Fiction

Second runner-up in the 2026 Great American Fiction Contest

First runner-up in the 2026 Great American Fiction Contest

All Ruth saw was more attention. And when the wrong kind of attention showed up, people like her paid for it.

She didn’t tell them till after the dinner, after the huge ridiculous turkey and mashed potatoes and creamed onions and the big sticky trifle no one ate.

In 1950s Jacksonville, Laura Lee Kimble stands accused of beating a man nearly to death. Author Zora Neale Hurston tells her story of speaking truth to power.

“But although you were never quite sure you knew what Francine Lang really looked like, you were always convinced that she was beautiful.”

A small-town southern girl wants to be “where things happen on a big scale,” but the dreariness of the North will test her resilience.

A wealthy city woman strikes up a surprising camaraderie with a late-night intruder, and they discover what lies beneath the surface of each person’s intentions.

“The conference materials were still in the seat pocket, open to the page about the theory of personal responsibility in tort law. Often the victim is in the best position to consider the potential harm that might befall her.”

A small-town southern girl wants to be “where things happen on a big scale,” but the dreariness of the North will test her resilience.

An Australian magazine editor is entangled in a love triangle between a vapid new cover girl and his whip-smart photographer.

“Why hadn’t he done something about it years before? Why hadn’t he broken it up before it was too late, and saved his own soul, his longing for life, color? But no, he had not. Why complain so bitterly now?”