The goal of the storySouth Million Writers Award is to honor and promote the best fiction published in online literary journals and magazines during 2015. Our nominations period is now closed.

2016 Winners

The votes have been tallied and we're excited to announce the following winners of the 2016 storySouth Million Writers Award!

First place. “The Son of Summer and Eli” by Lee L. Krecklow

Second place. “Big Joy Family” by Jude Whelchel

Third place. “Last Song” by Annie Reid

2016 Finalists

Our judges have selected the following finalists in the 2016 storySouth Million Writers Award. Please place your vote via Google Form at the following link. Voting will remain open until 15 February 2017.

Thank you for helping to recognize the best writing on the internet!

“Tasneem” by Ahsan Butt

“All That We Loved, All That We Burned” by Laura Haugen

“The Son of Summer and Eli” by Lee L. Krecklow

“Leftovers” by Kiare Ladner

“Tiny Dancer” by Lisa Lang

“Half in the Truth” by Gariot Louima

“The Battle” by David Naimon

“Last Song” by Annie Reid

“Do You Hear What I'm Saying?” by Kori Waring

“Big Joy Family” by Jude Whelchel

2016 Notable Stories

Our judges have considered the nominated stories and are excited to announce the list of 2016 Notable Stories!

“The Brooklyn Tolstoy” by Doug Berverole

“Where Do You Think You're Going” by Daphne Buter

“Tasneem” by Ahsan Butt

“The Clean Rooms” by J’Lyn Chapman

“The Vishakanya’s Choice” by Roshani Chockshi

“Giver of Life” by Dawn S. Davies

“Soup” by Chikodili Emelumadu

“The Salt Wedding” by Gemma Files

“Shueyville” by Kate Folk

“All That We Loved, All That We Burned” by Laura Haugen

“Saving Hermann Hesse” by Rudy Koshar

“The Son of Summer and Eli” by Lee L. Krecklow

“The Parable of Nick Burns” by Danny Judge

“Tiny Dancer” by Lisa Lang

“Leftovers by Kiare Ladner”

“Half in the Truth” by Gariot Louima

“Devildoms” by Saytchyn Maddux-Creech

“A Series of Accidents & Punctuation Marks” by Ilana Masad

“Act 1 of That Football Story, or: The Tragedy of Mack Bethlehem” by JD Mitchell

“The Battle” by David Naimon

“On A Wild, Red Dawn” by Billy O'Callaghan

“The Glass Girl” by Wendy Oleson

“The Orange Line by Cantrice J. Penn”

“Father Fox” by Martin Pousson

“Last Song” by Annie Reid

“The Boy Wonder” by Robert Roman

“The Android's Prehistoric Menagerie” by A. Merc Rustas

“A Famous Man” by Kathryn Scanlan

“On the Moon” by Amy Scharmann

“Hot Lesbian Vampire Magic School” by Julia Ridley Smith

“From Within” by Richard Thomas

“Bethlehem” by Chika Unigwe

“A Primer on Separation” by Debbie Urbanski

“Do You Hear What I'm Saying?” by Kori Waring

“Big Joy Family” by Jude Whelchel

2016 Nominations for the Million Writers Award

Our judges are now considering the following nominations for the Million Writers Award. Thank you for your interest in the award, and check back soon for finalists.

“A Cry Among the Shadows” by J.D. Chaney
kaleidoscopeonline.org

“A Famous Man” by Kathryn Scanlan
thediagram.com/15_4/scanlan.html

“A festive suicide, attempted” by Veena Muthuraman
www.eclectica.org/v19n2/muthuraman.html

“A Million Broken Things” by Kaitlin Moore
3elementsreview.com/journal-issues/3elements-review-fall-journal-issue-8-2015-mobile.pdf#page56

“A Pearl” by Jesi Bender
chicagoliterati.com/2015/04/20/a-pearl-by-jesi-bender/

“A Primer on Seperation” by Debbie Urbanski
interfictions.com/a-primer-on-separation-debbie-urbanski/

“A Series of Accidents & Punctuation Marks” by Ilana Masad
www.splitlipmagazine.com/#!15-ilana-masad/cyu5

“Act 1 of That Football Story, or: The Tragedy of Mack Bethlehem” by JD Mitchell
www.thesquawkback.com/2015/10/jdm.html

“All That We Loved, All That We Burned” by Laura Haugen
www.carvezine.com/story/2015-fall-haugen

“and drop” by David Gillette
www.summersetreview.org/16summer/drop.html

“Apsis” by Billy O’Callaghan
percontra.net/issue/fall-2015/fiction/apsis/

“Army Mom” by Jennifer Porter
writingdisorder.com/jennifer-porter/

“Atomic Missions” by Michael Andre-Driussi
www.kaleidotrope.net/archives/winter-2015/atomic-missions-by-michael-andre-driussi/

“Bethlehem” by Chika Unigwe
www.onethrone.com/#!bethlehem/c7nw

“Big Joy Family” by Jude Whelchel
issuu.com/eastcarolina/docs/nclr2015-online-final/10

“Blue Rose” by Ellen Dawn Wilder
kaleidoscopeonline.org

“Build-A-Baby” by Catherine Le Nguyen
media.wix.com/ugd/60593c_7e86c2fcd3914a4aab3526f55ae315e9.pdf

“Chief White Bird of Porterville” by Doug Cornett
www.limehawk.org/chief-white-bird

“Circles” by Toby Tucker Hecht
www.summersetreview.org/15fall/circles.html

“Color Blind” by Caralyn Davis
www.eclectica.org/v19n1/davis.html

“Commute” by Robert Walton
brilliantflashfictionmag.wordpress.com/2015/03/31/issue-5-march-2015/#more-609

“Constance’s Law” by Bridget Hardy
www.carvezine.com/story/2015-winter-hardy

“Cora and Martha” by Thomas Penn Johnson
issuu.com/sblaam/docs/sblaam3

“Crossing Chanomi Creek” by Ovo Adagh
www.eclectica.org/v19n4/adagha.html

“Death is not a pretty sight but neither is life” by Bobbi Lurie
minorliteratures.com/2015/05/26/death-is-not-a-pretty-sight-but-neither-is-life/

“Devildoms” by Saytchyn Maddux-Creech
www.menacinghedge.com/winter2015/entry-maddux-creech.php

“Diary” by Gary Moshimer
www.eclectica.org/v19n1/moshimer.html

“Do You Hear What I’m Saying?” by Kori Waring
www.carvezine.com/story/2015-spring-waring

“Dogwood Dream” by Robert Walton
www.quailbellmagazine.com/the-unreal/short-story-dogwood-dream

“Down in the Station” by Seth Sawyers
lascauxreview.com/down-in-the-station/

“Driver’s Ed” by W. Scott Thomason
roanoke-review.squarespace.com/drivers-ed

“Eternal dreamers of greener grass” by Armel Dagorn
www.headstuff.org/2015/11/fortnightly-fiction-eternal-dreamers-of-greener-grass/

“Exfoliation” by Israel Okwuje
http://www.eclectica.org/v19n3/okwuje.html

“Existence” by Bill Carr
www.mendacitypress.com/28Carr.html

“Failure” by Glen Pourciau
fourwayreview.com/failure-by-glen-pourciau/

“Father Fox” by Martin Pousson
www.neworleansreview.org/father-fox/

“Fire in the Belly” by Rachael Acks
mothershipzeta.org/2016/03/07/fire-in-the-belly-by-rachael-acks/

“Fred’s Massive Sorrow” by Christopher Allen
www.eclectica.org/v19n4/allen.html

“Freeze Frame Ophelia” by Stuart Snelson
www.thesquawkback.com/2015/02/snelson.html

“From Within” by Richard Thomas
ceasecows.com/2015/08/14/from-within-by-richard-thomas/

“Funeral” by Carrie Brown
www.blackbird.vcu.edu/v14n2/fiction/brown_c/funeral_page.shtml

“Giver of Life” by Dawn S. Davies
bcrossing.org/giver-of-life-by-dawn-s-davies/

“Gone” by J.T.R. Brown
www.mendacitypress.com/27Brown.html

“Goodbye, Kate Shelly” by Jason Lee Helm
www.eclectica.org/v19n2/helm.html

“Guitar Lessons” by Roxanne Lynn Doty
lascauxreview.com/guitar-lessons/

“Gyurd” by Shane Strachan
longstoryshort.squarespace.com/gyurd

“Haircut” by Erin McGraw
www.blackbird.vcu.edu/v14n2/fiction/mcgraw_e/haircut_page.shtml

“Half in the Truth” by Gariot Louima
bcrossing.org/half-in-the-truth-by-gariot-louima/

“HAZMAT” by Timothy Day
ceasecows.com/2015/10/31/hazmat-by-timothy-day/

“Her Heart a Thundering Steed” by Christopher D. DiCicco
www.menacinghedge.com/spring2015/entry-dicicco.php

“Hollow” by Colm McDermott
munsterlit.ie/Southword/Issues/28/mcdermott_colm.html

“Honor’s Justice” by Sabrina Fedel
lunchticket.org/honors-justice/

“Hot Lesbian Vampire Magic School” by Julia Ridley Smith
failbetter.com/56/SmithHLVMS.php?sxnSrc=rcfxn

“I Only Want To Talk About The Nice Things” by Claire Lombardo
littlefiction.com/beta/ClaireLombardo_NiceThings.html

“I Saved the Baby from the Burning Building” by Vincent Poturica
thediagram.com/15_4/poturica.html

“In Water, Flight” by Doireann Ni Ghriofa
munsterlit.ie/Southword/Issues/28/nighriofa_doireann.html

“It Works When You Work It” by Matt Peters
media.wix.com/ugd/60593c_7e86c2fcd3914a4aab3526f55ae315e9.pdf

“Jellyfish Moon” by Katherine Van Dis
thecarolinaquarterly.com/2016/01/26/jellyfish-moon/

“Last Song” by Annie Reid
baltimorereview.org/index.php/fall_2015/contributor/annie-reid

“Learned in the Old Ways” by Jon Chaiim McConnell
www.blackbird.vcu.edu/v14n1/fiction/mcconnell_j/oldways_page.shtml

“Leftovers” by Kiare Ladner
www.eclectica.org/v19n4/ladner.html

“Lone Pine Says Howdy” by Roger Mensink
www.eclectica.org/v19n4/mensink.html

“Look This Way, Look That” by Larry Menlove
www.astrangeobject.com/cwf/look-this-way-look-that/

“LUV” by Ken Brosky
www.summersetreview.org/15spring/luv.html

“Minor Aberrations In Geologic Time” by Cody Klippenstein
littlefiction.com/beta/CodyKlippenstein_MinorAberrations.html

“Monkey King, Faerie Queen” by Zen Cho
www.kaleidotrope.net/archives/spring-2015/monkey-king-faerie-queen-by-zen-cho/

“Mother’s New Leg (Issue 70)” by Jeffrey Boyer
kaleidoscopeonline.org

“Much Ado about My Friend, Mr. Crystal” by INNOCENT ILO
expoundmagazine.com/much-ado-about-my-friend-mr-crystal-by-innocent-ilo/

“My Last Chance” by Vickie Fang
baltimorereview.org/index.php/winter_2015/contributor/vickie-fang

“Next of Kith” by Jacob M. Appel
hungermtn.org/next-of-kith/

“Night Swim” by Billy O’Callaghan
www.headstuff.org/2015/06/fortnightly-fiction-night-swim/

“Oak Tables and Emerald Lawns” by Nancy Gerber
www.mendacitypress.com/27Gerber.html

“Of Two Minds” by Marlene Zadig
www.splitlipmagazine.com/#!14-marlne-zadig/cl0m

“On A Wild, Red Dawn” by Billy O’Callaghan
www.kenyonreview.org/kr-online-issue/2015-summer/selections/billy-ocallaghan-342846/

“Ponce de Leon has a Problem” by Mack Basham
www.eclectica.org/v19n1/basham.html

“Quiet” by Robin N. Koman
3elementsreview.com/journal-issues/3elements-review-spring-journal-issue-6-2015-mobile.pdf#page54

“Repeatable Sequence #51 : The Squid Jig” by Ian Woollen
www.splitlipmagazine.com/#!15-ian-woollen/c173j

“Roadrunning” by Emma Smith-Stevens
www.joylandmagazine.com/regions/south/roadrunning

“Saving Hermann Hesse” by Rudy Koshar
www.eclectica.org/v19n2/koshar.html

“September 1 in Tbilisi” by Irakli kobiashvili
www.onethrone.com/#!september-1-in-tbilisi/ccw8

“She has the room above him, and he has the room next to her” by Peyton Burgess
www.thetishmanreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/TTR1.4FINALCOMPRESSED.pdf

“Show of Force” by Kathy Flann
www.blackbird.vcu.edu/v14n1/fiction/flann_k/show_page.shtml

“Showroom” by Nicholas Lepre
bluemesareview.org/issues/issue-no-32/showroom/

“Shueyville” by Kate Folk
baltimorereview.org/index.php/summer_2015/contributor/kate-folk

“Skopje 2011” by Elena Tuparevska.
http://www.eclectica.org/v19n4/tuparevska.html

“Snow Drifts” by Vivian McInerny
media.wix.com/ugd/60593c_8657565362934d369dc6e3975d9929e7.pdf

“Soup” by Chikodili Emelumadu
www.onethrone.com/#!soup/ckas

“Stephanie Says” by Alain Douglas Park
fourwayreview.com/stephanie-says-by-alain-park/

“Stokely” by Monona Wali
3elementsreview.com/journal-issues/3elements-review-summer-journal-issue-7-2015-mobile.pdf#page40

“Straight Lines” by Naru Sundar
mothershipzeta.org/2016/07/20/straight-lines-by-naru-sundar/

“Stratis’ Remington” by Paul Kennebeck
www.carvezine.com/story/2015-spring-kennebeck

“Surface Tension” by Steve Vermillion
www.eclectica.org/

“Tarumae-zan” by David M. Morini
www.carvezine.com/story/2015-summer-morini

“Tasneem” by Ahsan Butt
www.eclectica.org/v19n3/butt.html

“Tell Us Something We Don’t Know” by Louis Wenzlow
ceasecows.com/2015/08/03/tell-us-something-we-dont-know-by-louis-wenzlow/

“The Alexandra Role” by Sydney Weinberg
longstoryshort.squarespace.com/alexandra

“The Android’s Prehistoric Menagerie” by A. Merc Rustad
mothershipzeta.org/2016/02/22/the-androids-prehistoric-menagerie-by-a-merc-rustad/

“The Battle” by David Naimon
americanshortfiction.org/2015/04/01/battle/

“The Boy Wonder” by Robert Roman
www.eclectica.org/v19n4/roman.html

“The Bridegroom” by Amelia Mangan
thebooksmugglers.com/2015/10/the-bridegroom-by-amelia-mangan.html

“The Brooklyn Tolstoy” by Doug Benerofe
litforlife.wpengine.com/?story=the-brooklyn-tolstoy

“The Clean Rooms” by J’Lyn Chapman
thediagram.com/15_6/chapman.html

“The Color of Love” by Julieanna Blackwell
lunchticket.org/the-color-of-love/

“The Day the Palace moved to Dolmabahce” by Kaitlin Moore
munsterlit.ie/Southword/Issues/28/saul_john.html

“The Dukes” by Sidney Thompson
www.limehawk.org/the-dukes

“The Executioners” by Kirie C. Pedersen
http://www.eclectica.org/v19n3/pedersen.html

“The Glass Girl” by Wendy Oleson
www.memorious.org/?id=617

“The Imminene of Flight” by Chris Connolly
lascauxreview.com/imminence-of-flight/

“The Inside, the Out” by Heather Steinmann
www.eclectica.org/v19n2/steinmann.html

“The Intended” by Rebecca Berg
fourwayreview.com/the-intended-by-rebecca-berg/

“The Last of the Cowboys” by Jude Roy
writingdisorder.com/jude-roy/

“The LGB at the Terrat City Zoo” by Douglas J. Ogurek
www.thesquawkback.com/2015/08/ogurek.html

“The Merger” by Sunil Patel
thebooksmugglers.com/2015/06/the-merger-a-romantic-comedy-of-intergalactic-business-negotiati

“The Orange Line” by Cantrice J. Penn
lavensonpressstudios.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/FFRLM2016.pdf

“The Over-Thirty League” by Lou Gaglia
www.rappahannockreview.com/lou-gaglia/

“The Parable of Nick Burns” by Danny Judge
lunchticket.org/the-parable-of-nick-burns/

“The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn ” by Usman T. Malik
tinyurl.com/jmuklj2

“The Penitent” by Michael M Pacheco
www.diversevoicesquarterly.com/penitent/

“The Salt Wedding” by Gemma Files
www.kaleidotrope.net/archives/winter-2015/the-salt-wedding-by-gemma-files/

“The Son of Summer and Eli” by Lee L. Krecklow
www.thetishmanreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/TTR1.2FINAL.compressed1.pdf

“The String” by Victor Schultz
failbetter.com/55/SchultzString.php?sxnSrc=ltst

“The Vishakanya’s Choice” by Roshani Chockshi
thebooksmugglers.com/2015/08/the-vishakanyas-choice-by-roshani-chokshi.html

“This Bird Has Flown” by S. Frederic Liss
bcrossing.org/this-bird-has-flown-by-s-frederic-liss/

“Thursday Night Karaoke” by Trevor Corkum
littlefiction.com/beta/TrevorCorkum_ThursdayNightKaraoke.html

“Tiny Dancer” by Lisa Lang
longstoryshort.squarespace.com/tiny-dancer

“Tooth” by Dino Parenti
www.menacinghedge.com/spring2015/entry-parenti.php

“Top Secret” by Julia Ballerini
www.thetishmanreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/TTR1.3FINALFINALFINALFINAL.compressed-2.p

“Una Vida Mejor” by Brian Phillip Whalen
www.pinchjournal.com/fiction-blogroll/2015/2/15/una-vida-mejor-brian-whalen

“Want Cokes?” by Talar Malakian
lunchticket.org/want-cokes/

“Westward, Ever Westward” by Su-Yee Lin
electricliterature.com/this-is-not-what-we-expected-new-short-story-by-su-yee-lin-982e6b743e

“WHAT YOU SEE” by LEAH BROWNING
www.limehawk.org/what-you-see

“Where Do You Think You’re Going” by Daphne Buter
www.friggmagazine.com/issuefortyfive/fiction/buter/where.htm

“World without End” by Taylor Brown
issuu.com/eastcarolina/docs/nclr2015-online-final/74

“You Takin’ Me to Paisley, or What?” by Casey Robb
www.mendacitypress.com/26Robb.html

“Your Call Is Important” by Linda Lenhoff
www.thetishmanreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/TTR1.4FINALCOMPRESSED.pdf

Support the Million Writers Award

Each year, the Million Writers Award offers prizes to the authors of the winning story, a runner-up, and an honorable mention. These prizes are possible thanks to your generous support. Please click on the donate link below to offer your support. Donors have the option of being listed on the Million Writers Award Page or remaining anonymous. Donations are not tax-deductible. Except for the small percentage collected by PayPal to facilitate the transaction, all of your donation goes to fund the Award.

For additional questions or inquiries about the Million Writers Award, contact storySouth editor Terry Kennedy at terry@storysouth.com. For general updates about the award, be sure to check out storySouth.

Previous Million Writers Awards

Visit the links below to check out award winners, noteable stories, and donors from previous years.

2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004