Ligonier Valley Writers Update November 2024
LVW Announces
Winners of Flash Fiction Contest
and Readings November 2
Are you tired of tearing your hair out over the election? You need a distraction, and we have the perfect way to spend an afternoon not thinking about politics.
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You are cordially invited to a performance of the six stories that won Ligonier Valley Writers' nineteenth annual Flash Fiction Contest. The readings will take place on Saturday, November 2, starting at 2:00 p.m. at Ligonier Valley Library. The event is free and open to the public.
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LVW is pleased to announce the winning stories and authors:
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First Prize: “The Skydance of Whitecloud” by Dominic Romito of Jeannette, PA.
Second Prize: “The Frustrated Phoenix and the Very Big Fire” by Greg Beatty of Bellingham, WA.
Third Prize: “Son of a Bitch Stole My Wish!” by Greg Beatty of Bellingham, WA.
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Three Honorable Mentions (alphabetical by author)
“If the Nest Should Fall” by Chris Clemens of Toronto, Ontario.
“We Are Not A Myth!” by Rainbow Medicine-Walker of Maple Falls, WA.
“Diamonds of the Underworld” by Barbara Parker of Radford, VA.
Congratulations to all six of these talented authors!
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All six will receive a complimentary one-year membership to Ligonier Valley Writers, a professional edit of their stories, publication at the LVW website, and a chance to perform their winning story aloud. The first, second, and third place winners will also receive cash prizes.
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Our celebrity judge was Damian Dressick, who says of the first-place story, “Well-crafted and richly imagined, ‘The Sky Dance of Whitecloud’ brings a fresh and dynamic energy to the legend of the Thunderbird."
Our thanks to Damian, as well as our first-round judges, Marge Burke, Ron Shafer, and Judith Gallagher.
We received entries from 14 states and 14 countries, ranging from Italy to India, from Singapore to South Africa.
We have a special treat after the readings this year. Damian Dressick will give a talk about what flash fiction is and how to write it. Then he’ll read some of his published flash stories.
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Damian is a much-published author who has also taught writing at Pitt and other universities. CLASH Books published a collection of his flash fiction called Fables of the Deconstruction, and his microfiction was included in W.W. Norton’s anthology New Micro.
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Frederick Barthelme said of Fables, "This collection of 63 stories is as rich and varied as a patisserie, as nasty and brutish as a Japanese architect in the mid-sixties, as delicate as the swift-moving scents in the coastal air at midnight. To call these stories short-shorts or 'flash fiction' is to do them a disservice. While some are indeed short, and many are pleasantly flashy, every one hits home with the weight of a boxer's punch, every one is more beautiful, and more fun, than the last."
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Damian is also the author of 40 Patchtown, a novel set during the 1922 coal miners' strike in Windber. Karen Spears Zacharias, author of Mother of Rain, called him “a talented and thoughtful writer, the freshest voice to come out of Appalachia since Wiley Cash arrived on the literary scene."
Read the Winning Flash Fiction Stories at LVWonline.org
If you can’t make it to the reading, you can read the winning stories and author bios at www.LVWonline.org. Click the Flash Fiction tab. They’ll be posted shortly after the public readings of November 2.
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We’ll also share the winning stories, one at a time, at LVW's Facebook page. So keep visiting (and liking) it, and LVW's Facebook manager, Anita Staub, will keep posting new content.
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LVW CALENDAR 2024
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November 2, 2:00 p.m. Flash Fiction Readings at Ligonier Valley Library, Ligonier PA.
December 8, 3:00-5:00 p.m. Annual LVW Christmas Party. St. Michael’s Church, Rector PA. We’ll have a delicious potluck meal and socializing, followed by readings by any attendees who volunteer. Some people read from their own work; others choose to read holiday passages from their favorite authors.
Please check www.LVWonline.org or https://www.facebook.com/Ligonier-Valley-Writers-124601614313835/ for the latest info and date confirmations.
Judith Gallagher
Publicity Director
Ligonier Valley Writers
jgallagher@LHTOT.com
www.LVWonline.org