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Shrine of the Black Madonna™ Cultural Center and Bookstore

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"Write is Might" – A Short Story Competition

Winning Entries to be Published on Black Issues Book Review's Website

We want to offer a heart-felt thank you to all those who participated in the Shrine of the Black Madonna™ Cultural Center & Bookstore's first annual Short Story Contest.  We thoroughly enjoyed reading your submissions as they covered a wide range of topics, perspectives, and genres.  We received entries from all over the country and look forward to reading more next year. We also want to thank our great panel of judges, Heather Neff, Dana Davidson, and Denise Stinson for taking time out to read the top finalist entries and Black Issues Book Review for supporting our contest.

This year's winner of the grand prize, The Barbara "Nandi" Martin Award, is "The Haunting" by Afefe Maat of Houston, TX.  This winning entry will also be published on Black Issues Book Review Online.

The Second Place winner is "CraZy" by Carol George-Rucker of Cincinnati, OH.

The Third Place winner is "The Last Ship" by Vicki Green of Brownstone, MI.


Read The Winning Stories


Title

Author

City

Click to read more ...

"The Haunting" Afefe Maat Houston, TX They arrived in swarms. Awkward clusters of bodies melded together in clumsy shapes, they descended upon us like locusts in one great horde - unexpected, unpredictable, and very much unwelcomed.
"CraZy" Carol George-Rucker Cincinnati, OH Angelina's fiancée was the first to offer up the idea that she might be a little crazy and she stepped right into it like a pair of comfortable old shoes.
"The Last Ship" Vicki Green Brownstone, MI "Momma!" screamed somebody's child as he ran toward the group of over 200 folks gathered for the Freeman's family reunion.

 
Honorable Mentions (in no particular order):


Title Author City
"The King's Log" F. Gerard Jefferson Cleveland, TN
"Appletini -- Hold the Olive" Alycia Easter Danbury, CT
"A Summer's Night Burning" Pamela C. Gilmore Knightdale, NC
"Yellow" Cherisse M. Deaton Philadelphia, PA
"Touching the Face of God" Daniella Masterson Los Angeles, CA
"Black Ain't Hell" Regina Ward Detroit, MI
"Unspoken Duty" Jennifer Singleton Washington, DC

Congratulations to our winners and we look forward to seeing more entries next year! 

Thank you,

The Shrine of the Black Madonna™ Cultural Center & Bookstore