The editors of Sweet are so pleased to announce the winner for 2022 Creative Nonfiction Flash Essay contest. There were an incredible number of amazing essays submitted this year. We decided it was time that founding editor, Ira Sukrungruang, earned his keep so he selected the winner from the top finalists.
Winner
Laura Johnsrude for “Brown Barrette in My Hair
“Brown Barrette in My Hair” is a wonderful memory piece, where the prose is filled with sensory details that evoke our own summers at the pool, evokes those moments of being and living and seeing and feeling. As the person we once were. That young person. That person who remembers how water drenches the skin and that summer haze of sunny days. Nostalgic, yes, but it is more than that. This essay recreates an intimate slice of a world so readers, too, can plunge right in, and when we surface the light is blinding.
-Ira Sukrungruang, Founding Editor
Honorable Mentions
Sarah Scott for “Cooking Salmon for Your Lover”
and
Robert Barham for “Trying to Convince Poison Control You’re a Good Parent”
Congratulations to these fine writers and we hope you are looking forward to reading these pieces in March on sweetlit.org!
