I associate reading Segullah’s contest entries with early Spring. New stories and creative nonfiction emerge from a waning season of fewer entries, bright shoots springing up through dry ground. But my appreciation grows into more than for their creation. As I read the entries, I’m struck by the variations of ideas, creativity, and writing styles. Within the two prose categories alone, each work is as different from the next as is a daisy from a bird of paradise. But both are flowers.
This year’s contest winners together offer up a brilliant garden of variance. One piece is a lamentation, another an environmental metaphor of faith, with yet another an imagined mystery. Yet, all are stories. Enjoy their intricacies separately and rejoice with us in the beauty of collective talent.
- 1st Place Fiction: “At the Library” by Elizabeth Smith
- 1st Place Nonfiction: “Even Here, Love Abides” by Allyson Smith
- 2nd Place Nonfiction: “The Quiet of Plains” by Tabitha Moody
