Category: Winners

Winners and Future Posts

Four Centuries Drawing
Four Centuries of Mormon Stories

Since the beginning of January, we have been posting the work of finalists in the 2012 Four Centuries of Mormon Stories contest. It’s made for some great reading and given us a chance to see what writers in our broad LDS community have been doing, and can do, with Mormon themes. We have now posted all of these finalists’ work online, so it’s appropriate that we also record here who won the contest back in 2012.

And the winners are…

First Place: “Avek, Who Is Distributed,” by Steven Peck

Second Place: “When the Bishop Started Killing Dogs,” by Steven Peck

Third Place: “Waiting,” by Katherine Cowley and “Something Practical,” by Melody Burris (a tie)

Going forward, we will post the remainder of the content from the Everyday Mormon Writer website. Initially, we won’t associate posted content with a particular contest, but we may go back and tag posts that way at a later date. Much of the content will be from past LitBlitz contests, but some will be stories of interest that were originally published on the Everyday Mormon Writer website.

Hope you have enjoyed reading these great stories! Keep coming back to read more, and if you’re a writer, write!

What stories did you like? Comment below.

2015 Mormon Lit Blitz Winner

Declaring a winner in a literary contest is silly in many ways. As the ballots and comments make clear, different pieces resonated with readers for different reasons–a piece might resonate with you because you feel a deep connection to the theme, because the story speaks to your life experience in some way, because of a line that lingers with you days after you read the piece, or because on the day you read the piece, you needed the emotional experience it offered.

We love it when people vote, though. Several of you commented on how you enjoyed the process of going through the pieces again. Some kept writing after ranking their top four and told us what they loved about a few other pieces that hadn’t quite made their ballot. And a few people mentioned how the pieces inspired them to start working on their own short-form writing, or how they changed their ideas about Mormon Lit.

The purpose of this contest has been to show off Mormon writers, but an important side-effect has been to reassure us that engaging Mormon readers also exist.

Here’s what you voted for this time around:  Continue reading 2015 Mormon Lit Blitz Winner

Meeting of the Myths Voting Results

Thanks to all who read the finalists and voted in the “Meeting of the Myths” contest. The results are as follows:

Third Place (tie):

“A Voice Not Crying in the Wilderness” by Jonathon Penny

“Daughter of a Boto” by Katherine Cowley

Second Place:

“The Trail” by Stephen Carter

First Place:

“Spring Hill” by Luisa Perkins

Congratulations to the winners!

We hope both writers and readers will come back in the spring to join us for the Fourth Annual Mormon Lit Blitz, featuring short Mormon works  and in all genres (1,000 words limit for prose, 30 line limit for poetry, similar reading times expected from comics and other forms) . Our working submission deadline (subject to possible rescheduling) is 15 April 2015, with finalists appearing in May.

We also hope to release an eBook anthology of finalists and semi-finalists from the Third Annual Mormon Lit Blitz around the same time.

For those looking for interesting reading by Mormon writers between now and the spring, we would encourage you to look for other work, online and in print, from our finalists.

-Nicole and James Goldberg, Contest Editors

2014 Mormon Lit Blitz Winner

Lit Blitz Winner

After counting and recounting votes in a tight race for literary impact, we are pleased to announce this year’s top finalists:

Fourth Place: “The Primary Temple Trip” by Laura Hilton Craner

Third Place: “Yahweh: Prologue to the Temple” by Jonathon Penny

Second Place: “Living Scriptures” by Scott Hales

and our Grand Prize winner:

First Place: “Slippery” by Stephen Carter

Thank you again to all who submitted to the contest, who read and shared the finalists, and who emailed in votes. It’s been a lovely time.

Because of the strong submission pool this year, we have decided to compile an eBook anthology of all twenty-four semi-finalists. Watch our Facebook page for details, or email everydaymormonwriter@gmail.com and tell us you want anthology updates.

Next Contest

Can’t wait for the next Lit Blitz? From now through September 30th October 31st, we’ll accept entries for a fall Mix-and-Mash Mythos contest. The rules are simple:

-Entries must be under 2,000 words
-Entries must draw on or sample from Mormon mythos (scriptures, history, hymns, traditions, etc.) AND another mythos (modern pop culture, a scientific model, another culture or religion, etc.)
-All genres are welcome (and bending genres is encouraged). Previously published work is acceptable if the author retains republication rights.
-Works should speak to an audience of religious Latter-day Saints

Send entries to everydaymormonwriter@gmail.com, preferably attached as Word documents or pdfs. Please include author’s contact information in the body of the email, but not in the attachment with the story.

Finalists will be selected in October and published in October or November. A cash prize will be awarded to the winner of an audience vote.

Lit Blitz Winner

Thanks first to our thirteen wonderful finalists–and for you readers, who contributed to the more than 10,000 views of their pieces. Tonight we are pleased to announce voters’ top five selections. They are

5) “Second Coming” by Emily Harris Adams

4) “Red Rock” by Marianne Hales Harding

3) “No Substitute for Chocolate” by Jeanna Mason Stay

2) “In Bulk” by Marilyn Nielsen

and our Grand Prize Winner…

1) “Stillborn” by Merrijane Rice

Congratulations! When we started the Lit Blitz, we knew there was an audience for LDS literary works, but we’ve been impressed and encouraged by how strong and supportive that audience has been. Since we were also impressed by the quality of submissions the contest received, we’ve decided to launch a new online literary venue called Everyday Mormon Writer. This week we’re featuring a poem by Lit Blitz Semi-Finalist Jake Balser and art by Nick Stephens. We will feature one work per week for the next few months as we build up a body of quality work until we are able to publish every weekday. Any works that were submitted to the Lit Blitz will be considered for publication on Everyday Mormon Writer. We also encourage you to submit other short works; details can be found on our Submissions page.

Thanks once again for your interest and support.

Scott Hales
James Goldberg
Nicole Wilkes Goldberg