Prompt Contest

Last year we tried out an image prompt contest, and it was a blast. The addition of art in our hallway plus the engagement of authors was overwhelming–in the best way! Check out the 2023 contest in the Archive.

For 2024 we lured in two more artists with ties to the Writers Symposium, Ava Kelly (author) and Alex Steffen, the artist who created the cover for the 2024 Anthology.

Like last year, each piece of art was put on a poster with a QR code to enable submission of (a) micro fiction (300 words or less) inspired by the art or (b) a “caption” to explain it. Winners of the contest were promised to have their entries posted on this website and a copy of the artist-signed poster (winners elected via a selection process that involved the artists’ input and feedback from some of the organizational committee.)

Everyone who submitted is a winner, since the goal was merely to promote a creative atmosphere. We highlight the poster-award winners and runners-up in separate announcement posts (below links). Yet everyone who submitted can claim bragging rights since the PDF below has the list of all the submissions–i.e., you all have your caption posted on this website!

Thank you to the artists and the creatives who replied!

Poster Award Winning Posts:

Prompt A: “Wonder Why” by Ava Kelly:

Winner: A1 Jonathan Walters
Runner-Up: A8: Amanda Clark

Prompt B: “Scythe” by Ava Kelly:

Winner: B3: Jay Kibble
Runner-Up: B1 Amanda Clark

Prompt C: Art by Alex Steffen

Winner: C11 Lily Chesgreen
Runner Up: C6: Andrew Eddmenson

PDF of 2024 submissions Download

A note from Ava:

Thank you all who submitted entries to “Wonder Why” and “Scythe”. For me, photography has always been about telling stories through frames. But with images, the tales we capture are never single-threaded universes, as they unfold differently for all of us who take them in. They are windows into as many worlds as there are persons to witness them. I have read all these entries with utmost glee, and have found myself in unexpected, wondrous places. So, thank you for this peek into your excellent minds!