2017 Writing Contest Winners Announced
Fugue is extremely excited to officially announce the winners of the 2017 Writing Contest, as chosen by guest judges Traci Brimhall and Edan Lepucki!
Prose Winner
Emily Myrick—“Some Whales Have Hearts the Size of Volkswagen Beetles”
Of Myrick’s piece, Edan Lepucki says:
Emily Myrick's "Some Whales Have Hearts the Size of Volkswagen Beetles" offers us the elegant, simple structure of one scene: a woman coming upon beached whales and the group of people trying to save them, to send them back into the water. This story is startling not only in its distinct, sensual imagery, but also, in what we don't know about our heroine. I love how the story mentions one particularly frightening moment in her past, and brings it back at the end. It's beautiful, surprising, and moving.
Emily Myrick is a third year MFA candidate in fiction at the University of Maryland where she is at work on a novel of historical fiction about a southern textile mill town. She is originally from Atlanta but currently resides in Washington, DC with her husband. This is her first publication.
Poetry Winner
Mallory Imler Powell—“Juno”
Of Imler Powell’s piece, Traci Brimhall says:
In Mallory Imler Powell's "Juno" my synapses and valves gallop at the same speed, keeping pace with each new meaning the poem unfolds or reaches back into itself to find. I love the startling accuracy of Powell's images paired with the poem's historical engagement and intellectual rigor. She crafts something that has not only the ripe texture of those sweet ovaries of summer, but makes a beauty that's only fathomable from the most painstaking intimacies.
Mallory Imler Powell writes across multiple genres and works in health disparity issues. She’s based in Kentucky and New York, where she is an MFA candidate in poetry at New York University, an editor of Washington Square Review, and a coordinator of the KGB Emerging Writers Reading Series. Her poems have appeared in the Aesthetica 2017 Creative Writing Annual, Contemporary Verse 2, The Offing, PRISM International, ZYZZVA, the University of Canberra 2016 International Poetry Prize Anthology, and elsewhere, and she was a recipient of a Fulbright award.
Prose Runner-Up
Andrew Gretes—“Biographies”
Poetry Runners-Up
Jill McEldowney—“Shared Belief”
Michelle Meyers—“Eviction Notice”
A huge thank you to our judges, as well as everyone who submitted to this year's contest! Winners receive $1,000 and publication in the upcoming print issue of Fugue. We received a large number of submissions and enjoyed reading everyone's work with care, and we can’t wait to see what everyone's been working on this summer when our general submission period re-opens September 1st. For now, keep an eye out for these pieces in our next print issue!
