Fiction & Poetry Contests
Elizabeth Hendricks' "Counting Crows" won First Place in the 2025 Wisconsin People & Ideas Fiction Contest. Illustrations by Sheila Drefahl
My grandmother is a newborn puppycurled up between hospital bed guardrails.The surgeon tried plumbing her arteries —she clawed her way off the table. Softwhite fuzz on wrinkled pink flesh,
Sometimes my mother tells me she does not know who I am anymoreand I get lost trying to explain where all this change is coming from
Anywhere in a halter top.Between the hard place and the rock: brothels chemo cults.
When I was a young girl—too youngto speak up, but old enough to remember—my mother vanished on a long trip, or soI was told. The truth—who knows?I lived with an aunt, who kept me fed
Her decision to live on the porch happens accidentally but not unintentionally in June when the pink star magnolia in the front yard finally blooms. Every year she waits for the blossoms as big as her palm that smell like anise and oranges.
Since 1994, Wisconsin People & Ideas magazine has sponsored the premiere annual fiction and poetry contests for Wisconsin writers. The contests are open to all Wisconsin residents and students age 18 and older.
Since 1994, Wisconsin People & Ideas magazine has sponsored the premiere annual fiction and poetry contests for Wisconsin writers. The contests are open to all Wisconsin residents and students age 18 and older.
We sit on the veranda at assisted livinglooking across the fake pond at the trees.Their reflections shiver as a breeze ripplesthe murky surface of the water. You speakof rivers and creeks and how all things
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Madison, WI 53703
Phone: 608.733.6633 x25