2021 Tiferet Writing Contest Results

TIFERET is pleased to announce the 2021 Writing Contest Winners and Finalists!

Thank you to all who entered, our editors for reading and selecting submissions, and our judges for choosing our winners.

2021 WINNERS AND FINALISTS

POETRY

Winner: “Low Tide off North Cove Road” by Lyn Butler Gray
Honorable Mention: “Paris 2019” by Jeanne Wagner
Honorable Mention: “You Can Return but Not Go Back” by Alison Hurwitz

ADDITIONAL FINALISTS:

“What Is Your Good Name?” by Pervin Saket
“Dazzle” by William Snyder
“The Traveler, Passing” by Carole Stone
“Christmas Rain” by Jed Myers
“Because Everything Here Is a Brightness” by John Sibley Williams
“That All People May Be One” by Rebecca Brock
“Where the Soul Speaks Out in Conversation” by Deborah Gerrish

NONFICTION 

Winner: “Heavenly Bodies in Seven Parts” by Diane Gottlieb
Honorable Mention: “Fathers and Daughters” by Dorothy Rice
Honorable Mention: “El Rincón de Recuerdo” by Judy Bolton-Fasman

ADDITIONAL FINALISTS:

“Muddled and Minced” by S. Salazar
“The Sudden Appearance of a Dog” by Judith Barrington
“The Anecdote of the Old Woman and the Tiger” by Beth Walker
“Dressing for God” by Linda Bergman
“Sacred Meadows” by Karen Luke Jackson
“Buried” by Molly Howes
“This Altar in My Heart” by Magin LaSov Gregg

FICTION

Winner: “Old Times” by Robert Sachs
Honorable Mention: “Up on the Farm” by Christina Reiss
Honorable Mention: “Anywhere in the World” by Rita Ciresi

ADDITIONAL FINALISTS:

“The Old Wives’ Tale of The Mirror of Tokeiji” by Beth Walker
“A Light Snow Falling” by Kevin Keraga
“The Dread” by Travis Flatt
“A Different Night” by Ken Schept
“A Strange Breathless Stunt” by Maureen McNeil

The winner in each category will receive a check for $500 and be published in a future issue of TIFERET!

2021 JUDGES

Poetry

Christine Valters Paintner, PhD is a poet, writer, retreat guide, and expressive arts facilitator living on the wild edges of Ireland where she runs Abbey of the Arts, a virtual monastery and global community. She is the author of 16 books on contemplative practice and creative expression including two books of poems from Paraclete Press, Dreaming of Stones and The Wisdom of Wild Grace. More at: https://abbeyofthearts.com/about/about-christine/

Non-Fiction

Laraine Herring is a tenured professor of creative writing and psychology at Yavapai College. Her most recent book, The Grief Forest: a book about what we don’t talk about (White River), is an illustrated guide through complicated grief. Her forthcoming speculative memoir, A Constellation of Ghosts: A Speculative Memoir with Ravens (Regal House), will be released on October 19, and is available for preorder now. She is the author of a trilogy of writing books from Shambhala: Writing Begins with the Breath; The Writing Warrior; and On Being Stuck: Tapping into the Creative Power of Writer’s Block. Laraine is the founder of an online zine, Hags on Fire, which focuses on women writing about perimenopause, menopause, and aging.

Fiction

Murzban F. Shroff is a Mumbai-based writer. He has published his fiction with over 65 literary journals in the U.S. and UK. His stories have appeared in journals such as The Gettysburg Review, The Minnesota Review, The Saturday Evening Post, Chicago Tribune, and World Literature Today. Shroff is the winner of the John Gilgun Fiction Award and has received six Pushcart Prize nominations. His short story collection, Breathless in Bombay, was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, and rated by the Guardian as among the ten best Mumbai books. His novel, Waiting for Jonathan Koshy, was a finalist for the Horatio Nelson Fiction Prize, and will have a U.S. release in Spring/Summer 2022. His third book, Fasttrack Fiction, is a collection of literary shorts for the digital reader. Shroff’s fourth book, Third Eye Rising, was published in 2021 and received high praise from five renowned American authors.