It begins as a trickle and ends as a flood. Submissions for City Paper's annual literary contests usually arrive within days of the first call for entry, and deadline day brings dozens of registered letters, hand-delivered envelopes, and desperate pleas for leniency. This year was no different. Still, we stuck to our guns, accepting only submissions that hewed to the rules, and we somehow managed to whittle hundreds of entries down to a handful of deserving winners.
Four knife-sharp judges took up the task. Joyce S. Brown, CP's poetry editor, served as the sole judge of the fourth annual poetry contest. We bow to her powers of discernment and endurance.
The fifth annual short-fiction contest required three sets of eyes. The judges were Rachel Whang, co-owner of the new Atomic Books in Hampden and editor of Daybook, a zine about a whole day in the lives of its contributors; Michael Anft, City Paper contributing writer, reporter for The Chronicle of Philanthropy, and former losing entrant in several fiction contests; and Eileen Murphy, City Paper books editor. Intern Gabe Milner provided invaluable assistance.
Now that we've got the formalities out of the way, let us thank those whose labor mattered most: the writers. We hope you enjoy their work as much as we did.
