Annual Fiction and Poetry Contest
1st Place in Poetry:
Vijay Matheswaran was born in Chennai, India, and now also calls Kansas home.
Excerpt from “Equations”:
“For years, I sought
reason and proof,
sought trendlines that tell
of a life well-led.
For years, I sought
an equation for such a life.(…)”
1st Place in Fiction:
Jodie Mortag, a true Wisconsinite, having labored numerous summers in the mozzarella factory where her parents met, received her MFA from Wichita State University. Mortag is an associate professor of writing at Lakeland University where she organizes and hosts the annual Great Lakes Writers Festival and is the editor of the literary magazine Seems. Her work appears in Ruminate, North Dakota Quarterly, Counterclock, Fourteen Hills, Barnstorm, Stoneboat, Fractions, and Metal Scratches. She lives with her family just outside the Kettle Moraine State Forest.
Excerpt from “Nightcrawlers”:
“Mom’s hair spiraled down to her belly in a messy braid. ‘No,’ she said and closed her eyes. She was imagining her words play out in her head before she continued; something I watched her do routinely; something that came from her experience in riding; something she tried to pass off to me; something called ‘showmanship.’ Each of her syllables formed soundly, collected into strands, broke by periods, and created a cadence. A walk, trot, canter, or best yet a full-speed gallop, which she only used when she really wanted to get someone’s attention. ‘No,’ she repeated. ‘What they’ve really come up for is love. You should never pick crossed crawlers.’
‘How do they know they’re in love if they can’t see each other?’
‘Vibrations, Kat, vibrations.'”
2nd Place in Poetry:
Julie Ann Baker Brin has two middle names (not two last names like normal people; long story). By day she works for public media—not behind a mic, but behind red tape … so, occasionally she likes to expose the other side of her brain to poetry-like substances. Where she falls on a variety of spectrums depends on the hour; let’s just enjoy the mystery. Julie was named 2023 Kansas Authors Club Poet of the Year, and her full-length poetry book manuscript won the 2024 Amity Literary Prize from Anamcara Press. Julie’s portfolio is at juliebrin.org (also dot-com, but she’s a dot-org kind of gal), which showcases some of her work that has been featured in Great Plains regional publications over the years (including—lucky her!—past issues of Mikrokosmos).
Excerpt from “BEARABLE”:
“sometimes you don’t need the warmth
of the blanket, you just need
the robin’s nest to still be
snug in the tree”
2nd Place in Fiction:
Hannah Kraus is a senior Mechanical Engineering student at WSU. When she’s not pulling her hair out over her homework, she’s writing silly (and sometimes violent) short stories.
Excerpt from “The Customer is Always Rite”:
“Dylan looked down at his feet, cheeks hot and teeth gritted. Janae gave him an apologetic nudge and took the woman’s card to end the transaction. She had a smile in her voice when she bid the woman a good day, but it quickly faded when she saw his expression. Janae closed the register and made her apologies to the people still standing in line. Holding the credit card receipt, she leaned in close and whispered, ‘Do you want to add her to your Quota?’
Dylan blanched, ‘No, no! It’s not that big of a deal. It was rainy and she probably couldn’t see the camera very well.’
Janae sighed, ‘Kid, she was a total bitch to you. And it’s getting closer to the end of the month.’ Checking the cameras, she continued, ‘They’re still at the pumps, we could grab ‘em.'”
3rd Place in Poetry:
Madison White is an alumnus of Wichita State University with degrees in English Literature and Creative Writing. She also holds a master’s degree from the University of Manchester, England. Her work can be seen in places like Flypaper Magazine, The Cardiff Review, and previous publications of Mikrokosmos. She currently resides in the North West of England with her husband and two dogs.
Excerpt from “Art of the Midrange Jumper”:
“Announcers celebrate its simplicity. No buzzer
beater three point palm in face swoosh. No breakaway”
3rd Place in Fiction:
Paul Smith is a civil engineer who has worked in the construction racket for many years. He has traveled all over the place and met lots of people. Some have enriched his life. Others made him wish he or they were all dead. He likes writing poetry and fiction. He also likes Newcastle Brown Ale. If you see him, buy him one. His poetry and fiction have been published in Convergence, Missouri Review, Literary Orphans and other lit mags.
Excerpt from “Five Traits of Highly Successful People”:
“There was a brief look of surprise on his face as I swung at him with all I had. My cocked fist caught him in the nose, making it buckle. Blood came out, not spurting as I would have liked, but enough of it to make me feel good. Nothing in this world feels better than hitting someone you hate and knowing you hurt him.”
Guest Judges (Annual Fiction and Poetry Contest)
Fiction: We are ecstatic to introduce Scott Phillips as our esteemed Guest Fiction Judge!
Scott Phillips was born and raised in Wichita, Kansas and attended Wichita State University, where he majored in French Literature and also studied creative writing with author James Lee Burke. He is the author of nine novels and a collection of short stories, the first of which, the Ice Harvest, was made into a film adapted by Robert Benton and Richard Russo and directed by Harold Ramis, starring John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton and Connie Nielsen. He lived for many years in France and California and now makes his home in St. Louis.
Poetry: We are delighted to introduce Melanie Merle as our amazing Guest Poetry Judge!
An enrolled member of the Chickasaw Tribe of Oklahoma, Melanie calls many places home: Tulsa, Denver, the no-stoplight town of Coalgate, and the highways in between. A winner of the James Welch Prize in 2022, her work has appeared in Poetry Northwest, Hairstreak Butterfly Review, and New South, as well as the anthology, Infinite Constellations: An Anthology of Identity, Culture, and Speculative Conjunctions (University of Alabama Press).
Melanie enjoyed the privilege of working as a screenwriter for the Chickasaw Nation, and has a few short films to her credit, including two produced and directed by her son for the 24 Hour Film Festival. She was an Indigenous Nations Poetry Fellow for 2023 and 2024, and is passionate about their Language Back initiative, striving to learn her own native tongue, Chickashanompa. She serves as a member of the editorial staff for the art and literary journal Inverted Syntax and was recently awarded a fellowship with Storyknife, a women writers retreat in Homer, Alaska.
Spring 2025 “Unplugged” Art and Poetry Contest
These works remind us of what is outside of our technological landscape. Is the internet really a place and if it were what it does it mean to leave it?
This contest was judged by our own editors Jack Anderson (Poetry) and Hannah Frey (Art).
3rd Place in Poetry:
Brodie Staton
Excerpt from “Lucky”:
“At fourteen, I was rooted in fear,
On the sterile altar, surgeons played.
Red showers from my body, held dear
To me; I woke up to headlights. (…)”
3rd Place in Art:
Zayden Tomson is an art major with a graphic design emphasis whose main passion is fine art.
“Untitled”
2nd Place in Poetry:
Mystic Ross, better known by her stage name Mystic Leoine, is a senior at Wichita State University majoring in creative writing. During the 2023-24 school year, she served as an assistant undergraduate poetry editor for Mikrokosmos and Mojo Literary Journal, with her poem “Thorns” featured in the 2024 edition. Mystic’s poetic work delves into personal growth, deliciously taboo themes, and sharp observations of the world, leaving readers with a cynical and reflective aftertaste. Since 2023, she has hosted “Mystic’s Mic,” a series of poetry open mics at Monikahouse and Donut Whole, while also performing at other events throughout the Wichita community. Her most ambitious project to date is Nymphomystiac (2024), a one-woman show of original poems reflecting on sexual assault. When she isn’t writing her next poem, Mystic is hard at work on her debut literary novel, Orange is a Happy Color, with plans to complete the manuscript by 2025
Excerpt from “Exposition”:
“‘Nazi Germany’ catches me red handed– along with a few other books that could be a White Stripes album cover. I’m not looking for anything specific, just strolling in the nonfiction section like I work here.
I turn a corner,
and the names of dead poets look at me:
Robert Herrick, John Milton, DH Lawrence. Except, I’m not looking for poetry books. I’m with whatever the universe pushes me towards.”
2nd Place in Art:
Lexie Wilbert is an undergraduate painting major at Wichita State University.
“Untitled”
1st Place in Poetry:
Jaclyn Fulscher is a second-year MFA Creative Writing Fiction student at Wichita State University. She received her BA in English Creative Writing and German from Butler University in Indianapolis, IN. She has had other works published in Forgotten Ones: Drabbles of Myth and Legend, Menagerie, Sheepshead Review, and Manuscripts. Her poem, “What Dementia Stole”, won third place in Manuscripts 2022 poetry contest.
Excerpt of “My Cracked Dirt-Patch — Purgatory”:
“It’s time for my manuscript to take a dirt nap.
Where should I bury it? I don’t have a backyard.
My front lawn is made of rocks and dog piss.
If I go to the park alone and dig a hole,
a mom ignoring her child on the monkey bars will call the cops.”
1st Place in Art:
Mel Sharp is a 2-D artist finishing up their senior year as a Studio Art major with an emphasis in Applied Drawing.
“Isolation”
Fall 2024 Horror Short Fiction Contest
Editor-in-Chief, Jaryd Porter, judged this contest. This contest features Amanda Scroggins (First Place), Robinson Jay Ensz (Second Place), and Abby Arbeiter’s (Third Place) works.