15th Annual Lit Blitz Winners

Thank you to everyone who read the finalists in this year’s contest. We love sharing these pieces with you! We got several compliments on the variety in this year's pieces--and a few complaints about how tough it is to compare the pieces to each other. Our sympathies to anyone who really struggled to choose their favorites. We hope it was at least worth it to be able to support your favorite writers and discover new voices.

Well, the agonizing is over. The votes are in. Our guest judge has spoken. We're ready to announce the Audience Choice winner and our Judges' Choice award.

Audience Choice Award

In audience voting, the top four pieces are:

4th place:

“Seconds” by JA Dove

3rd place:

“De ovejas y pastores” (“Of Sheep and Shepherds”) by R. de la Lanza

2nd place:

“Moroni's Wife Is an Angel, Too ” by Christopher Bissett

 and

1st place:

“Awkward Old Testament Stories ” by Katherine Cowley

Congratulations!

Judges' Choice

In addition to the audience choice award, we ask a guest judge to honor another piece for its quality of writing. This year's guest judge is Merrijane Rice. Merrijane is a prolific poet, whose works include a poem for each Come Follow Me lesson in the four-year cycle.

This year's judge's choice award goes to: “In My Father's House Are Many Rooms” by Janci Patterson

Judge's Statement:

Much as a General Conference often seems to develop an unplanned theme across many speakers, this year’s submissions seemed to converge around shared themes of nostalgia, hope, and mercy toward fellow Latter-day Saints. Through different genres and approaches, the authors engaged in a larger conversation that gave the collection a richness and depth beyond what any single piece could achieve.

To me, that’s one of the best things about the Mormon Lit Blitz. Beyond encouraging Mormon literature that might not otherwise get written, it has planted and cultivated a remarkable literary community. Over the past fifteen years, I’ve come to know many of you, whether online or in person, and as I read your entries, I found myself recognizing experiences from your lives that had inspired an image here or an idea there.

The day I made my final decision, I came home after a frustrating day at work and reread every submission. Your poems, essays, and stories brought tears to my eyes and lifted my spirits. Because of that, I feel the weight of being unable to honor every contribution as fully as it deserves. Even so, I’m delighted to present this year’s Judge’s Choice Award to Janci Patterson for “In My Father’s House Are Many Rooms.”

Janci’s story embodies the themes that echoed throughout this year’s contest. It’s distinctly Mormon not because it preaches a sermon or expounds doctrine, but because, at its heart, it’s about gathering family, even those who are no longer living. It’s a concrete manifestation of what it means to turn the hearts of the children to their fathers: not a happy trip down memory lane, but the exorcising of old family demons and the repairing of tender feelings.

Janci’s writing is restrained, making the most of the limited word count by allowing the story to unfold at its own deliberate pace. She employs sharp, evocative imagery, from Aunt Susan “painted against the wallpaper” to the grandfather “burrowed so tight in the soot that he has become one with it.” More hopeful images depict flowers with leaves “fragile and wrinkled, waiting for sun” and a grandmother’s first foray into watercolors, “leaving behind a brilliant yellow streak” on the paper. Each image reinforces the story’s patient movement toward healing and restoration, culminating in the final cleansing by fire.

Congratulations to Janci and to all this year’s entrants. May the Mormon Lit Blitz continue to inspire quirky, thoughtful, magical, and distinctly Mormon writing for years to come.

Congratulations!

What's next?

We stay busy in between contests. We currently have five participants in our a book mentoring program. We appreciate any donations to help them with their work.

We'll also be working on an anthology collecting the finalist pieces from the last five years. If you're interested in the previous volumes, you can find them here and here.