Monday, May 25, 2015

2015 Mormon Lit Blitz Discussion

We are currently in the middle of the fourth annual Mormon Lit Blitz. For those who don't know, the Lit Blitz is a contest Nicole and I run that features poems, stories, and essays under 1,000 words on Mormon themes. It's an opportunity for writers to play with what Mormon Lit might do, and for readers to get a sense of what Mormon Lit might be beyond their (typically negative) preconceived notions.

Some years, we've done tours where different Mormon blogs host the discussion of different pieces. This year, we'd like to see what happens when we have all the discussion on one post.

Which pieces this year linger with you in the days after you read them? What do they have you thinking about? Do any of the pieces speak to each other in interesting ways?

Here's a list of the finalists:

Monday, May 18th: Eric Jepson, “Angry Sunbeam
Tuesday, May 19th: Heather Young, “Best Wedding Advice Ever
Wednesday, May 20th: Tyler Chadwick, “Three Meditations on Fatherhood
Thursday, May 21st: Scott Hales, “Child Star
Friday, May 22nd: Emily Harris Adams, “Faded Garden
Saturday, May 23rd: Katherine Cowley, “The Five Year Journal

Monday, May 25th: Annaliese Lemmon, “Disability, Death, or Other Circumstance
Tuesday, May 26th: William Morris, “The Joys of Onsite Apartment Building Management” Wednesday, May 27th: Darlene Young, “Echo of Boy
Thursday, May 28th: Lehua Parker, “Decorating Someone Else’s Service
Friday, May 29th: Julia Jeffrey, “Should Have Prayed for a Canoe”
Saturday, May 30th: Merrijane Rice, “Mother”

Thoughts?

11 comments:

  1. I shall exert my East-Asia-dweller prerogative and go first.

    I've liked all the pieces so far.

    "Angry Sunbeam" reminded me that relationships are as much about patience and potential as about the moment of now.

    "Best Wedding Advice Ever" reassured me that you're never too young to think horny thoughts about your spouse, and that given enough time, a lot of those thoughts can be memory instead of fantasy--or fantasy confused with memory.

    "Three Meditations on Fatherhood" reminded me to appreciate my wife's sacrifices and to do more to lighten her load.

    "Child Star" made me ache for big sinners.

    "Faded Garden" made me glad our lifespans are short enough to hold together (barring brain decay) and glad we have descedants to patch the gaps if we tell them our stories.

    "The Five-Year Journal" made me want to be extra careful about what I view and do so my wife never has to deal with that kind of cyclical memory.

    "Disability, Death, or Other Circumstance" made me glad my wife will never be a permanent member of another species--and grateful that she still functions well as a helpmeet on the days she does switch species.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I shall exert my East-Asia-dweller prerogative and go first.

    I've liked all the pieces so far.

    "Angry Sunbeam" reminded me that relationships are as much about patience and potential as about the moment of now.

    "Best Wedding Advice Ever" reassured me that you're never too young to think horny thoughts about your spouse, and that given enough time, a lot of those thoughts can be memory instead of fantasy--or fantasy confused with memory.

    "Three Meditations on Fatherhood" reminded me to appreciate my wife's sacrifices and to do more to lighten her load.

    "Child Star" made me ache for big sinners.

    "Faded Garden" made me glad our lifespans are short enough to hold together (barring brain decay) and glad we have descedants to patch the gaps if we tell them our stories.

    "The Five-Year Journal" made me want to be extra careful about what I view and do so my wife never has to deal with that kind of cyclical memory.

    "Disability, Death, or Other Circumstance" made me glad my wife will never be a permanent member of another species--and grateful that she still functions well as a helpmeet on the days she does switch species.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've appreciated the variety this year offers. Each story, essay, and poem seems to be exploring different ideas and different facets of Mormonism.

    I've also seen several people comment on Facebook how the stories are good as they are, but they could also work equally well expanded and developed. I appreciate, however, how "Angry Sunbeam" feels no obligation to meet the 1000 word limit. So far, most Lit Blitz fiction has gone right up to the limit, and Theric's story challenges what we've come to expect from Lit Blitz fiction.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think "The Five-Year Journal" and "Disability, Death, or Other Circumstance" are also well under the limit.

      Delete
    2. Now that I'm second-guessing myself, I want to find out the average length of finalist stories since the first MLB--not counting, of course, the contests that allowed 2000 word entries.

      Delete
    3. And when you do the math, poetry should go in its own category. Because you don't want to skew the numbers. (I really want to see the results on this math.)

      I do really like how "Angry Sunbeam" does a bite-size approach to telling a much bigger story of what's been going on in their lives. My story, "The Five Year Journal," feels a lot longer than it is (600 words) because it does a reverse approach, and covers so many distinct days over a long time period.

      Delete
  4. I have to comment about "Decorating Someone Else’s Service." That hit on something that is important to me. The YW are supposed to be involved in planning the activities. Once, at BYC as a Laurel, I went off on how I could not speak for the calendar I had because I had never seen it before. That led to the class presidencies being involved in planning the activities.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I loved this year's entries. I posted here just a little more in depth about some of the things I loved so much. http://www.mormonmommywriters.blogspot.com/2015/06/come-on-lets-blitz-again.html?m=1

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  6. I found myself more drawn to the poems than I expected. I feel that poetry, as a format marked by extreme economy of words, fits more comfortably inside a word or line limit.
    Also, the alliteration of "The lions have been lions too long" from "Faded Garden" has stuck deliciously in my brain for days.

    ReplyDelete
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