The Vincent Brothers Review editors are pleased to announce the winning entries from our 2020 Annual Short Story Contest. There were close to 200 well-written entries, and choosing only four place-winners was difficult.
The winners are as follows. The phrases in quotes are taken from the judges’ reading notes.
“The End of The World” by Alan Sincic was awarded first place ($1000 prize) for, among other attributes, “how the urgently narrated mountain of striking details piled higher and higher until the very claustrophobic end.”
“Charismatic Megafauna” by Ken Elliott was awarded second place ($500 prize), notable by how smoothly the story’s “action got tighter and tighter, literally tighter until the very end.”
Feng Gooi’s “The House of Rain Flies” was awarded an honorable mention ($150 prize) as the judges “were captivated by the unusual details flowing from a compelling and authentic narrative voice.”
Jason Arias’s “Them and Us” was also awarded an honorable mention ($150 prize) as the judges “were moved by the tender and authentic narrator’s voice.”
All four stories will be published in the next hard-copy issue of The Vincent Brothers Review (Issue #24—themed “Changes”). Issue #24 will be available in late May 2021.
Issue #24 will be available for purchase from our website: wwwvincentbrothersreview.org in late May 2021.
All 2020 short story contest entrants can purchase Issue #24 with a $3 discount if they sign up for our newsletter by sending their e-mail address to subscriptions@thevincentbrothersreview.com.
The next two deadlines for TVBR poetry, nonfiction, and poetry submissions are May 31, 2021, for submissions addressing the theme of “Ghosts,” and October 31, 2021, for submissions addressing the theme of “Housekeeping.”
Thank you to all writers who entered the contest.
