Five Make the Shortlist for our March Writing Contest
We are so pleased to announce that FIVE writers have made the shortlist for our March Write Prompt Challenge.
We try to choose images that can take authors in countless directions, and the image a mossy doorway in the forest certainly took people to some interesting places. These writers approached the provided image with wonderfully unique views that were clever and surprising.
Congratulations to Nikki Berreth, Lisa McCreary, Gabriel Munro, Andrew Shaughnessy, and Cheryl Skory Suma — we wish you well as you go on to the final stage of judging!
Nikki Berreth | shortlisted for the story, 'The Lonely Cavern'
Nikki Berreth is a writer of genre-bending fiction, a science communicator, and an informal educator from the heavily forested lands of Treaty 8 territory. Now living in the Pacific Northwest, she tries her best to impersonate a sea sponge by enjoying a simple life while soaking up all the knowledge and experiences that float her way. Unlike a sponge, she is a gifted storyteller and has performed her work for spoken word audiences, Science Slam events, and scientific conferences across North America. Nikki is a collector of hobbies, but often enjoys mixing watercolours, cuddling her leonberger, and obsessing over plants.
Lisa McCreary| shortlisted for the story, 'Green Cells'
Born and raised in Ontario, Lisa started writing poems and short stories in high school, and pursued a career in journalism for several years. Since moving to Newfoundland, her work has been published in the Literary Review of Canada, and has also placed in writing competitions at Memorial University of Newfoundland. She is a member and volunteer with the Newfoundland Writers Guild and a member of Writers NL.
Gabriel Munro | shortlisted for the story, 'Caretakers'
As a lover of music and words, Gabriel spreads his writing across several mediums. Professionally, he writes commercials for radio stations across Canada. In the after-hours, he’s a musician who writes folk-rock and classical compositions. He also volunteers doing communications work for Amarok Society, an organization that ensures the accessibility of education overseas. He always has a short story or poem in the works.
Gabril’s writing has appeared in Literally Stories, Haunted MTL, and Broken Pencil Magazine. I've received a great deal of encouragement from Blank Spaces Magazine, which has published his work twice and nominated him for the 2022 Pushcart Prize.
Andrew Shaughnessy | shortlisted for the story, 'What You Would Have Done'
Andrew (Andy) Shaughnessy is a writer and intellectual property litigation lawyer living in Toronto and Gravenhurst, Ontario. Andy is the Bronze Medalist of the December 2021 Blank Spaces Contest. He is a frequent participant in short story and writing contests. His short story “As Night Lifts” was published in Off Topic Publishing’s “Wayward & Upward” Anthology in November 2022. He overuses parentheses—and m dashes—and has (the love of) a dog.
Cheryl Skory Suma | shortlisted for the story, 'Ten Years of Bravado'
Cheryl’s work has appeared in US, UK, and Canadian publications, including Barren Magazine, Reckon Review, National Flash Fiction, Exposition Review, FatalFlaw Literary Magazine, Longridge Review, SFWP, SugarSugarSalt, Sonora Review and many others. A multi-Pushcart nominee, her work placed in thirty-eight competitions since 2019, including: shortlist, Five South’s 2021 Short Fiction Prize, shortlist, Blank Spaces Magazine’s 2021 Fiction Anthology Contest, Runner-Up, 2022 Pulp Literature’s Flash Fiction Contest, Honorable Mention, Exposition Review’s 2022 Flash 405 Contest, shortlist, Solstice Magazine’s 2022 Literary Contest, and shortlist, 2022 International Amy MacRae Award for Memoir. Cheryl is Flash CNF Contributing Editor at Barren Magazine & a staff reader at Reckon Review. You can find her on twitter @cherylskorysuma
Watch for our announcement of the top three in the coming weeks!
