Third Place Winner of Voyage’s Spring 2021 First Chapters Contest judged by NYT Bestselling Author Melissa de la Cruz . *A brief note from our guest judge: “The poetry of this one and the sadness was very intriguing, I wanted to know what happened.” . Content Warning: Self-harm . The summer I turned thirteen and […]
Second Place Winner of Voyage’s Spring 2021 First Chapters Contest judged by NYT Bestselling Author Melissa de la Cruz . *A brief note from our guest judge: “I loved the worldbuilding and was intrigued by the concept and I wanted to read more.” . Luperón, Dominican Republic 2120 As far as I’m concerned, if you […]
First Place Winner of Voyage’s Spring 2021 First Chapters Contest judged by NYT Bestselling Author Melissa de la Cruz . *A brief note from our guest judge: “The voice here is amazing, just so vital and real and modern and jumps off the page.” . Though I ain’t an animal, I move like one. Sharp. […]
I can tell it’s going to be one of those nights when I walk in the back door of Salerno & Sons to find Dmitri hunched over a stack of pizza boxes, flipping through tickets while the new cook slaps together pies. In the packed dining room, people stare anxiously toward the kitchen. They need […]
Longlisted for the 2020 Voyage Short Story Award . The knight comes careless and proud, as they always do, as if he has a right to whatever this fort of roses holds. As if he has a right to you. I watch from the tower as he blurs the horizon and takes shape against the […]
Longlisted for the 2020 Voyage YA Short Story Award Content warning: sexual assault . force-ripe in British English Caribbean ADJECTIVE 1. (of fruit) prematurely picked and ripened by squeezing or warm storage 2. precocious, esp. sexually (The Collins Dictionary) . Earlier today you spent eleven minutes perched on a rock by Lake Mekhi watching a great blue heron fish. You methodically […]
Longlisted for the 2020 Voyage YA Short Story Award . It wasn’t until my anxious leg-swinging started moving my desk that I finally clicked “send” and closed my laptop. I chewed my nails and glanced at the vintage photograph sitting next to my phone. It was only half a photo, the edges frayed and weathered. […]
Longlisted for the 2020 Voyage YA Short Story Award . It is lonely up here on the moon. No, there is no cheese. Everything is rock, rock, rock. I watch the people from far away. I can see through cloud and star and sky. I watch the people while Father works. He is big and […]
Finalist in the Voyage YA Short Story Award Content warning: references to death . “Raspberry or lemonade?” Jacinta rested her head against the passenger window. Outside, a scrawny misfit with an outdated footy jersey and IQ one quarter the going rate for diesel manned the pump, a faraway look in his eye. “Jaz? Raspberry or […]
Content warning: references to death, suicide, abuse, rape . It comes as no surprise when the five village elders come for me an hour before sunset on the longest night of the year. I answer their knock and greet them with a stone face. Though I have only fifteen winters to my name, Father always […]
Finalist in the 2020 Voyage YA Short Story Award . 12:03 a.m. I never thought I’d sneak out of the bathroom window to get away from Zach, but here I am. The wood on the Gals cabin windowsill has splintered over the years, poking into my soft stomach as I heave myself forward. Maybe going […]
Finalist in the 2020 Voyage YA Short Story Award . I was listening to the new Say Anything album when I saw Kyle McCormick for the first time. I didn’t mean to stare when he walked into the school library, but there was something about him that made me feel off-balance. He was chewing gum […]