Our May Flash Contest was based on Creativity Prompt #151, provided by the brilliant Molly Torinus, challenging participants to come up with five “terrible” book titles and write a story based on one of them. What followed was an avalanche of submissions boasting the most creative, eye-catching titles many of us had ever seen. Of course, the exemplary work that followed the titles broke the moniker of “terrible,” and provided us with a lifetime supply of imagination as no one story followed a similar arc. We found ourselves immersed in dramas set in the far reaches of outer space, character driven vignettes set in a classroom, rich narratives told from the perspective of a dog, and much, much more. A big thank you to all who submitted this month; it was a pleasure to read all of your work. In particular, we congratulate our Winners and our Honorable Mentions, whose work you can appreciate below. Winners “The BWBM Students” by Ritobroto Roy Chowdhury, 10, (Riverside, CA) “T.L.G.E.Y.5.T.” by Darren Fisher, 9, (Portland, OR) “Connecticutians, I Ate the Grape” by Rex Huang, 11, (Lake Oswego, OR) “The Book Without a Name” by Serena Lin, 10, (Scarsdale, NY) “The Pheasant Was Delicious” by Juliet D. Simon, 11, (Santa Monica, CA) Honorable Mentions “Once Upon a Time a Friendship” by Sophia Wong, 9, (Short Hills, NJ) “Chocotalia and Hideous Dragon Monster” by Sophie Liu, 9, (Surrey, BC) “When a Chicken Says ‘SQUAWK!'” by Olivia Luan, 11, (Great Falls, VA) “Cats, Dogs, Dragons, and Other Household Pets” by Atalie Lyda, 12, (Portland, OR) “You Are NOT Reading This Book Cover” by Joycelyn Zhang, 11, (San Diego, CA) Ritobroto Roy Chowdhury, 10, (Riverside, CA) The BWBM Students Ritobroto Roy Chowdhury, 10 Hello, I am Mr. Wats. I have a class of very, very, very, very, very, very different 3rd graders. This is a review of school and their life from their perspective. John School? What school. I’m John. Do not like school. No read. Bad write. Annoying math. That school. I tough. I known as bully. John big. Known as bully. First bad write. Second annoying math. Third horrible grammar. Only lunch recess. School BAD. BAD stand for Boring, Annoying, Dumb. I bully. Recess I say to Johnny. You dumb because you love school. Get it? BAD. Last letter stand for Dumb and Johnny like school. Move on to Johnny Mr. Wats. Johnny I love school. School’s the best. I read John’s section. I can hear you. You’re saying that John’s section has horrible grammar. I agree. My section is going to have way better grammar than John’s. Here are some things you should know about me. 1. I’m Johnny 2. I love school 3. I love math 4. I love grammar 5. I love school Hopefully now you know a little more about me. There’s just 1 thing I didn’t include on the list. You may be wondering what it is. I love reading. Yep. That’s it. You know almost everything about me now. Since I have to make this a little more interesting and longer I’ll talk about other things. Did you know that the cafeteria food is the best food in the world in my opinion? The pepperoni pizza is delicious and anyone who says it’s not, they’re wrong. Well, Mr. Wats says that I can go to recess now. BYE! Rick Since I don’t want to make this long, I made a list of everything you should know about me. 1. I’m Rick Dodder 2. I’m always late to school 3. Recess is my favorite thing about school 4. I’m lazy 5. I don’t do my chores 6. I have glasses 7. I play video games 8. I watch TV 9. I don’t like Johnny or John Those are the things you should know about me. Any questions? Send me an email at… “Rick your time is up!” Oh that’s Mr. Wats. Well, I guess you’ll never get to know my email. Jorge You’ll never guess my name. What do you thing it is? Sure, it’s spelled J O R G E but how do you think you’re supposed to pronounce it? If you guessed George you’re wrong. If you guessed Hor-hay you’re right! If you took Spanish lessons or know Spanish or Portuguese then you should have had no problem. If you pronounced it wrong I suggest you take Spanish lessons. I have lots of siblings. 2 older twin brothers, 1 sister in college, a younger sister, and baby brother. My sister goes to college in Northern California. My twin older brothers both go to Martin Luther King Jr. High School. As you know, I go to 3rd grade and my younger sister is
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Weekly Creativity #147 | Flash Contest #30: Visit the Same Place Every Day for a Week and Document what You See
Visit the same place—precisely the same location—multiple times a day, or at the same time every day for a week. Document what you see through photography, other art forms, or writing! To be considered for the the April 2021 Flash Contest, visit our submittable site here and submit by Sunday, April 11 at midnight.
Book-Writing Contest 2021
Get your book published by Stone Soup! Stone Soup is thrilled to announce that we are accepting submissions for our annual book contest. This year, we plan to accept two books for publication–one novel or short story collection and one book of poems. However, we do consider all submissions for potential publication. Contest Details Genre: Fiction (novel, novella, short story collection) or Poetry. Length: For fiction submissions, the minimum length is 20,000 words. For poetry submissions, the minimum length is 40 pages. There is no maximum word or page limit. Age Limit: For this contest, we will accept manuscripts written by those age 14 or under. Deadline: Monday August 16, 2021 11:59 p.m. (Pacific Time). Entry fee: $15.00. Submissions of multiple manuscripts by the same author are accepted but you must submit each as an individual entry and pay the fee each time. Results and Prizes: We will select two winning manuscripts—one in fiction and one in poetry—to be published and distributed by Stone Soup in both print and ebook forms, available for sale on Amazon, in the Stone Soup store, via our distributors, and advertised along with the rest of our books to libraries and other vendors. We will also name a handful of finalists. Publication: We will consider all submitted work as part of the contest for potential publication in the magazine or as standalone volumes. Previous Submissions: If you submitted to last year’s contest, and have substantially revised your manuscript in the meantime, you are welcome to resubmit it this year. Submission Fee: The submission fee is important to us; it helps us defray the costs of the contest and of producing and publishing the two winning books. However, if the submission fee represents a financial hardship to your family, please write to editor@stonesoup.com. Submissions: All entries must be sent to us before the closing date via our Submittable portal, here. Questions? Please visit the Book Contest FAQ here. If you question isn’t answered there, you may post it to this page and we’ll get you an answer as soon as we can! We reserve the right to select no winners in a given year.
