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A Midsummer Tale 2023

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A Midsummer Tale is a summer-themed narrative writing contest open to non-genre fiction and creative nonfiction.

The theme of the 2023 A Midsummer Tale writing contest is: Best Friends Forever…?

Inspired by optimistic yearbook signatures, this year’s theme is a tribute to our once-upon-a-time BFFs, the friendships we couldn’t imagine not lasting forever. For this year’s A Midsummer Tale contest, write about a now-troubled—or severed—friendship between two people who were once-inseparable besties. Did the friendship slowly unravel or suddenly break apart? Could the pieces be put back together again or was it time to let it go?

Your story must be set during the hot summer months and the theme must play an integral role in the story.

Deadline for entries is June 21, 2023.

Toasted Cheese 22:3

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The September 2022 issue of Toasted Cheese features poetry by Timothy Pilgrim & Ivy Raff; flash by Michael J. Brien, Hugh Cartwright & Sarah Kelleher; fiction by Swetha Amit, Kathryn Bashaar, Victoria Kemsley & Sarah Turner; and creative nonfiction by Laurel Doud.

TC 22:3 also includes the 2022 A Midsummer Tale Writing Contest winning stories by Jessica Upper, Tierney Acott & Laura Sweeney.

At Candle-Ends, Shelley Carpenter reviews Hollowed by Lucy Zhang, Bill Lockwood reviews Was Am Going by Ruth Ticktin, and Ruth Ticktin reviews Forced Entry? by Bill Lockwood.

The cover image is by Joe Haupt on Flickr, with additional photos by photographers around the world, all of whom have generously made their work available for use under Creative Commons licenses. Please click through and check out their photostreams.

Congratulations to all. Happy reading!

2022 A Midsummer Tale Writing Contest Winners

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Toasted Cheese is happy to announce the winners of the 2022 A Midsummer Tale Narrative Writing Contest.

First: “The Hardest Part” by Jessica Upper
Second: “Grow” by Tierney Acott
Third: “August in the Time of COVID” by Laura Sweeney
Honorable Mention: “Ambushed” by Adam Heenan

Congratulations!

First place receives a $50 Amazon gift card, second place a $15 Amazon gift card, and third place a $10 Amazon gift card. All three stories will appear in the September issue of Toasted Cheese.

Kudos to everyone who entered! This year’s theme of “The End,” a personal ending that ties into a concurrent cataclysmic event, sent you in many different directions and I enjoyed reading all of your interpretations.

Please join us for A Midsummer Tale again in 2023 and pass the contest info along to your writing friends! Next summer’s theme will be announced April 1, 2023.

Our next contest is the Savage Science Fiction / Fantasy 48-hour writing contest, which runs the weekend of September 23-25. See our contest page for details.

A Midsummer Tale 2022

Posted on by

A Midsummer Tale is a summer-themed narrative writing contest open to non-genre fiction and creative nonfiction.

The theme of the 2022 A Midsummer Tale writing contest is: The End. This year your challenge is to write about a personal ending that ties into a concurrent cataclysmic event and together feel like the end of the world for your protagonist.

Your story must be set during the hot summer months and the theme must play an integral role in the story.

Deadline for entries is June 21, 2022.

Toasted Cheese 21:3

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The September 2021 issue of Toasted Cheese features poetry by Jenny Hockey, Joanne Holdridge, Vicki Mandell-King, Timothy Pilgrim & Russell Rowland; flash by Natalie Schriefer; fiction by Omid Fallahazad, Minh Tam T. Le & Ann Zhang; and creative nonfiction by Elizabeth Bernays & Kolton Knapp.

TC 21:3 also includes the 2021 A Midsummer Tale Writing Contest winning stories by April Vázquez, Robin Kirby & Christina Hoag.

At Candle-Ends, Shelley Carpenter reviews The Shot by Anne Greenawalt.

The cover image is by Anna Fox on Flickr, with additional photos by photographers around the world, all of whom have generously made their work available for use under Creative Commons licenses. Please click through and check out their photostreams.

Congratulations to all. Happy reading!

2021 A Midsummer Tale Writing Contest Winners

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Toasted Cheese is happy to announce the winners of the 2021 A Midsummer Tale Narrative Writing Contest.

First: “My Virginity and Other Losses” by April Vázquez
Second: “Boys Will Be Boys” by Robin Kirby
Third: “The Night on the Rock” by Christina Hoag
Honorable Mention: “Invincible” by Bari Lynn Hein

Congratulations!

First place receives a $50 Amazon gift card, second place a $15 Amazon gift card, and third place a $10 Amazon gift card. All three stories will appear in the September issue of Toasted Cheese. We enjoyed your creative and poignant takes on the “coming of age” theme.

Kudos to everyone who entered! We enjoyed your creative and poignant takes on the “coming of age” theme.

Please join us for A Midsummer Tale again in 2022 and pass the contest info along to your writing friends! Next summer’s theme will be announced April 1, 2022.

Our next contest is the Savage Science Fiction / Fantasy 48-hour writing contest, which runs the weekend of September 17-19. See our contest page for details.