Thank you to all of you who submitted your work for consideration for Well Versed! We had some wonderful submissions this year that made the selection process especially tough. I would like to thank all of our peer readers in the guild who did the first round of judging for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. I would also like to thank our final judges who selected our winners and honorable mentions. Flash Fiction contributors were chosen by the guild during each month of the contest with a single judge doing the final scoring to determine the winners. Without further ado, here are our winners and contributors for 2020:
Fiction
Judge: George Sirois
1st place–Audience of One by Chinwe I. Ndubuka
2nd place–A Sticky Situation by Sara Southard
3rd place–An Apple a Day by Tessa Valleroy
Contributors–Full of the Dickens by Billie Holladay Skelley; Plop! by Frank Montagnino; Katie’s Epiphany by Bonnie Zelenak; Kopari Confidential by Sara Southard; Tag Team by Annabelle Corrick; The Rolodex Caper by Kit Salter; MacAfee by F. Douglas Forbes; Second Chance by Millie Henry; Votes for Women by Susan E. Koenig; Conga Line by Anne Gifford; Eden by Tessa Valleroy; Favor, or Not by Steve C. Friedman
Nonfiction
Judge: Larry Wood
1st place–Clarinet Without Melody, Voice Without Words by Jana Stephens
2nd place–Away We Go by Kent Ford
3rd place–The Show Didn’t Go On by Kent Ford
Contributors–Colliding Cultures by Billie Holladay Skelley; The Great Smoky Mountain Adventure by Ziqi Zhang; A Funny Thing Happened to Me On the Way to a College Fair by Rodnie McHugh; I Like Airplanes! by Suzanne Connelly Pautler; Hex Signs by Anne Gifford; The Man and the Boy by Jana Stephens; Kitchen Window by Lynn Strand McIntosh; The Eyes of Love by Barbara Thoma; A Stroll Through the Park by Joe C. Polacco; Shifting Gears by Lynn Strand McIntosh
Poetry
Judge: Walter Bargen
1st place–The Raccoon at the Bottom of the Stairs by Rebecca Graves
2nd place–Resume of Obsolescence by Chris Jensen
3rd place–Alzheimer’s Stole His Personality by Nancy Jo Allen
Honorable Mention–The Weather is Still Warm by Sharon SingingMoon Feltma
Contributors–A Family Headshot by Natia Ann Compton; Free Trial by Natia Ann Compton; Reflecting on a Warmer Night by Clarabelle Fields; Spidersleep by Clarabelle Fields; Michaelangelo’s Pieta` by Billie Holladay Skelley; Not Always Like This by Billie Holladay Skelley; Everyday Dragons by Billie Holladay Skelley; The Flu by Frank Montagnino; Wait by Barbara H Leonhard; Giver of Water by Barbara H Leonhard; Florence by Terry Allen; Sunday, December 24, 1944 by Terry Allen; I am apart, but also a part by Joe C Polacco; Taking Measure by Sharon SingingMoon Feltman; Hiding the Chick by Nancy Jo Allen; I Have Become Autumn by Nancy Jo Allen; Soul Reboot by Chris Jensen; Toward Wholeness by Chris Jensen; One Stone by Sharon SingingMoon Feltman; As We Sow by Melinda Hemmelgarn; Confinement by Melinda Hemmelgarn; Yoshino by Rebecca Graves; North Fork Highway (US 14-16-20) by Rebecca Graves; The Wanting by Tessa Valleroy
Flash Fiction
Judge: Jennifer Stevens
1st place–Painting Sans Sujet by Karen Dabson
2nd place–Mann River by Allen Fennewald
3rd place–Fracture Since 1848 by Nancy Jo Allen
Honorable Mention–Saying Goodbye by Sara Southard
Contributors–Roselita’s Revenge by Aaron Fox; First Things First by Gail Denham; Over the River and Through the Woods by Frank Montagnino; Maldives Daydreams by Sara Southard; Courting by Millie Henry; Fixer Upper by Frank Montagnino; Life Interrupted by Terry Allen; Woman by Barbara Leonhard
Congratulations to our winners and contributors! Ordering information for Well Versed will soon follow. Thanks for your support!
—
Marsha Posz
Editor, Well Versed 2020
