2022 Table of Contents

Michael Dowdy
Editor’s Note

Kathie Collins & Paul Reali
A Welcome from Charlotte Lit’s Co-Founders

Dustin M. Hoffman
This Picture of Your House

Amie Whittemore
The Peony
If No One Opens Us, We’ll Thirst

Karen Salyer McElmurray
In Varanasi

Amber Wheeler Bacon
The Damage
General Sorrows

Junious Ward
Imagine Me
Love as an Object Lesson, Cornfield

Annie Woodford
In the Dark I Light a Little Fire

Stephanie Elizondo Griest
Día de Muertos

Cynthia Robinson Young
Her Name Was Theosa

Janna Zonder
Who Kills the Bugs for the Dalai Lama?

Steve Cushman
The Last Exxon in Oregon

Yvette R. Murray
The Opposite of Charleston Is Pittsburgh

Sara Beck
pixie

Nickole Brown
Prayer to Be Still and Know

Shannon C. Ward
The Birds of Lake Norman
The Resolution

Kacie Faith Kress
Lesbian Communion

Richard Allen Taylor
I Inherited Hundreds of Candles
La Chambre d’Écoute, 1952

Ron Rash
The Belt

Tina Barr
Deployed

Jenny Hubbard
In the year of our Lord, 1621, my husband paints me as a nun

 Caren Stuart
of wangechi mutu’s fantastic journey…

Tracy Rothschild Lynch
When Organ Becomes Metaphor

Jessica Jacobs
Ordinary Immanence

Tennessee Hill
Birch Tree Summer

Maryann Hopper
New Brunswick Enigma

Fred Pond
The southern hemisphere of longing and regret

Tara Campbell
The Loveliest Thing

AE Hines
Find a Friend
After the Adoption

Jessica Lee Richardson
Cyanide Slinger Swing

Wayne Johns
Patriots

Matt Cheek
Lucas

Barbara Campbell
Last Night I Made Love with a Horse
Behind the purple lilacs my mother and the milkman would have sex…

Barry Peters
Spring, Morning

Michael Banks
Troubles No More

Emily W Pease
Bertha

David Dixon
Going Home

Lucinda Trew
camouflage

Tori Reynolds
Bagatelle

Pamela Wright
Breath in the Body
Hallelujah By and By

Gretchen Steele Pratt
Totality

Kathy Goodkin
Two Dreams About the Moon

Michael Dowdy
Editor’s Note

Kathie Collins & Paul Reali
A Welcome from Charlotte Lit’s Co-Founders

1st Place:

Amie Whittemore
The Peony

2nd Place:

Junious Ward
Imagine Me

3rd Place:

AE Hines
Find a Friend

Honorable Mentions:

Shannon C. Ward
The Birds of Lake Norman

Cynthia Robinson Young
Her Name Was Theosa 

Amie Whittemore
If No One Opens Us, We’ll Thirst

Steve Cushman
The Last Exxon in Oregon 

Additional Finalists:

Tennessee Hill
Birch Tree Summer

Jenny Hubbard
In the year of our Lord, 1621, my husband paints me as a nun

Barbara Campbell
Last Night I Made Love with a Horse

Richard Allen Taylor
La Chambre d’écoute, 1952

Junious Ward
Love as an Object Lesson, Cornfield

Yvette R. Murray
The Opposite of Charleston is Pittsburgh

Wayne Johns
Patriots

Sara Beck
pixie

Fred Pond
The southern hemisphere of longing and regret

Barry Peters
Spring, Morning

Semi-finalists:

AE Hines
After the Adoption

Tori Reynolds
Bagatelle

Barbara Campbell
Behind the Purple Lilacs My Mother and the Milkman Would Have Sex…

Emily W Pease
Bertha

Lucinda Trew
camouflage

Jessica Lee Richardson
Cyanide Slinger Swing

Tina Barr
Deployed

Richard Allen Taylor
I Inherited Hundreds of Candles

Annie Woodford
In the Dark I Light a Little Fire

Caren Stuart
of wangechi mutu’s fantastic journey

Shannon C. Ward
The Resolution

Gretchen Steele Pratt
Totality

Kathy Goodkin
Two Dreams About the Moon

Poetry Judges:

Jessica Jacobs
Ordinary Immanence

Nickole Brown
Prayer to Be Still and Know

1st Place:

Dustin M. Hoffman
This Picture of Your House

2nd Place:

Pamela Wright
Breath in the Body

3rd Place:

Janna Zonder
Who Kills the Bugs for the Dalai Lama?

Honorable Mentions:

Pamela Wright
Hallelujah By and By

Maryann Hopper
New Brunswick Enigma

Fiction Judge:

Ron Rash
The Belt

1st Place:

Karen Salyer McElmurray
In Varanasi

2nd Place:

Tracy Rothschild Lynch
When Organ Becomes Metaphor

3rd Place:

Matt Cheek
Lucas

Nonfiction Judge:

Stephanie Elizondo Griest
Día de Muertos

1st Place:

Amber Wheeler Bacon
The Damage

2nd Place:

Kacie Faith Kress
Lesbian Communion

3rd Place:

Michael Banks
Troubles No More

Honorable Mentions:

Amber Wheeler Bacon
General Sorrows

David Dixon
Going Home

Flash Judge:

Tara Campbell
The Loveliest Thing