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3rd Wednesday’s Annual George Dila Memorial Flash Fiction Contest

Published on by Editorial Staff

The 2025 George Dila Memorial Flash Fiction Contest will open for entries on May 15 and close on August 15, 2025.

The editors of Third Wednesday are pleased to honor the memory of George Dila, friend of Third Wednesday and the editor who originally brought fiction to 3W. We are proud to have called him friend and colleague. To this end, we proudly announce the Annual George Dila Memorial Flash Fiction Contest.

The entry fee of $6 per story is payable via credit card or by Pay Pal through Submittable at the time of your submission. You may enter multiple stories but include only one story per entry.

From May 15th to August 15th, 2025 we will accept entries of previously unpublished fiction under one thousand words in length (including title). Three winning stories will receive cash prizes of $100 each and a print copy of the contest issue due to be published in September of 2025.

This Year’s Judge

Colleen Alles is a writer, former librarian & teacher, and Michigan girl for life. She earned her bachelor’s degree in English from Michigan State University (2005) and her MLIS from Wayne State University (2015). Her fiction and poetry have appeared in Red Cedar Review, Tar River Poetry, The Write Michigan Anthology, The Michigan Poet, and other places. Her fiction has been longlisted for The Fugere Book Prize for Finely Crafted Novellas in 2023 (Regal House Publishing). Colleen is co-editor for fiction with Barren Magazine and is currently pursuing her MFA at Spalding University. Her house is chaotic with young children and a hound, so don’t be shocked to encounter poems about chaotic houses, small children, or hounds.

Portrait Gallery: The Class of 2024 / Joel Savishinsky

Published on by Editorial Staff


Joel’s poem is one of three winning poems from 3rd Wednesday’s annual poetry contest. Contest judge, Marilyn L. Taylor said: “Here the concept of human mortality is explored in vivid, human terms, using the poet’s own recollections of friends, acquaintances, and miscellaneous others who may have pre-deceased him, but who somehow do not die. Against the background of his “private necropolis”, the speaker comes to a breathtaking — and genuinely disturbing — conclusion. Extremely well conceived and well expressed.”