Dear Reader,
Nearly a year into the game as a lit mag, we’ve put out seven issues, been reviewed twice, grown a fair amount in fans online and submissions. It’s been such a pleasure to be here in this medium and sharing the work we love.
We truly appreciate every second of it and a kind note here and there and all the stories we see are a testament to the idea the writing is alive and well, boiling our eyes and steaming our conscious with words that are capable of change, albeit small, in our small little worlds. One of our ideas in starting this journal, was getting back to basics and appreciation for the simple. We started the 500 Word Challenge in hopes of achieving and demonstrating again, the beautiful capability of what conciseness in language can do and have large effects. Our 500 Word Challenge contest was a great success and we are proud to announce the winners of the contest to be published in The Boiler summer issue VIII.
FIRST PLACE: “Trigger” by Ann Stewart McBee. Ann has a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where she teaches literature and creative writing and served as Editor-in-Chief for UWM’s literary journal cream city review. Her work has been published in Spittoon, Blue Earth Review, Ellipsis, At Length, and So to Speak. She now teaches composition at UWM and Concordia University Wisconsin.
Of this piece our editors agreed the story had a sort of quirkiness and strong voice that perfectly reflected the sort of strange and unexpected things that occur in our lives.
SECOND PLACE: “Say Goodnight to All the Ducks” by Abe Guastad. Abe’s fiction and flash fiction have appeared in Camera Obscura, Smokelong Quarterly, New Orleans Review and many other places.
Of this piece, our editors agreed there were many brilliant and quaint moments here. Its quiet and endearing ending really won us over.
HONORABLE MENTION: “Apple Picking” by Gabrielle Korn. Gabrielle is a writer based in New York City. Her writing has been published in The Huffington Post, RH Reality Check, BlogHer, On The Issues Magazine, Autostraddle, AfterEllen, and more.
Of this piece, editors enjoyed the lyrical and sometimes poetic images included here of brief encounters experienced by city-dwellers visiting a small town, only to find them seeking the same refuge back in the city.
We hope to continue to use this forum to post other interesting news and updates about us. Also, look forward to us posting on craft. If you have pitches for us to write about writing and craft, let us know!
theboilerjournal AT gmail DOT com.
Keep sending us your stuff and we sincerely appreciate those who are using our tip jar submissions! Every penny counts!
– The Editors
theboilerjournal.com 