Write Michigan 2019 Anthology edited by the Kent District Library

“To all of you writers whose luscious words and imagined characters and worlds light up this book, thank you for being witnesses. Congratulations for being the color commentators of planet earth. Kudos for going beyond the visual and hooking us with your sensory descriptions that make us see, feel, hear, taste and smell.” —Lorilee Craker, from her foreword to Write Michigan 2019 Anthology

In its seventh year, the Write Michigan Short Story Contest is not so secret any longer. We are delighted this year to have entries from 167 unique zip codes in Michigan, including the Upper Peninsula! This statewide contest offers opportunities for writers in four categories—11 and under, 12–17 years old, age 18 and older and Spanish language—with three cash prizes awarded in each category.

The stories in this anthology are among the 1,318 submitted between September 1 and November 30, 2018. A group of 142 volunteers initially screen the stories, two of them reading and rating each story anonymously to determine our top ten semifinalists in each category. A panel of judges, most published authors themselves, then review the semifinalists’ stories to see which ones shine the brightest, while the public cast 2,307 votes for their favorites.

With this anthology, we share in the telling of some of the best stories imagined by Michigan writers. Printed in these pages are 24 stories, including the Judges’ Choice, Judges’ Choice Runner-Up, Readers’ Choice, and published finalists in each of the four categories.

Visit www.writemichigan.org for information on the Write Michigan Short Story Contest.