Night Train's Fifty-Fifty Fiction Awards

Night Train's Fifty-Fifty Fiction Awards Competition is an experiment in helping to keep the short story alive and well. Half of the reading fees we receive for this competition will be used for its administration and for the publication of Night Train. The other half will be awarded to the TOP 5 story writers. By sharing the proceeds of the contest 50/50 with the TOP 5 award winners, we will be providing excellent writers with the opportunity to be well compensated for their work.

You can track the amount of the awards as they grow. Night Train is a non-profit enterprise; at no time will reading fees EVER be used for anything other than publication and administrative costs.

In a steam locomotive, the firebox keeps the engine going. At Night Train, we define Firebox Fiction as short short stories of 1,000 words or fewer, bursting with creative fire. If you’ve read our Aesthetic, you know what we like. The challenge of Firebox Fiction is for you to give us what we like in a small container, too hot to hold onto.

Spring 2003 Fifty-Fifty Fiction Award Winners

1st Place ($250): Ron Currie Jr., "Grace"
2nd Place ($125): Kate Leary, "The Liver Speaks"
3rd Place ($75): Bob Thurber, "The Manuscript"
4th Place ($50): Judd Hampton, "Baby Teeth"
5th Place ($25): David Bulley, "Truth and Justice"

All of the above stories will appear in Night Train Issue 3.

Spring 2003 Fifty-Fifty Fiction Award Finalists

Alexandra Thompson, "King of the Realm"
John P. Hutchinson, "Billy Ray Jones"
Stephan Clark, "The Shadow People"
Andrew Wilson. "Oh the Ghosts. . ."
Jai Clare, "The Limbo Hours"
Dorene O'Brien, "The Gift of Vision"
Marian Allen, "I'll Fly Away"
Lynn Sadler, "Boo Radley and the Village People"
Joanne Tracy, "Dad's Deer"
Jennifer Acker, "The Leaves"