories are selected by authors, editors, and publishing industry veterans from across the country. Winning miniStories will be published on mnartists.org and in the e-magazine access+ENGAGE. One grand-prize winning author will be selected from each quarter's miniStories winners by series coordinator Geoff Herbach; the grand-prize winning author will receive a paid commission for a longer-form short story which will be published on mnartists.org.
There will be readings at the Ritz Theater in Minneapolis at the end of each quarter's contest cycle, at which miniStories winners and judges will read their fiction. An anthology collecting the inaugural year's miniStories winning fiction will be published in April 2009 and available for sale at area bookstores.
The judges for the first round of miniStories:
Lindsey Moore, Associate Editor at Crown/Three Rivers Press, NY, NY
Stephanie Wilbur Ash, Books and Literature Editor, Metro Magazine, Twin Cities
David Oppegaard, author of The Suicide Collectors, forthcoming from St. Martin's Press
SUBMISSION SPECIFICATIONS AND ENTRY PROCESS: Any and all genres of fiction submissions are welcome, but writers must be Minnesota residents and be (or become) member artists of mnartists.org to enter the contest. Registration on mnartists.org is FREE. If you need any assistance with creating an mnartists.org page or uploading images we will work with you! Please email us at info@mnartists.org. Any previously unpublished short fiction, from 5-500 words in length, may be submitted for consideration (submissions longer than 500 words will not be considered). Entrants may submit up to, but no more than, three pieces per competition cycle. Story submissions should be emailed as attachments (preferably as Word documents--.doc) to stories@mnartists.org.
LOOK FOR THE SUMMER 2008 CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS IN LATE MAY.
miniStories is a publication and reading series presented by mnartists.org, a project of the McKnight Foundation and the Walker Art Center
Collection
Collection Classification
Book Arts, Literature, Regional
All Items
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miniStories: "A Plan for Mushrooms" by David Bengtson, miniStories: David Bengtson
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Bengtson, David, David Bengtson
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miniStories: "Wakey, Wakey" by Beth Mayer, miniStories: Beth Mayer
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Mayer, Beth, Beth Mayer
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miniStories: "Souls '08" by Elizabeth Noll, miniStories: Elizabeth Noll
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miniStories: "Barnard" by Colleen Marlow, miniStories: Colleen Marlow
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Marlow, Colleen, Colleen Marlow
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miniStories: The Spring 2008 Judges, miniStories
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Oppegaard, David, David Oppegaard
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Herbach, Geoff, Geoff Herbach
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Ritz Theater, Ritz Theater
miniStories winner, Colleen Marlow