2023 Writing Contest Finalist – this cigarette, i forgot i lit it by Kat Savard
this cigarette, I forgot I lit it When Papa’s cough didn’t stop after the medicine, we knew it was bad. He was a big man, larger than life, and so to see him, curled up small in his bed felt like a knife in the ribs. We tried for days to bring the fever down, but like...
2023 Writing Contest Finalist – THE DESIRE OF TIME by Raquel Adrian
Something that I want more than anything is the ability to pause time. On a rainy day, to stop the droplets in their flight and see my reflection in them, walk about and around, into them even. Or snowflakes on their journey down from the sky, to examine their...
2023 Writing Contest Finalist – THE IRON ARM by Jasper Gillard
The iron arm sat patiently upon a rusty trash can, surrounded by bright neon lights that reflected off its silver outline. A man with one arm stared at the device, unsure of what mysterious functions this iron arm might have. Around them, the alley was desolate. Not a single human dared travel into such a filthy place. They preferred to stick to the gutted street, floating like ants in a large field of weeds.
2023 Writing Contest Finalist – ECLIPSE by Elishiva Phillips
Eclipse Alone with strangers, I melt into gravel. Their boots make a satisfying crunch as they grind me down into earth. Plastered in vinyl, we peel persimmons and black out the sun with fistfuls of ash as the train screams and cheap bourbon consecrates the tracks....
2023 Writing Contest Finalist – DREAMLAND by Manpreet Kaur
Dreamland It was—5am—in my head and I was lost no destination, no idea of where I was; nostalgia of a place that kept changing until...
Writing Contest Winner – “Impractical Magic” by Megan Vaghy
Impractical Magic By Megan Vaghy I stopped watching the news ages ago. I had to. A person has a limit on how many times they can stomach the word, ‘Unprecedented.’ “Did you hear the latest about what happened down here?” my mum asks me one morning. My parents are...
Honorable mentions – “She Sat in Velvet Sadness” by Toni Dumais
She sat in velvet sadness by Toni Dumais She sat in velvet sadness, comforted and persistent to lay basked in the dark layers of righteous melancholy, where she undresses her deformity to be splayed out, and picked through. This is wrong, that is wrong. What is...
Honorable mentions – “In The Dark” by Kaja Jean
In The Dark by Kaja Jean I. we rested on our backs, absorbing what was left of the day’s sun through the rock at the top of a hill on salt spring island. the balmy pinks had melted into a velvety indigo, and you took your large wrinkled hand, skin thick from a...
Honorable Mentions – “How are you today?” by Wen Zhai
How are you today? By Wen Zhai What am I supposed to say I’m not Ok but it’s too long a story it can’t be finished in one say I won’t be able to start before you mindlessly walk away What can I say I’m irritated How can you play with personal feelings like that...
Writing Contest – “You’re So Quiet” by Andie Bjornsfelt
You’re So Quiet By Andie Bjornsfelt 8:05 PM. On my IPhone, displayed a photo of me, picked meticulously out of over 150 near identical on my camera roll. Me, Metallica shirt, reddened matte lips, lash line coated coal. The filter I ended up going with was a...