Stories let us accept each other's differences.

Humor Story Contest
(Fall/Winter issue)

Deadline: October 17, 2022
Release : December 15, 2022​

2022 Semifinalists

The Grand Prize Winner and contributors will be selected from this list—stay tuned!

A New Thing for Struggling Poets to Worry About by Tony Peyser
A Teacher’s Version of “’Twas the Night Before
Christmas” by Nika Cavat
Appalachian Origin Con-tro-lay by Carl William Henn
Backed Up in China by Dustin Grinnell  
Andrusar, Balthusar, Hiram, and Maud by Richard Toth
Battleground by Jennifer Neves
Beautiful Shirts by Stephen Schwandt
Because I’m Cultured Like That by Ben Terry
Big Boys Don’t Cry by Gene Rockwell Gant
Birks and Jerks by Eyal Cohen
Blood Buzz by Nathan Spicer
Boulders for Shoulders by Dedria A. Humphries
Career Advice for the Dying by Lisa Haneberg
Coming Together by Peter Young
Disreality Ltd. by Rewan Tremethick
Easter with the Family I Love—and Uncle Ralph by Don Carter
Elementary Lies by Charlene Cason
Escape Artist by Christianna Soumakis
Everyone reads sad poetry in the same tone. by Max Friedlander Moore
Found in Translation by Margaret Morth
Fuck by Alex Moersen
Gender Bunny by J Mase III
Gut by Lea Graham
Hazard vs. Bentwick by Geoffrey K. Graves
Here’s to Heresy by Lollie Butler
How It Did and Didn’t Happen by Lollie Butler
Human Resources by Patrick Morris
Inside Man by Mark Connelly
Jerking Pharaoh by Martha M. Davis
Jizz by Susan Hettinger
Meditation on an Onion by Lollie Butler
Misdiagnosis by Sara Maria Greene
Monkey Pox by Melinda Goodman
My Job Application by Elizabeth Hill
Noah’s Problem by Lollie Butler
Norwegian Sendoff by Judi Opager
Old Age Isn’t for Sissies by Sallie Barr Palmer
On Shits, And How Often One Should Give Them by Jaiden Collier
On Turning Sixty by Richard D. Key
Otto’s Link by John Bliss
Picayune-ish by Mark Rhodes
Pounce-ciations by Malika Bhandarkar
Roomba by Ryan Murphy
Scholarly Work Leading to the Degree of Doctor of Holes
Philosophy (D.H.P.) by Larry Johnson
Self Portrait as a Spermatozoon by Norman Goodwin
Shopping at Sears on a Snowy Day by Lynn Moore Rhodes   
Shopping for Rugs on a Snowy Evening by Howard Zaharoff
Space Hogs by Frederick Disque
Talking to Vincent by Ray Chatelin
Thank God I’m Fat by Victor McConnell
The Beach Cruiser by Julia Reges
The Big Stitch by Michael Flynn
The Bride and Her Toilette by Jenelle Boucher
The Coffee Too Hot by Hannah Bel Davis
The Day I Became Invisible by Robert Edward Miss
The Jersey Slide by Don Carter
The Pileated Woodpecker by Kit Mas
The Straight Poop by Steve Reynolds
The Vampire on My Couch by Cathy Fiorello
The Wizard by Gene Rockwell Gant
Transformation by Stephen Schwandt
Wild Turkey by William E. Burleson

Yuma, Anyone? by Kristin Owens

Contest Description

Due to our belief that everything would be better if we could laugh a little more, and after trying out a few different themes for this issue, we are dedicating the Fall/Winter issue permanently to Humor.

Entries can be fiction, nonfiction, or poetry—as usual, if it tells a story, and makes us laugh, it fits!

Click here to return to the Guidelines page and to enter.

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