Application for a Story Species Record

Cicada speciesADDRESS: 
San Francisco-ish

ECKELBURG MEMBERSHIP NO.:  
1178345

I, Trevor J. Houser, hereby certify that my story, Malta, is correct and perhaps true to some degree, and that the rules as set out by The Doctor T.J. Eckleburg Review for claiming a publication have been complied with in full.

ORIGIN OF MALTA: 
World War II documentaries; Mr. Boston’s Official Bartenders Guide; repeated viewings of Thunderball; a hard-won belief in werewolves; and, an appreciation for panic, mass or otherwise, coupled with, and ultimately bookended by a (healthy?) sense of dread.

DATE STORY FINISHED:
Sometime before my son was born.

WEIGHT:
300 to 350 grams

LOCATION:
A closet with a window that never closed right; the smell of burnt salmon and Exodus Kush wafting in with the Santa Ana winds

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF COLOR, MARKINGS (THESE ARE NOT ALWAYS OBVIOUS IN PHOTOS): 
Overall amber-colored that is lighter on the belly, not to mention the very distinctive dark “bandito” stripe running down its right margin, which tends to fade after the third or fourth reading, depending on your geopolitics.

WITNESSES:
David Markson, Donald Barthelme, Sean Connery, J.P. Donleavy, and Flintstones Gummies (now with more vitamin D!).

 


Trevor J. Houser has published stories in Pindeldyboz, Story Quarterly, and Zyzzyva among others. He lives in San Francisco with his wife and two children.


 

The Gertrude Stein Award in Fiction 2013 | First Place – Jill Birdsall

Judge | Rick Moody

Read the winning stories in Eckleburg No. 18

 

1ST | “Salvage” by JILL BIRDSALL

Jill Birdsall’s short stories can be read in literary journals including: Alaska Quarterly Review, Ascent, Crazyhorse, Emerson Review, Gargoyle, Iowa Review, Kansas Quarterly Review, Northwest Review, Painted Bride Quarterly, Southern Humanities Review, and Story Quarterly. She earned an MFA degree in fiction from Columbia University’s Writing Division where she was editor of the program’s literary journal. She has also been the recipient of a NJ State Council on the Arts grant for fiction. “Salvage” first published in The Emerson Review.

 

2ND | “In Defense of the Body” by MICHAEL SHUM

Michael Shum is currently a PhD student in Creative Writing at the University of Tennessee, and his work has appeared or is forthcoming in Barrelhouse, Weave, The AWP Writer’s Chronicle, Defunct, and more. He was a finalist for the 2011 Annie Dillard Award in Creative Non-Fiction and his work has been nominated for Million Writers and Best of the Net awards.

 

3RD | “Hello My New Friend, I Hope” by BIRD MARATHE

Bird Marathe is an MFA candidate and an instructor of creative writing at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

 

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Chiara Barzini

Kate Hill Cantrill

Andres Carlstein

Sheldon Compton

Ruth Dandrea

John Domini

Teesha Noelle Murphy

Trevor Houser

Don Hucks

Caroline Lazar

Andrew McLinden

Natanya Pulley

Robert Vaughan

Philip Dean Walker

Lidia Yuknavitch

 

We want to thank the winners, finalists and all the submitters for sending us such wonderful stories. Thank you, especially, to Mr. Moody for his careful attention and judging. 2014 contest submissions are now open. guest-judged by Cris Mazza, winner of the PEN/Nelson Algren Award.  We look forward to reading your work.

The Editors