Contest Results

Strength in Stories Contest Results

Editor’s Note

Thank you to everyone who submitted for this contest and thought outside the box for this theme! As I mentioned when originally opening to subs for this contest, I wanted to help break the stigma around disability/mental health/chronic illnesses by trying to reframe and challenge writers to try to see how what they deal with isn’t a weakness but their strength. Oftentimes, mental health, disability, and chronic illnesses can have derogatory or negative connotations attached to these, and I wanted to change that! Just because we deal with any of these, it doesn’t mean we aren’t strong or aren’t capable of achieving. I wasn’t looking for a “cure” to anyone’s disability because let’s face it—that’s not realistic, but rather, I wanted to see what people’s “fight” looked like.

I was absolutely blown away by how many of you submitted for our first contest, and I appreciate everyone’s patience as I tried my best to narrow down all the winners, runners up, and longlist in a timely manner. I received nearly 500+ submissions from January 1-March 1, which is incredible! As such, I had to make some very hard choices, but I’m so honored that so many people sent in their work!

I didn’t intend to pick out 1 short story, 1 poem, 1 CNF piece per winner/runner up category, but I think this just goes to show anyone that it doesn’t matter the genre; the strength of the writing is what counts. So, without further ado, I am happy to present the 3 winners, the 3 runners up, and the longlist!

Congratulations! I’ve linked the winners’ and runners’ up pieces, so please give them a read and support!

Yours truly,
Kelly Esparza
Editor-in-Chief of FLARE Magazine
Judge for the Strength in Stories Contest