Sundress Publications is thrilled to announce the results of the 2023 Prose Open Reading Period. The winning selection is Laura Dzubay’s Pure Fear, American Legend. The horror collection is scheduled for release in 2024.
The stories in Pure Fear, American Legend are startling, haunting, and memorable. Dzubay’s writing is honest, sharp, and unflinching without being cruel or unkind. Like any good horror story, the most commendable part of this collection is not in the momentary terror but in what happens after: how to live when you realize you’ve survived.
Laura Dzubay is a writer and teacher from Indiana. Her stories and essays have appeared in Mid-American Review, Electric Literature, TIMBER, Gulf Coast, Blue Earth Review, Cimarron Review, and Southern Humanities Review. She holds an MFA in Fiction from Indiana University, where she won the AWP Intro Prize.
We are also excited to note our finalists and semifinalists from this year’s Prose Open Reading Period.
Finalists
Perils of Girlhood by Melissa Fraterrigo
Matter Out of Place by AnnElise Hatjakes
Where the Water is by Anjoli Roy
Semifinalists
A Blur in the Field by Lori Brack
Holly by Grace Gilbert
The Aves by Ryane Nicole Granados
Fighthouse by Liesel Hamilton
Just Before Midnight by Abby Manzela
People with Antlers by Elena Minor
AMNH by Anthony Morena
When the Crows Call by Shilo Niziolek
More Than I Could Chew by Esteban Rodríguez
Wormery by Gretchen VanWormer
Vanishing Acts by Lori White
