The Flash Cat Award

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Named after Apollo the lux tux cat, this is a new award for flash fiction, to be awarded in June 2019. How does one go about winning a Flash Cat? Well, the first step is to submit your flash fiction to SBLJ by March 1, 2019. If your piece is published in Volume 3, it will be in the running for a Flash Cat. Rumors abound of a $100 prize, and the rumors are not without reason. Flash should be under 1,000 words.

Flash Cat Award for Humor June 2019, Margaux Dunbar Hession
Flash Cat Award for Literary Excellence June 2019, Diane C. McPhail

 

Flash Cat Honorable mentions 2019:

“Nano-dog” by Jeremy Gold 

“The Scream” by Cheri Kramer

“Wisdom” by Nate Streeper

“In Hand” by D. Avery

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Phantastic Fiction Award

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Matt Pallamary selects a deserving participant from his Phantastic Fiction workshop at the Santa Barbara Writer's Conference to receive the Phantastic Fiction Award.  

Phantastic Fiction Award June 2019 Jesse Krenzel

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The Black Cat Award 

for Mastery of Craft and Mentorship in the Creative Arts

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The Editrix's papa is a rolling stone, who plays the blues, paints mind-bending surrealist art, and writes tall tales all over the world. And wherever he has lived, from Guam to Coos Bay to San Miguel de Allende, he always has an art studio called "The Black Cat." When the Editrix was in her early thirties and had proven that she is, irrevocably, a writer, her dad leaned over after Thanksgiving dinner and said, "It's time. We're gonna induct you, darlin', into the Black Cat Collective." Many details were revealed then, which must remain confidential to the BCC. But suffice it to say that the collective comprises artists, writers, and musicians of the shadiest variety, strange and improbable characters all passionately dedicated to creative expression. The Black Cat Award carries on the family tradition of celebrating artists, writers, and musicians who burn brightly in pursuit of their craft and are d@** good at it, and in turn mentor others. You cannot beg, borrow, or buy entry into the BCC; it is by invitation only, and when and where the black cat bestows favor is a subject of speculation, myth, and many coins laid down at the bookies. Tales of a cash prize are greatly overstated. As for rumors that a tattoo, absinthe, and a houka are involved in the induction to the collective...well, we have fun. 

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Black Cat June 2018, Matthew Pallamary
Black Cat December 2019, Stephen T. Vessels
Black Cat June 2019, Max Talley