This year’s flash fiction contest brought many great stories . . . and hard choices. (Seriously, it’s no lay-up trying to determine a winner when you have two judges with different writing backgrounds and sensibilities looking for the top three entries!) But Mary Esselman and I dove into the stack, read and reread, then ranked those that spoke to us in order, finding overlap à la Venn Diagram. (Personal aside: I’m always intrigued by the fact that this formula may mean one’s favorite might not even make the cut at all.) That said, the system works! Look for the lovely, poignant, and edgy pieces this fall.

The 2022 winners are:

1st : Thank You For Calling by Margaret Watson

2nd: Down The Shore by John Adinolfi

3rd: The View by Kay Chomic

As always, we are grateful for the beautiful pieces of writing that came across our virtual transom. Thank you.

Erika Raskin, Streetlight’s fiction editor, is the author of Best Intentions and Close. Her non-fiction work has run in a variety of publications and on public radio. Her wry world view can be found at erikaraskin.com and @erikaraskin on twitter.

Mary Esselman has an extensive background in writing and editing. She currently serves as program coordinator and editor for Iris magazine, a student-run publication of the University of Virginia Maxine Platzer Lynn Women’s Center. She is the author of HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?: Poems for the Not So Young Anymore, YOU DRIVE ME CRAZY: Love Poems for Real Life, KISS OFF: Poems to Set You Free, and THE HELL WITH LOVE: Poems to Mend a Broken Heart.