Million Writers Award
Notable Stories of 2005
Here they are: The best online short stories published during 2005.
All genres of short stories are represented below. All types of writing styles are on exhibit. Journals and magazines from around the world are highlighted. The only criteria used to select these stories was excellence and, as you will see, there is plenty of excellence to be found among online journals and magazines.
Thanks to everyone who nominated a story. And a big thanks to the preliminary judges who helped screen the nominations and/or nominated their own lists of favorite stories: Sefi Atta, Randa Jarrar, Kyle Minor, Bob Thurber, Dan Wickett, and the three additional judges who wished to remain anonymous.
The top ten stories of the year will be released on April 1, with the public vote for the top story also beginning then. If you enjoy the Million Writes Award, consider supporting storySouth by making a donation to help cover the costs of using a secure vote system for the public vote part of the award (this will prevent people from hacking or manipulating the vote).
Thanks to everyone for helping to support online literature.
Jason Sanford
fiction editor and publisher
storySouth
Top Online Magazines and Journals
Million Writers Award for best online publication
- Strange Horizons wins this award for having seven of their stories selected as notable stories of the year (more than seven stories, actually, since the "Tales of the Chinese Zodiac" by Jenn Reese is 12 individual stories published over 12 months).
Million Writers Award for best publisher of novella-length fiction
- The King's English wins this award for the second year in a row. The site continues to be the premiere place for longer fiction on the web (they even published a very good novel-length story, Halcyon by J. Todd Gillette).
Million Writers Award for best new online magazine or journal
- Anderbo wins this award. This new journal features a top-notch editorial crew and started 2005 out with a bang. The journal should achieve even greater heights in the years to come.
Finally, SCIFICTION is awarded an honorary "can't believe the bastards shut you down" award because, well, it is still hard to believe that the penny-pinchers at the Sci-Fi Channel shut down the top online market for quality speculative fiction.
Notable stories of 2005:
42opus
http://www.42opus.com
- "Crow" by Erich R Sysak
http://www.42opus.com/v5_3/crow - "Petrovesky and Polarbywall" by Crispin Oduobuk
http://www.42opus.com/v5_2/petrovesky - "Darryl's 1890" by Tripp Reade
http://www.42opus.com/v5_3/darryls1890
Adirondack Review
http://www.adirondackreview.homestead.com
- "Giraffes" by Steven Gillis
http://adirondackreview.homestead.com/gillis.html
Agni
http://www.bu.edu/agni/index.html
- "Light at the End of the Tunnel" by John J. Clayton
http://www.bu.edu/agni/fiction/online/2005/clayton.html - "Five Serrated Dreams" by Emily Mitchell
http://www.bu.edu/agni/fiction/online/2005/mitchell.html - "The Price of the Haircut" by Brock Clarke
http://www.bu.edu/agni/fiction/print/2005/61-clarke.html - "Work" by Michael Stigman
http://www.bu.edu/agni/fiction/online/2005/stigman.html - "Feeling Satisfactory" by Girija Tropp
http://www.bu.edu/agni/fiction/print/2005/61-tropp.html
Anderbo
http://www.anderbo.com/
- "On 3rd" by Jeffrey Rubin
http://www.anderbo.com/anderbo1/afiction-001.html - "The Rules of Urban Living" by Kara Janeczko
http://www.anderbo.com/anderbo1/afiction-013.html - "A Short Story about Nova Scotia" by Martha Wilson
http://www.anderbo.com/anderbo1/afiction-006.html
The Barcelona Review
http://www.barcelonareview.com
- "Respectul Beatings For Very Good Help" by G.K. Wuori
http://www.barcelonareview.com/48/e_gkw.htm - "I Am Gone" by Laura Hird
http://www.barcelonareview.com/48/e_lh.htm - "And The Winner Is" by Laura Marney
http://www.barcelonareview.com/50/e_lm.htm - "My Son, the Priest" by Caroline Kepnes
http://www.barcelonareview.com/47/e_ck.htm
Barrelhouse
http://www.barrelhousemag.com
- "Go Fish" by Mary Miller
http://www.barrelhousemag.com/gofish_print.html - "Surviving Death," by Tom Whalen
http://www.barrelhousemag.com/survivingdeath.html
Blackbird
http://www.blackbird.vcu.edu
- "The Interview" by Cary Holladay
http://www.blackbird.vcu.edu/v4n2/fiction/holladay_c/interview.htm - "$280 Cat" by Christopher Orlet
http://www.blackbird.vcu.edu/v4n2/fiction/orlet_c/cat.htm - "The Countdown" by Neil Grimmett
http://www.blackbird.vcu.edu/v4n1/fiction/grimmett_n/countdown.htm - "Two Lives" by Michael Croley
http://www.blackbird.vcu.edu/v4n1/fiction/croley_m/lives.htm
Blithe House Quarterly: queer fiction lives here
http://www.blithe.com
- "Women I've Known" by Greg Johnson
http://www.blithe.com/bhq9.1/9.1.02.html - "How to Marry a W.A.S.P." by Gina Frangello
http://www.blithe.com/bhq9.2/9.2.02.html - "Exceptional Results Deserve Extraordinary Evidence" by Felicia Luna Lemus
http://www.blithe.com/bhq9.4/9.4.01.html
The Blue Moon Review
http://www.thebluemoon.com
- "Juvenalia" by C. Bard Cole
http://thebluemoon.typepad.com/bmr/2005/11/juvenalia_by_c_.html
ChiZine: Treatments of Light and Shade in Words
http://chizine.com
- "Under the Bridge" by Hannah Wolf Bowen
http://www.chizine.com/underbridge.htm - "The Man With Hungry Eyes" by Mark Budman
http://www.chizine.com/hungry_eyes.htm
Conjunctions
http://www.conjunctions.com
- "Levittown" by Leslie Yalen
http://www.conjunctions.com/webcon/yalen.htm
Crime Scene Scotland
http://www.crimescenescotland.com
- "Down and Out in Brentwood" by Neal Marks
http://www.crimescenescotland.com/fiction_..._2005.htm
Danforth Review
http://www.danforthreview.com
- "The Roots of a Mulberry Tree" by Avital Gad-Cykman
http://www.danforthreview.com/fiction/03_05/gad_cykman.htm
Dragonfire
http://www.dfire.org
- "On A Clear Day You Can See Scotland" by Jim Ruland
http://www.dfire.org/x893.xml
Dublin Quarterly
http://www.dublinquarterly.com/index.html
- "Syrians on the Top Floor" by Hazera Forth
http://www.dublinquarterly.com/03/f_hforth.html
Eclectica Magazine
http://www.eclectica.org
- "Writ in Water" by Constance Squires
http://www.eclectica.org/v9n4/squires.html
- "Are You Lonesome Tonight" by Roderick Leyland
http://www.eclectica.org/v9n2/leyland.html - "Passport to Heaven" by Victor Ehikhamenor
http://www.eclectica.org/v9n2/ehikhamenor.html
Failbetter
http://www.failbetter.com
- "Paper Girl" by Matt Leibel
http://www.failbetter.com/2005-3/LeibelPaper.htm - "Ed Got a Job" by Russell Rowland
http://www.failbetter.com/2005-1/RowlandEd.htm
Fiction Warehouse
http://www.fictionwarehouse.com
- "Diamonds and Lemons" by Omar Beer
http://www.fictionwarehouse.com/yr03/stories/050427.asp - "Snow Squall" by Claudia Smith
http://www.fictionwarehouse.com/yr03/stories/050504.asp - "Heck on Earth" by Tim Millas
http://www.fictionwarehouse.com/yr03/stories/050817.asp - "Country Music" by Miriam Kotzin
http://www.fictionwarehouse.com/yr03/stories/050216.asp
FRiGG: A Magazine of Fiction and Poetry
http://www.friggmagazine.com
- "Courting Jane" by Steven Gillis
http://friggmagazine.com/volumeonearchive/courtingjane.htm - "Know Your Material" by Grant Bailie
http://friggmagazine.com/volumeonearchive/knowyourmaterial.htm - "It Ain't Berklee College of Music, but You Can Max Out Your Student Loans Here--and Get Friggy with the Skin-Chilling Drum Circles" by Dennis Mahagin
http://www.friggmagazine.com/issueten/poemsstories/...berkleefiction.htm
Gator Springs
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/fandango.virtual/gator
- "Grief Point" by Patricia Parkinson
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/fandango.virtual/gator/qob_page_13.htm
Gowanus
http://www.gowanusbooks.com
- "The Black Tongue" by Anjana Basu
http://www.gowanusbooks.com/black_tongue_basu.html - "Grey White Yellow" by Mita Ghose
http://www.gowanusbooks.com/Mita_Ghose_GWY.html
Hardluck Stories
http://www.hardluckstories.com
- "Freezing Moon" by Roy Felps
http://www.hardluckstories.com/fall2005/Moon-Felps.htm - "Knight Erring" by Darragh Metzger
http://www.hardluckstories.com/winter2005/Knight-Metzger.htm
HOBART
http://www.hobartpulp.com
- "Kisses on the Forehead" by Liliana V. Blum (tr. Toshiya Kamei)
http://www.hobartpulp.com/fiction/nov05blum.html
Identity Theory
http://www.identitytheory.com
- "Fists for Hands" by Susan Nielson
http://www.identitytheory.com/fiction/nielsen_fists.php
The Infinite Matrix
http://infinitematrix.net
- "The Witch’s Hand" by Patrick O’Leary
http://infinitematrix.net/stories/shorts/witchshand.html - "I, Robot" by Cory Doctorow
http://infinitematrix.net/stories/shorts/i-robot.html - "The Men in the Back Room at the Country Club" by Rudy Rucker
http://infinitematrix.net/stories/shorts/men_in_bracc.html
Ink Pot
http://www.inkpots.net
- "The Pinwheel" Pam Mosher
http://www.inkpots.net/PDC/005_06.html
The King's English
http://www.thekingsenglish.org
- "The Longest Suicide Note by Stanley K." by M. Frias-May
http://home.comcast.net/~wapshot1/Fall05/LongestSuicideNote.pdf - "Pig Roast," by Bill Bukovsan
http://home.comcast.net/~wapshot1/Fall05/PigRoast.pdf - "The Audience," by James Chapman
http://home.comcast.net/~wapshot1/Fall05/Audience.pdf - "The Fear of Stones," by Kei Miller
http://home.comcast.net/~wapshot1/Fall05/FearofStones.pdf - Halcyon by J. Todd Gillette
http://home.comcast.net/%7ewapshot1/Fall05/Fiction.Gillette1.html
Laura Hird
http://www.laurahird.com
- "Mother's Bony Behind" by Elizabeth Glixman
http://www.laurahird.com/showcase/elizabethglixman.html
- "Unsung Hero of the Mall Chicks" by Angel Uriel Perales
http://freewebs.com/lilylitreview/2_6perales.html
Literary Mama
http://www.literarymama.com
- "A Long Time" by Gayle Brandeis
http://www.literarymama.com/fiction/archives/000877.html
Lit Rag
http://www.litrag.com
- "Fish Heads" by Peter Markus
http://www.litrag.com/issue/18/fishhead.htm
McSweeney's Internet Tendency
http://www.mcsweeneys.net
- "Thirty-Nine Questions for Charlie Daniels Upon Hearing The Devil Went Down to Georgia for the First Time in Twenty-Five Years" by John Moe
http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2005/8/16moe.html
Me Three
http://www.methree.net
- "Three Scenes from My Life (With Special Guest Star Truman Capote)" by Richard Grayson http://www.methree.net/archives/2005/January/graysoncapote.html
Mississippi Review
http://www.mississippireview.com
- "Night Work" by Felicia C. Sullivan
http://www.mississippireview.com/2005/Vol11No3-Jul05/1103-070105-Sullivan.html - "Gloria My Gloria" by Vishal Khanna
http://www.mississippireview.com/2005/Vol11No1-Jan05/1101-010805-khanna.html - "Nang Fah Jam Laeng: Angels in Disguise" by Cynthia Gralla
http://www.mississippireview.com/2005/Vol11No3-Jul05/1103-070105-Gralla.html - "The Holidays Here" by Roy Kesey
http://www.mississippireview.com/2005/Vol11No2-Apr05/1102-040105-kesey.html
MWU: Muslim Wake Up!
http://www.muslimwakeup.com
- "Wedad's Cavalry" by Mohja Kahf
http://www.muslimwakeup.com/sex/archives/2005/04/wedads_cavalry_1.php
Narrative Magazine
http://www.narrativemagazine.com
- "The Great Beyond" by Alma Garcia
http://www.narrativemagazine.com/content/view.php?i=49&t=html - "You, or Someone Like You" by Chandler Burr
http://www.narrativemagazine.com/content/view.php?i=43&t=html - "Famous Fathers" by Pia Z. Ehrhardt
http://www.narrativemagazine.com/content/view.php?i=46&t=html - "A Wedding Story" by Debra Spark
http://www.narrativemagazine.com/content/view.php?i=86&t=html - "Fathers and Sons" by Jeffrey Colvin
http://www.narrativemagazine.com/content/view.php?i=82&t=html
North American Review
http://webdelsol.com/NorthAmReview/NAR/HTMLpages/NARToday.htm
- "Hollowed Be Thy Name" by Stephen Coyne
http://www.webdelsol.com/NorthAmReview/NAR/...coyne.htm
Outsider Ink
http://outsiderink.com
- "Hit" by Daniel A. Olivas
http://outsiderink.com/05/fall/olivas.php
Paumanok Review
http://www.paumanokreview.com
- "Aftercare" by Steve Gillis
http://www.paumanokreview.com/index.php?page=gillis
Pindeldyboz
http://www.pindeldyboz.com
- "Self Defense" by Michael Hartford
http://www.pindeldyboz.com/mhdefense.htm - "Berlin Romance" by Stefan Kiesbye
http://www.pindeldyboz.com/skberlin.htm - "Room to Rent" by Russell Bittner
http://www.pindeldyboz.com/rbrent.htm - "The White Bikini" by Nate Liederbach
http://www.pindeldyboz.com/nlbikini.htm - "Demolition" by Ali Fahmy
http://www.pindeldyboz.com/afdemolition.htm
The Pittsburgh Quarterly Online
http://tpqonline.org
- "Diesel" by Edward Tarkington
http://tpqonline.org/diesel.html - "Sandwiches From Home" by Jessica Schneider
http://tpqonline.org/sandwiches.html
Poor Mojo's Almanac(k)
http://www.poormojo.org
- "17th Century Anarchism" by Nicholas A. Vandermolen
http://www.poormojo.org/cgi-bin/gennie.pl?Fiction+225+bi
Raging Face
http://www.ragingface.com
- "Beyond Amber" by Dan Schneider
http://www.ragingface.com/amber.htm
SCIFICTION
http://www.scifi.com/scifiction
- "The King of Where-I-Go" by Howard Waldrop
http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/originals/originals_archive/waldrop8/index.html - "There's a Hole in the City" by Richard Bowes
http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/originals/originals_archive/bowes5/index.html - "Matricide" by Lucy Sussex
http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/originals/originals_archive/sussex/index.html - "Jane" by Marc Laidlaw
http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/originals/originals_archive/laidlaw2/index.html - "Is There Life After Rehab?" by Pat Cadigan
http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/originals/originals_archive/cadigan3/index.html
SHOTS Magazine
http://www.shotsmag.co.uk
- "The Fifty-Three Cent Mistake" by Herschel Cozine
http://www.shotsmag.co.uk/fiction2005/fiftythreecent.html
Shred of Evidence
http://www.shredofevidence.com
- "A Sack of Potatoes" by Sarah Weinman
http://shredofevidence.com/may05/potatoes.html
Small Spiral Notebook
http://www.smallspiralnotebook.com
- "May Your Next Be Your Last" by Lisa Selin Davis
http://www.smallspiralnotebook.com/summer05/lisadavis.shtml
- "Thankful" by Terese Svoboda
http://www.smallspiralnotebook.com/summer05/tsvoboda.shtml - "Wildlife of America" by Beth Ann Bauman
http://www.smallspiralnotebook.com/fall05/bethbauman.shtml
Southern Gothic Online
http://www.southerngothic.org
- "Space is Kindness" by Christopher Howard
http://www.southerngothic.org/Fiction/kindness.htm - "An Aesthetic Education" by Catharine Savage Brosman
http://www.southerngothic.org/Fiction/aesthetic.htm
Southern Hum
http://www.southernhum.com
- "Everybody's Gotta Eat" by Kevin Winchester
http://www.southernhum.com/kevin-winchester/
Spoiled Ink
http://www.spoiledink.com
- "The Paris Girl Who Moaned Like Water" by Jimmy Scoville
http://www.spoiledink.com/Uploads/st_435_the_Paris_Girl_who_Moans
Stickman Review
http://www.stickmanreview.com
- "My Father's Heart" by David Abrams
http://www.stickmanreview.com/V4N1/contents/abrams.html - "Lake People" by William Borden
http://www.stickmanreview.com/V4N1/contents/borden.html
The Story Garden 5.O: The Best of Scrawl
http://www.stwa.net/tsg5/index.html
- "Blood From Anything" by Rusty Barnes
http://www.stwa.net/tsg5/rbarnesbloodfromanything.html
Storyglossia
http://www.storyglossia.com
- "Tether" by Kirby Gann
http://www.storyglossia.com/ten/kg_tether.html
Strange Horizons
http://www.strangehorizons.com
- "Tales of the Chinese Zodiac" by Jenn Reese
http://www.strangehorizons.com/2005/zodiac/zodiac.shtml - "Bone Women" by Eliot Fintushel
http://www.strangehorizons.com/2005/20051212/fintushel-f.shtml - "Close to You" by Meghan McCarron
http://www.strangehorizons.com/2005/20050418/0close-f.shtml - "A Coffee Cup/Alien Invasion Story" by Douglas Lain
http://www.strangehorizons.com/2005/20050207/coffee-cup-f.shtml - "Magic in a Certain Slant of Light" by Deborah Coates
http://www.strangehorizons.com/2005/20050321/0coates-f.shtml - "Pip and the Fairies" by Theodora Goss
http://www.strangehorizons.com/2005/20051003/goss-f.shtml - "A Field Guide to Ugly Places" by Patrick Samphire
http://www.strangehorizons.com/2005/20050606/field_guide-f.shtml
Swink Magazine
http://www.swinkmag.com
- "She Gave Me Her Pineapple" by Stephen Ausherman
http://www.swinkmag.com/ausherman.html
Thieves Jargon
www.thievesjargon.com
- "Whisper California" by Vishal Khanna.
http://www.thievesjargon.com/content/workview.php?work=461
Thirst for Fire
http://thirstforfire.com
- "Hollywood Babylon" by Devan Sagliani
http://www.thirstforfire.com/080501.html
The Thrilling Detective Web Site
http://www.thrillingdetective.com
- "Consider It Lit" by Stephen D. Rogers
http://www.thrillingdetective.com/fiction/05_07_03.html - "The Face in the Concrete" by Tapani Bagge (translated from the Finnish by Minna Haapio)
http://www.thrillingdetective.com/fiction/05_07.html
Thunder Sandwich
http://www.thundersandwich.com
- "One of Those Zombie Lovers" by James Valvis
http://www.thundersandwich.com/ts25/valvis.htm
Thuglit
http://www.thuglit.com/
- "Johnny Cash Is Dead" by Jordan Harper
http://www.thuglit.com/zine/thug2/johnny.pdf
Toasted Cheese
http://www.toasted-cheese.com
- "Cravings" by Trish O'Brien-Edwards
http://www.toasted-cheese.com/ezine/5-3/obrien-edwards.htm
Tryst
http://www.tryst3.com
- "The Soup in Uncle Norman's Beard" by Steven Pirie
http://www.tryst3.com/issue13/pirie.html
Underground Voices
http://www.undergroundvoices.com
- "Unzipped" by Steven J. Dines
http://www.undergroundvoices.com/UVDines.htm
Velvet Mafia
http://velvetmafia.com
- "Extinction" by Jeff Leavell
http://velvetmafia.com/17/leavell.php
Verbsap
http://www.verbsap.com
- "I Think Jesus Is Fred Astaire" by Dennis Must
http://www.verbsap.com/2005april/must.html - "Getaway" by Paul Silverman
http://verbsap.com/2005april/silverman.html - "Miracle Grow" by Scott Cook
http://www.verbsap.com/2005sept/cook.html
Words Without Borders
http://www.wordswithoutborders.org
- "Edward and the First Geography Lesson" by Najem Wali (Translated from the Arabic by Jennifer Kaplan)
http://www.wordswithoutborders.org/article.php?lab=Edward
Word Riot
http://wordriot.org
- "Ten Gallon Bucket of Fries" by Mike Young
http://www.wordriot.org/template.php?ID=675 - "Crabwalk" by Brian Scullion
http://www.wordriot.org/template.php?ID=718 - "Head Injury" by Jean-Gérald Charbonneau
http://www.wordriot.org/template.php?ID=704 - "Laser Eye" by Nathan Leslie
http://www.wordriot.org/template.php?ID=613
Preliminary Judges for the 2006 Million Writers Award:
Sefi Atta was born in Lagos, Nigeria and currently lives in Mississippi, U.S.A.. She was awarded PEN International's David T.K. Wong Prize for Short Fiction and her debut novel Everything Good Will Come was published in 2005. Learn more about her at http://www.sefiatta.com.
Randa Jarrar was born in Chicago in 1978 and raised in Egypt and Kuwait. She moved back to the U.S. after the Gulf War, and currently lives with her son in Austin, Texas. She has published her stories in a number of literary journals, including Ploughshares and Eyeshot. Her short story "You Are a 14-Year-Old Arab Chick Who Just Moved to Texas" won the 2004 Million Writers Award.
Kyle Minor's fiction, essays, and reviews have appeared in nationally-distributed literary magazines including Quarterly West, The Carolina Quarterly, River Teeth, Antioch Review and Mid American Review. His stories and essays have won several literary awards, most recently from Writer's Digest and The Atlantic Monthly. He is a regular book reviewer for the Columbus Dispatch and editor of the Frostproof Review. He teaches fiction writing at the Ohio State University. Learn more about him at http://www.kyleminor.com.
Bob Thurber is an award winning writer who studied literary technique and practiced his craft daily for twenty-five years before submitting anything for publication. He’s presently working on his second novel, chain-smoking Camels, and waiting for his agent to call. To learn about more of his transgressions visit www.BobThurber.net.
Dan Wickett runs the Emerging Writers Network (www.emergingwriters.net, and www.emergingwriters.typepad.com), where he is developing a community of readers and writers of literary work. A proponent of literary journals, Dan conducted 12 e-panels with interviews of the editors of 75 print and online journals last year.
There were also three judges who wished to remain anonymous (so, in the words of one of these judges, her writing friends wouldn't get mad when she didn't pick their stories).
