New Times / Special Issue

55 Fiction Winners '08

Pages: Introduction View This Year's Winners How to Enter 55 Fiction: The Book

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Introduction

55 Fiction 2008 Winners

A very bad joke?

John Denver, Sisyphus, and a survivor Twinkie. This assortment of characters has all the makings of the worst joke ever told. Or the best assortment of short stories ever published. You’ll have to be the judge.

I can’t believe that the cold, clinical measurements and algorithms of science and math could ever be applied to literature. Which is why each fresh batch of 55 Fiction entries is no less daunting or thrilling than the last. There is no formula to determine that a story is good or identify which eager author—many submitted multiple entries—merits publication, only the gut response to any good writing: a pleased smile or an involuntary laugh. So, it’s useless to harangue our stalwart judges about their methods or qualifications. They’re lovers of literature and, though you might be able to argue logic or reason, you just can’t dispute the instinctive, irrational glow that quality reading material produces. 

At any rate, local writers have very little to complain about this year. Sixteen of our 20 winners are local, hailing from all corners of our fair county. And that has nothing to do with nepotism. After all, we gathered all 863 entries together, threw them in the air, and blindly grabbed the first 19 stories that happened to fall within arm’s length.

And before you begin sharpening pencils for next year’s competition, bear in mind that one of those local writers managed to tell a great story in a mere 25 words, raising—or perhaps lowering—the bar for all you competitive writers out there. Beat that.

- Arts Editor Ashley Schwellenbach