Five That Grabbed the Gold: Memphis magazine presents prize-winning stories from its annual fiction contest for Mid-South writers

Since 1989, Memphis magazine has sponsored its annual short story fiction contest for Mid-South writers. Each year the grand-prize winning story earns its author $1,000 and publication in the magazine. For quite awhile the stories were published in our December issue, but starting in 2011, the winning story has been published in our annual June culture issue.

Naturally we're proud of our history of recognizing local and regional writers. And now, we're excited to present our first e-book, which includes the winning short stories from 2008 through 2012. Titled "Five that Grabbed the Gold," the book includes “Tim Bui Blues” by Jackson McKenzie; “Just Now,” by Ellen Morris Prewitt; “Memphis Minnie's Ashes” by David Williams; “Sea Change” by Richard Alley; and “Wind Gap” by Courtney Miller Santo. With equal parts pathos and humor, these short fiction stories delve into characters who struggle with marriage and new parenthood, with grief and loss, with first love and longing, and with confronting fears and moving forward after disaster changes lives.

To learn who won our 2013 contest, please visit Memphis magazine online at www.memphismagazine.com.