The May 2026 Prompt
As the weather changes, for this month’s Flash Contest, we ask you to juxtapose any two seasons. You can look at a small moment or detail in each season, capture your own or a character’s change from season to season, or compare seasons in different time periods (for example, what would a person in the 1920s be doing in the summertime?). As always, prose, poetry, art, and music are all accepted. We look forward to your submissions!
Judges
The Flash Contest is judged by the Stone Soup Flash Contest Committee. The committee is made up of Stone Soup writers, artists, and musicians.
Contest purpose
Sometimes, less is enough. Sometimes, less is even better than more. The purpose of this contest is to encourage you to work up an idea for a work of prose, poetry, art, or music in a short, focused burst of creative energy.
What the judges are looking for
As with all work published by Stone Soup, the judges are looking for works of prose, poetry, art, or music in which your idea is expressed into a work that is both powerful and beautiful. The operative concept to this contest is flash! A short work of fiction or poetry, a quick sketch, a photograph that captures a moment, a short piece of music that says what you want to say.