PHIL LIT JOURNAL — 100-Word Contest Winners

“Fearless & Human First” Mini Contest — Substack Exclusive

Thank you to everyone who submitted work to our first 100-Word Contest. A hundred words is its own art form, and you showed us just how expansive it can be.

Paid Subscriber Winner

Genevieve Sarnak— Our Love

Our love is a spider

plant—it grows softly inside

a forgotten time-capsule,

tucked back in the recesses

of the unfinished basement,

forever waiting, aching to be opened.

We are spring moss, a tub

of untended bath-water, over-

flowing, soaking floor-boards.

Your house is a blueprint

for unaccountable loss.

There is so much to touch:

polished countertops from

Vienna, wiener dogs

with wet noses, a case

of glass never used.

The sun calls all creatures

outside to smell the air, dark

matted chipmunks, the fat

cheeked boy with peaches

for lips. My mouth fills with

the taste of what could be.

Genevieve Sarnak is a librarian and educator based in western Massachusetts. Her poetry is forthcoming in Scapegoat Review and she’s working on a young adult dystopian novel. When not writing, she’s likely walking with an audiobook, fueling up with a big 'ole nitro cold brew, or adding stickers to her ever-growing collection.

Free Subscriber Winner

T. A. Campbell ( @drtiffanycampbell )— Do You?

What is it that makes us human first?

Not empathy—the elm gives its blood

Not creativity—the octopus builds

Not morality—the crow shares.

But

does the acorn long for becoming—an oak

wiser than the rest?

And does the owl mid-flight yearn—for owl-rights,

big and small?

Does the fox long for transcendence in the unfurling of a fern?

Can they each wonder and awe and hope

for things not now but perhaps might become?

And if they do—

would they in fearless pursuit

reach and demand and hold hope

even if the fates perchance refuse?

Do you?

Tiffany is a PhD philosopher interested in themes of connection with self, others, nature, and community. In her writing, she often explores what it is to be human--what it means to have this shared human experience. She enjoys slow, quiet travel and kayaking the marshes near her home.

PRIZE, each winner receives:

1. A print copy of the Fall Issue

2. And a feature across PHIL LIT media outlets.

This contest offered two categories—one for paid subscribers and one for free subscribers—as a way of celebrating our full community while offering an extra chance to those who support the journal’s work.

Thank You to All Who Entered. More Substack-Subscriber Exclusive Mini Contests will continue to happen spontaneously throughout the year.

Stay fearless. Stay human-first.

— PHIL LIT JOURNAL