Bucks County Short Fiction Contest For High School Students 2020
Winners of the Short Fiction Contest for High School Students
We are happy to announce the winners of the Short Fiction Contest for High-School Students, for Spring 2020.
Lauren Pierce, 15, a resident of Churchville and a sophomore at Council Rock High School South, was awarded first place for her story, "Dear V." Jamie Hallman, 18, a Coopersburg resident who is senior at Palisades High School, won second place for "Reset." Julianna Taggart, a 17 year-old junior at Pennsbury High School and a resident of Levittown, placed third for "The Monsters Within." The faculty of the Department of Language and Literature at the college made the final selection. The winners will receive certificates and awards of $200, $100, and $50, respectively.
The final judge lauded Pierce's story as being "A psychologically complex crime story with a deftly delivered surprise ending that turns re-reading into a real pleasure. Its prose is often sophisticated and stylish, and bespeaks a delightfully sinister sense of humor. Best of all is the story's understated but persistent commentary on social class as a divisive force in American life."
Commenting on Hallman's story, the judge commented: "A bold and trippy bit of storytelling cut from Twilight Zone and Black Mirror cloth, 'Reset' does what great sci-fi always does: illuminates present-day social issues and demands that its audience confront its own fears and anxieties about them. Its depictions of U.S. schools are especially well employed towards those ends, and there's some terrific and imaginative descriptive writing, too."
Responding to Taggart's story, the judge noted, "A wildly imaginative sci-fi romp symbolically representing to readers a whole host of torn-from-the-headlines contemporary issues: overpopulation, the robot-labor revolution, environmental destruction, and the loss of the family as a stabilizing social unit. It's powerful and unafraid of the dark, as its closing lines forcefully demonstrate."
A contest for adults from Bucks County will be held next fall. Further information will be available this summer.
For more information, contact the contest coordinator, Prof. Elizabeth Luciano, at Elizabeth.Luciano@bucks.edu.
ENTRIES FOR 2020
The third annual Bucks County Short Fiction Contest for High-School Students invites entries from high-school students who are residents of Bucks County, PA, and who are enrolled in high schools within the county. Home-schooled students are also eligible. Click here to submit your story!
ELIGIBILITY:
All students who are residents of Bucks County, PA, and are enrolled in a high school in Bucks County, PA, are eligible. Home-schooled Bucks County, PA students are also eligible.
ENTRY RULES:
- Each entrant may submit one original short story. Stories must be previously unpublished, including in online blogs or publications. No fan fiction (based on existing books, movies or other media) is acceptable.
- Stories should be double-spaced, in Times New Roman 12, with standard margins. Stories may be five to ten pages, double spaced (about 1,450-2,400 words).
- Please place the title of the story in the upper right-hand corner. Your name should not appear anywhere on the document.
- Please fill out the Entry Form completely and submit your story by 12 p.m. (noon) by Monday, April 20, 2020. Entries must be submitted electronically. No paper submissions will be accepted. There is no cost to enter the contest.
- Entries that do not follow these rules may be disqualified.
Note: It’s a good idea to check your phone and email in the week following the contest. If your submission cannot be accessed, this is how the contest director will attempt to reach you.
NOTIFICATION OF WINNERS:
Winner will be notified by the Director of the BCCC Short Fiction Contest. All contestants will be notified using the phone number or email address you provided.
AWARDS:
- First place: $200 Honorarium
- Second place: $100 Honorarium
- Third place: $50 Honorarium
- Public reading at Bucks County Community College (TBA)
- Announcement on the College website
The prizes will be awarded at the celebratory reading.
The Bucks County Community College is the sponsor of the Bucks Short Fiction Contests. The contest receives support from the Department of Language and Literature. The contest director is Bucks County Community College Professor Elizabeth Luciano. Faculty of the department will serve as judges.
More Information
Professor Elizabeth Luciano at elizabeth.luciano@bucks.edu or the BCCC Department of Language and Literature at 215-968-8167.