First place: “Snow Day” by Amy Baker – Blue Mounds
Second place: “Fallen Magi” by Rudy Koshar – Madison
Third place: “A Day in December” by Geoffrey Collins – Marshall
Winners of the Wisconsin People & Ideas 2013 Fiction Contest receive cash awards of $500 (first place), $250 (second place), and $100 (third place). The first-place author also receives a one-week artist residency at Shake Rag School for Arts and Crafts in Mineral Point.
Our honorable mention stories and authors for 2013:
“Old Songs,” Robert Dries, Spring Green
“Open Until Filled,” Melissa Olson-Petrie, Cedarburg
“Mrs. Osewski Says a Novena,” Richard Radke, Madison
“The Five-Layer Vinarterta,” Jane M. Sadusky, Madison
“Balsam of Gilead,” Allison Slavick, Cable
“Raco, Michigan,” Allison Slavick, Cable
“God to Him, Barbara Wolff, McFarland
Thank you to everyone who participated in the 2013 fiction contest. Your participation is what makes this fiction contest one of the best showcases for Wisconsin writers. Look for the first- through third-place short stores to appear in forthcoming issues of Wisconsin People & Ideas, beginning with the spring/summer double issue in June 2013. Congratulations to all our winners and honorable mention writers.
This year the fiction contest lead judge is author and historian Jerry Apps. The 2013 contest was coordinated by Jason A. Smith, editor, Wisconsin People & Ideas, who also acted along with Victoria Statz as preliminary judge. The contest received 87 submissions from across the state of Wisconsin. All judging was done blindly and ranking was done solely on the merit of individual stories in the opinion of our judges.
Thank you to our lead and preliminary judges for volunteering their time and efforts to the 2013 contest, and a special thanks to 2013 contest sponsors Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts in Mineral Point for donating a weeklong artist residency for the first-place winner. More information on the contest, prizes, and sponsors and be found at wisconsinacademy.org/fictioncontest.