Dispatches Competition Winners

The reveal of the winning stories from the fiction challenge.

The results are in. The scores have been tabulated. The Dispatches competition saw over four times as many submissions as the Future Weird competition this past September, which is a testament to the growing strength and passion of the Futurist Letters community. What’s more, almost every submission was written specifically for the prompt and displayed remarkable care in considering the guidelines. We the judges hope, regardless of how you place, that you consider the writing process itself worthwhile and that you have gained something just from being involved.

We have chosen one winner to receive the grand prize, and two honorable mentions that will each receive the standard publication fee. All three will run in the journal with a special congratulatory competition banner.

The winner of the grand prize is:

“Soiled” by Thomas Barrie

The honorable mentions are:

“Bikesport” by Matt Payne

“Dark Cities (SNES): An Oral History” by Aaron Sunshine

We found these stories to be hilarious, mind-bending, subversive, and masterfully crafted in three completely different ways. As a reader, you will enjoy.

It was a tough field, and there were many other entries that would not have seemed out of place as grand prize winners in their own right. We are so grateful to each and every entrant for giving us the opportunity to consider his and her original work. If you were not selected, the rights to your piece are yours to do with as you wish.

All three stories will run in Futurist in the weeks to come, alongside other new stories and essays. Please continue to send us your general submissions for rolling consideration, and stay tuned for some long-awaited journal news in the coming month. Please also give your sincere congratulations to these winners if you see them around on the internet.

With admiration,

Cairo, Simpulacra, and Arbogast