The Winners of the 18th Annual Short Short Story Competition

Writer’s Digest would like to congratulate the winners of the 18th Annual Short Short Story Competition. Each year, writers submit their very best short stories of 1,500 words or fewer. For complete coverage of the awards, see the July/August 2018 issue of Writer’s Digest. This year, “Beneath the Cracks” by Nicole Disney (nicoledisney.com) bested more than 3,000 entries to win the grand prize of $3,000 and a trip to the Writer’s Digest Annual Conference in New York City, among other prizes.

“Beneath the Cracks” by Nicole Disney
[Read the winning story here. | Read an extended Q&A with the author here.]
“Free White Milk” by Talya Tate Boerner
“Maple” by Charlotte MacFarlane
“Caught” by Julie Watson
“American Special” by John K. Boy
“Goodbye, Betty 4.0” by Madeline Vann
“Avoiding the Bouquet” by Leslie DeVooght
“The Last Word” by Tracy Maxwell
“Little Bugs” by Cody D. Campbell
“One Step Forward” by Zulma Ortiz-Fuentes
“The Dolphins” by Michael Siembor
“Well Water” by Lyndsey S. Resnick
“Poor Red Freckles” by Roger Jones
“Mad Dogs” by Julie Stielstra
“Numb” by Isabella Stephens
“Regret” by Raylene Joan Wall
“War & Speech” by Ronan Takagi
“Misjudged” by Shirley Cayer
“Seanmathair” by Maureen Cornell
“The Number” by William French
“Li Lan” by Rachel Briar
“Ruby’s Diner” by Lones Seiber
“Buffet Reservations” by Deanna Brady
“What She Wants” by Mark Bruce
“The Power Game” by Laura Scalzo