The 2013 Columbia: A Journal of Literature and Art writing contest is now closed.

An enormous ‘thank you’ to all those who shared their work with us and to our three judges, Dewitt Henry, Emily Bestler, and Beth Ann Fennelly. We wouldn’t exist without you.

We had a record number of submissions this year and our judges had a terribly difficult job deciding our winners…

…but decide they did and here they are:

Fiction:

STEPHANIE DEVINE for her short story “Confessions”

“His screaming vibrates down the second floor hallway, echoing off the pale blue walls. Six girls gather outside their doors, red-eyed in sweatshirts and shorts.”—Stephanie Devine, from “Confessions”

Finalists: “Echolocation” by Kerry Hill and “A Quality of Mercy” by Thomas Andes.

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Nonfiction:

ELLEN DAVIS SULLIVAN for her piece “The Perfect Height for Kissing”

“I’m not completely surprised when Mr. Viet Nam puts his hand behind my neck, pulls me toward him and kisses me.”—Ellen Davis Sullivan, from “The Perfect Height for Kissing”

Finalist: “Love & Lilac Velcro” by Nichole LeFebvre

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Poetry:

CHRISTOPHER CITRO for his poem “So That’s What an Invisible Barrier Looks Like”

It’s no kind of life to be
standing alone in a kitchen at two in the morning
with the only thing in your mind that
time passing close up sounds like a mouse
eating your kitchen and your drink’s in the
other room…

—Christopher Citro, from “So That’s What an Invisible Barrier Looks Like”

Finalists: “DYSGEOGRAPHICA” by Jackie Craven, “On Secret Love” by Cody Ernst, and “Goddess of Hunt” and “Winter Delivery” by Liza Watkins.