Fiction Contest 2017

All’s fair in love and lit

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Photo credit: This week’s cover features illustrations by Jonathan Splitlog. Design by Wes Duvall.

All’s fair in love and lit. By selecting “fair” as the theme for this year’s Fiction Contest, CL’s editorial department had a bigger story in mind. Whether it’s the tale of a fractured nation or a lost cause or the unbiased nature of death, it resonates in a way that seems truer than fiction. That’s what the best storytelling is supposed to do. And this year’s winners deliver.Be sure to join us to celebrate the winners at the Creative Loafing/WRITE CLUB Fiction Contest Party on Thurs., Jan. 12, 7-11 p.m. at the Highland Inn Ballroom. It’s free!

— Rodney Carmichael

First Place: “Slow Drip” by Cora Rowe

Second Place: “A Game with Death” 

Third Place: “Arts of War” by Nick Gebhardt


Meet the judges:
Amy Stufflebeam is a writer with a focus on intersectional feminism and the Atlanta creative community. She is the co-founder of the Bleux Stockings Society, a live lit show highlighting cis/trans women and non-binary people. You can find her work in Nately’s Magazine, Deer Bear Wolf Magazine, and on ArtsATL.com.

Kalin Thomas loves helping people tell their stories. As a former producer and on-air reporter for CNN’s weekly travel show, she helped cities and countries tell their stories to potential tourists. Today, as Program Director of the Wren’s Nest, she helps tell the story of the historic house museum, along with helping to develop young authors through the museum’s student writing programs.

Daren Wang is the Founding Executive Director of the AJC Decatur Book Festival. His writing has appeared in Paste magazine, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Five Points magazine, and others. His debut novel from St. Martins Press, The Hidden Light of Northern Fires, will be released in fall 2017.