2026 Great American Fiction Contest: Meet the Winners!

Meet the Winner! Bethany Bruno

Read Bethany Bruno’s story, “No Swimming at Monson’s“

“I saw the opening line congratulating me and said, ‘Wait, no way.’ I reread the email just to be sure it was real,” says Bruno about when she was notified that her short story “No Swimming at Monson’s” won first place, online and print publication, and a $1,000 prize. “It felt like a dream come true for the little girl who used to write ‘books’ on scratch paper and staple them together for friends and family.”

Her winning story began with a connection to St. Augustine, Florida, and its place in civil rights history. As a student at Flagler College, she’d worked as a historical tour guide and every day would walk by the former Monson Motor Lodge, where on June 18, 1964, Black and white protesters jumped into a whites-only pool and a manager dumped acid in the water to force them out.

“The photograph of the protesters in the water as the hotel manager poured muriatic acid into the pool, known as ‘the splash heard around the world,’ settled in my memory and never left,” Bruno says, adding that the story of her main character, Ruth, “grew out of my curiosity about the people history often overlooks.”

The Florida author and amateur historian’s work has appeared in more than 90 literary journals and magazines, including The Sun, McSweeney’s, River Teeth’s Beautiful Things, and Brevity. She is also the author of two novels and is currently at work on her next, set at Weeki Wachee, Florida, in 1964.

“Most of my writing happens before the house wakes or after it settles. I have a baby under one, a four-year-old, and a full-time job as a government contractor, so the late hours when everyone is tucked into bed are often my only quiet time,” she says. “Knowing my story will appear in the same pages as great writers who shaped my love of storytelling feels incredible … and real validation for me as a writer after nearly 15 years of submitting my work to journals and magazines.”

Visit bethanybrunowriter.com to learn more.

Meet the Runners-Up

Each runner-up receives $200 and publication of their work on our website. We salute these fine writers and the more than 150 others who entered our 2026 contest. —The Editors

Nancy Novick

TITLE: Emergency

STORYLINE: While waiting on her sister in the E.R., a woman meets an intriguing doctor, and finds some keepsakes along the way.

BIO: Novick earned her M.A. in English Literature from Columbia. She won the 2019 Robert L. Fish Award from the Mystery Writers of America for the best American short story by a previously unpublished writer. Visit nancynovick.com.

S.E. Wilson

TITLE: Arms and Hands

STORYLINE: As he tries to avoid his in-laws, a man deals with the consequences of rediscovering his grandfather’s war memento.

Bio: Wilson took up fiction writing in earnest in 2020. He was first published in The Blotter in 2023 and has since landed stories in a number of journals, including Chiron Review and Louisville Review.

Jen Brewington

TITLE: The Future Is a Longed-For Past

STORYLINE: After a youth spent in exile over a near-tragedy, Ruth’s life as a caregiver is challenged by the arrival of a rambunctious young boy.

BIO: Brewington graduated from the Center for Writers at the University of Southern Mississippi, where she currently teaches in the English program. She was previously published nationally in The Southern Humanities Review.

R.E. Dyer

TITLE: Dad’s Three Laws

STORYLINE: Two sisters struggle with the weight of obligation to their aging father and a shocking discovery buried in his computer.

BIO: Dyer studied English Education at Elizabethtown College before working as a teacher, trainer, and curriculum designer. Having been published in a number of magazines and anthologies, Dyer has begun plotting a dystopian novel. Visit redyerauthor.com.

Michele Major

TITLE: Wingspan (Available online February 6)

STORYLINE: A boy grows up in the shadow of trauma, raised by a strong mother contending with his troubled veteran father.

Bio: Major first started writing as a young girl and pictured writing as a career. Having been a professional dancer and a teacher of young dancers, Major plunged into her writing aspirations as an adult.

Read The Best! Post editors are delighted by the storytelling and fine writing of this year’s entrants. We’ve compiled the best stories — our winner, runners-up, and honorable mentions — in an ebook, available on your favorite platform for only $3.99. Get it now at saturdayeveningpost.com/fiction-books.

This article appears in the January/February 2026 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. Subscribe to the magazine for more art, inspiring stories, fiction, humor, and features from our archives.