×

SmokeLong Quarterly

Share This f l Translate this page

The SmokeLong Grand Micro Contest — Results

June 21, 2021

After much debate over the last three months, we have finally come up with our top three micros. Our decisions were anything but easy. For more than a few reasons we love all 12 finalists. Each of them is a unique and compelling example of the form. We are proud to feature them all.

We did, however, promise to award first, second, and third places. This took time and perseverance. We had to return to the voting process several times because we kept coming up with different lists. Thank you, talented writers, for making our job hard.

We’d also like to send out a big thank you to everyone who participated in the contest. We will be adding the names to the long– and shortlist soon (If you’d rather remain anonymous, please let us know).

First place

‘Undergrowth’ by Melissa Bowers

Second Place

‘Don’t Be Alarmed’ by Gabriel Houck

Third Place

‘Too Long Under Water’ by Emily Devane

Congratulations to Melissa, Gabriel, and Emily! And to all of our finalists: your work is amazing and challenging. We couldn’t be prouder to share your work with the world.

–Christopher and the SmokeLong team

ornament

Support SmokeLong Quarterly

Your donation helps writers, editors, reviewers, workshop leaders, and artists get paid for their work. If you’re enjoying what you read here, please consider donating to SmokeLong Quarterly today. We also give a portion of what we earn to the organizations on our "We Support" page.

The March Micro Marathon 25

Book Now!

We’re doing it again! We’re homing in on the micro: 100-word, 250-word, and 400-word stories. In March 2025 SmokeLong is hosting The March Micro Marathon, a 24-day workshop with a new writing task each day, peer review in small groups, 3 webinars, a reading and interview with Michelle Ross and the editors of 100 Word Story, and 3 competitions with cash prizes.