2020 Writing Contest Winners Announced
Fugue is extremely excited to officially announce the winners of the 2020 Writing Contests, as chosen by guest judges Leni Zumas and sam sax!
Prose Winner
Margie Sarsfield—“Figs: A Brief History”
Of Sarsfield’s piece, Leni Zumas says:
I love this story’s ecstatic energy, its gleeful leaping across borders of genre, gender, and nation as it spins a new feminist fabulism.
Margie Sarsfield is a pushcart-nominated writer living in Columbus, Ohio. Her work has appeared in The Normal School, Cutbank, Seneca Review, Hippocampus, Miracle Monocle and elsewhere, and she was the recipient of the 2019 Calvino Prize. You can follow her on Twitter (@nightchemicals) or find out more at margiesarsfield.com.
Poetry Winner
Imani Cezanne—“Fill in the Blanks”
Of Cezanne’s piece, sam sax says:
"Fill in the Blanks" is a remarkable & inventive poem that experiments formally to explore power, history, & absence in imaginative and troubling ways.
Imani Cezanne is a writer, performer and teaching artist from San Diego, CA. As a nationally touring poet, Imani has been invited to share her work at poetry venues, colleges, universities, conferences and festivals across the nation. Imani has won 5 Grand Slam Championships, placed in the top 10 at 7 World Poetry Slams and appeared on three major network television shows. Imani has forthcoming work in Fugue, Nimrod, and Crab Creek Review, and in 2016 released Black Girl Fly, a chapbook, with Belladonna Press. In March she became the 2020 Women of the World Poetry Slam Champion for the second time.
Prose Runner-Up
Tori Rego—”Self Portrait as Hunter, Remedy for Poison, Open Lips, and a Thousand Flowers (or, A Walk Through Manhattan’s Medieval Cloister)”
Of Rego’s piece, Leni Zumas says:
This obsessive, brainy, sensual essay maps an interior lush with questions and history.
Tori Rego is from South Carolina. She is a compulsive museum goer and avid daydreamer. Her work can be found in Apt: A Literary Magazine, Jellyfish Review, and elsewhere.
Poetry Runner-Up
Arah Ko—"God’s Love is Very Loud"
Of Ko’s piece, sam sax says:
"God's Love is Very Loud" is a fascinating poem that plays with the enjambed line to surprise and mirror the speaker's complex relationship with faith.
Arah Ko is a writer living on an active volcano. Her recent work has appeared in Ruminate, Grimoire, and New Reader Magazine, among others. When not writing, she can be found correcting her name pronunciation or making a mean pot of coffee. She is a rising MFA Candidate at Ohio State University. Catch her at arhako.com.
Thanks so much to our judges, and thanks to everyone who submitted to our annual writing contests! Winners receive $1,000 and publication in the upcoming print issue of Fugue. This year, we received a notably large number of submissions, and our editors enjoyed examining them all with care. We look forward to reading what everyone has been working on this summer once our general submission period re-opens on September 1st. For now, stay safe and be sure to keep an eye out for these pieces in our next print issue!
