Imagination rocketed moon high as local writers wrote their thoughts about living on the moon. The writing contest was co-sponsored by Fremont Cultural Arts Council (FCAC) along with Fremont Creates, Half Price Books, Infinity Care LLC, Fremont Area Writers and Nothing Bundt Cakes.
Stories were posted on the pillars of Half Price Books in Fremont Hub. Al Minard, board member, FCAC, and organizer of the contest said, “It was a wonderful event. We had over 150 people cast ballots with up to five votes per ballot, and 581 individual votes were cast.”
Margaret Thornberry and Julie Gilson selected the story “Meeting the man in the Moon” by Patricia Doyne for the President Emeriti Award. She won a Nothing Bundt Cakes Trio. Margaret Thornberry said, “I chose the story partly because of the way the author worked around the 300 word limit. The story developed sequentially and the story thread left me with a pleasant mental aftertaste.”
Courtesy of Arathi Satish
Julie Gilson added, “I thought it had a good mix of pathos and science fiction to keep with the contest theme and was well written.”
First place was awarded to “Gravity” by Vibha Vyas, second place went to “Earthlight” by Archana Rao, third place went to “Living On The Moon” by Elaine Rogers, fourth place went to “Moon Dango” by Jeff Uchida and fifth place went to “Moontalks” by Jacqlyn Freitas.
A special prize was awarded to Mrinmayee Haricharan, a third grader, for her story “The Mooncake Bakery,” recognizing her interest and enthusiasm towards writing and participating in the event.
Visitors who came to Half Price Books that day and voted were impressed by the event. Al Minard concluded by saying, “Flash Fiction contest is a wonderful local event and if anyone has an interesting theme they would like to either write or read about, please let us know about it. Visit fremontculturalartscouncil.org to read all the winning stories.”
