Watch the September 2016 Winning Short Story Reading.
Reading performed by Erynn Brook
Dire Circumstances by Alisha M Risen Kent
Erynn Brook
Winning Sept. 2016 Short Story: GOD’S CREATURES by Lionel Walfish
Watch the September 2016 Winning Short Story Reading.
Reading performed by Erynn Brook
GOD’S CREATURES by Lionel Walfish
Get to know the winning writer:
What is your 1pg Short Story about?
“All creatures, great and small”
What genres would you say this short story is in?
Non-fiction
How would you describe this story in two words?
True life
What movie have you seen the most in your life?
Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Strangers on a Train
How long have you been working on this story?
Three hours
Do you have an all-time favorite novel?
Thomas Wolfe’s ‘You Can’t Go Home Again’
What motivated you to write this story?
All my neighbors would watch out for this woman. We haven’t seen her in almost a year now. We hope that she is in good hands.
What artist would you love to have dinner with?
Rembrandt.
Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?
Classical music, theatre, and the dance.
What influenced you to enter the 1pg. Short Story contest?
I love good flash fiction, and enjoy contests.
Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers?
Always carry paper and pen.
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Director/Producer: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com
Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne
Editor: John Johnson
Winning Sept. 2016 Short Story: Summer Hills by Rochelle Potkar
Watch the September 2016 Winning Short Story Reading.
Reading performed by Erynn Brook
Summer Hills by Rochelle Potkar
Get to know the winning writer:
What is your 1pg Short Story about?
It’s about the states of complacency and hustle as embodied by its characters.
What genres would you say this short story is in?
Haibun, which is a prose-poetry form coming the closest to flash fiction, on a single page.
How would you describe this story in two words?
Summer Hills
What movie have you seen the most in your life?
Sholay (Hindi)
How long have you been working on this story?
A year
Do you have an all-time favorite novel?
Kafka on the Shore (Haruki Murakami)
What motivated you to write this story?
I always wanted to capture the inertia of the rich vis-à-vis the restless hustle of the not-rich.
What artist would you love to have dinner with?
The enigmatic Aishwarya Rai to know what all is she made up of. Beauty, individuality, clarity seem some of her traits from a distance.
Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?
Conversations over coffee
What influenced you to enter the 1pg. Short Story contest?
It’s unique setup of playing recorded stories during a writing festival.
Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers?
Your mind is under threat constantly by opinions meted out each day in the world. Take what works. Watch what you entertain, because the mind is a writer’s sole instrument. Your mind should be in tandem with your gut, if not heart, and it should be in your possession 100%.
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Director/Producer: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com
Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne
Editor: John Johnson
Winning Sept. 2016 Short Story: The Stage by Rae Niehaus
Watch the September 2016 Winning Short Story Reading.
Reading performed by Erynn Brook
The Stage by Rae Niehaus
Get to know the winning writer:
What is your 1pg Short Story about?
“The Stage” mainly focuses on the most extreme potential outcome of mixing boredom and thwarted career ambitions with an easily identifiable scapegoat.
What genres would you say this short story is in?
Commercial fiction? Plain “weird” is probably more appropriate.
How would you describe this story in two words?
Cathartic confession.
What movie have you seen the most in your life?
Disney’s “Sleeping Beauty.”
How long have you been working on this story?
I wrote this in about an hour, I think. Edited it within three hours on a separate day. All in all, probably a total of four hours, give or take.
Do you have an all-time favorite novel?
Haruki Murakami’s “Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.”
What motivated you to write this story?
Work-related inter-personal conflicts.
What artist would you love to have dinner with?
Edvard Munch. If I could bring Salvador Dali too, we’d have a right good time.
Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?
Theorizing. Filmmaking. Game development. Gaming. Reading. Running. Leadership.
What influenced you to enter the 1pg. Short Story contest?
A whim when I received an e-mail reminding me about it.
Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers?
Everyone has at least one good story in them, so tell it with all you’ve got. You might find you have more after you tell it.
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Director/Producer: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com
Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne
Editor: John Johnson
Winning Sept. 2016 Short Story: Duality By Devin Klos
Watch the September 2016 Winning Short Story Reading.
Reading performed by Erynn Brook
Duality By Devin Klos
Get to know the winning writer:
What is your 1pg Short Story about?
It tells the story of a woman who is more than she seems, living a “normal” life and only comes alive when she is able to shed that perception to lead a more dangerous nighttime existence mostly for the pure thrill of it.
What genres would you say this short story is in?
It has elements of thriller mixed with a bit of misdirection of a comedic nature (hopefully).
How would you describe this story in two words?
Double Identities
What movie have you seen the most in your life?
I always return to two films: Lawrence of Arabia for its sheer scope and The Princess Bride, which might have the best screenplay of all time.
How long have you been working on this story?
I’d been kicking around the idea for a while as a longer story but decided to see if I could tell it in a more focused nature.
Do you have an all-time favorite novel?
Dubliners by James Joyce
What motivated you to write this story?
The idea that we aren’t always who seem to be during the day. At night, when we can exist more in the margins, our truer nature can be revealed.
What artist would you love to have dinner with?
The filmmaker Jeff Nichols, who I really admire for his desire to tell his own unique stories.
Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?
Music, sports, comedy and meeting people that have their own stories to tell. I get some of my best ideas and inspirations just from traveling and discovering how other people are living day to day.
What influenced you to enter the 1pg. Short Story contest?
Any chance to get my work not just read but actually performed was an opportunity I could not turn down.
Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers?
Just keep writing. Even if it’s just a little note or a paragraph. Not every day needs to be filled with full stories but always be on the lookout for some new detail in life.
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Director/Producer: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com
Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne
Editor: John Johnson
