Dean Gessie's award-winning collection, "Anthropocene"

by Bacopa Literary Review Editor Mary Bast

Readers searching for the artful language of Fitzgerald and the cultural relevance of Achebe in a volume that speaks directly to global citizens of the twenty-first century have finally found their lost ark . . . Keith Kupsch, Director of the Joshua Weinzweig Creative Writing Program.

Bacopa Literary Review congratulates our 2018 Short Story prize winner, Dean Gessie, awarded the Uncollected Press Prize and the Eyelands Book Award for his new short story collection, Anthropocene, published recently by The Raw Art Review/Uncollected Press.

DEAN GESSIE LITERARY BIOGRAPHY

From Anaphora Literary Press, Anna Faktorovich, Director, PhD, 1108 W. 3rd St., Quanah, TX, 79252

Gessie's poetry is "Genius with a pocketful of broken fetters." Tongo Eisen-Martin, shortlisted for the Griffin International Poetry Prize and a California Book Award

Gessie is "one of the finest short story writers in the world." Henry Stanton, Founding and Managing Editor, The Raw Art Review, Publisher, Uncollected Press, Maryland.

Dean Gessie is a Canadian author and poet who has won multiple international prizes. Dean won the Angelo Natoli Short Story Award in Australia, the Half and One Literary Prize in India, the Eyelands Book Award in Greece, the Short Story prize at the Eden Mills Writers Festival in Canada and--in Maryland--the Uncollected Press Prize for a short story collection. Dean also won the Enizagam International Poetry Contest in California and he was selected for inclusion in The Sixty-Four Best Poets of 2018 and The Sixty-Four Best Poets of 2019 by Black Mountain Press in North Carolina. In addition, Dean won the Bacopa Literary Review Short Story Contest in Florida, the Two Sisters Short Story Contest in New Mexico, the New Millennium Sunshots Flash Fiction contest in Tennessee and (twice) the After Dinner Conversation Short Story Competition in Arizona. Dean also won second prize (of 2000+ submissions) in the Short Story Project New Beginnings competition in New York and his short story made the shortlist (of 2800+ submissions) for the Alpine Fellowship Prize in Sweden.

Does Nobody Give a Shit?

by Short Story Editor Kaye Linden

I chose Dean Gessie's "Nobody Knows How Much You Love Him" for Bacopa Literary Review 2018's Short Story Prize because of its powerful voice and edgy style. I like the comparison Gessie makes to traditional story structure and the way he inserts his story into that specific structure while discussing it. For example,

We'll call that mood, a rosy blush in the sunroom. It leaves you completely unprepared for the hook.

This is a story about two people whose child has difficulty breathing and must be rushed to the ER where:

Suspense accompanies you into the Emergency Room at Southlake.

The story is not as much about the child as about the father's response to the life-threatening condition of his child. The story adopts a panoramic, sardonic view of life and what life throws our way. As opposed to a short story where an author has control of the outcome, Gessie relates this narrative as a real event where the outcome is never controlled:

Nobody writes this story... You've won this round, but you can't possibly win them all... hug your baby while you can.

The last sentence of the narrative typifies the attitude of the story:

Because Nobody knows how much you love him and Nobody gives a shit.

There is an unnerving buzz throughout this narrative, spurned by a frightening supposition that the life of an innocent child lies in the hands of those who "don't give a shit." Whether we agree with this philosophy or not is the challenge Gessie throws in our faces.

*     *     *

Dean Gessie has been a finalist in ten international fiction competitions. His stories have appeared in anthologies in Ireland, England and the United States. He has also published three novellas: Guantanamo Redux is dystopian fiction; A Brief History of Summer Employment is a fictional memoir; and TrumpeterVille is animal allegory.  

Bacopa Literary Review 2018 Prize Winners

Congratulations to our 2018 Bacopa Literary Review prize winners:

Creative Nonfiction Prize: "I said No"
Roberta Marstellar

Roberta Marstellar is a writer and storyteller. Her career path is a circuitous one, defined by detours: Structural engineer—marketing specialist—finance manager—general contractor—food blogger—entrepreneur. Since the age of twelve, writing is the one endeavor Roberta has faithfully pursued. She lives in Chicago with her husband, two beehives, and a lifetime of books.

Short Story Prize: "Nobody Knows How Much You Love Him"
Dean Gessie

Dean Gessie has been a finalist in ten international fiction competitions. His stories have appeared in anthologies in Ireland, England and the United States. He has also published three novellas: Guantanamo Redux is dystopian fiction; A Brief History of Summer Employment is a fictional memoir; and TrumpeterVille is animal allegory.

Prose Poetry Prize: "U-Turn"
Cynthia Roby

Cynthia Roby lives in Bronx, New York, where she works as an adjunct professor of academic writing. Her fiction, poetry, and essays have appeared in publications including The Penman Review ("Boomerang And Sadie," "Faltered Footwear"/"After My Five Cents, I Ran," "Lust"), The Lindenwood Review, Rat's Ass Review, Thrice Fiction, and Black Denim Lit. Cynthia earned her MFA from Lindenwood University.

Poetry Prize: "Outside the Clinic"
Patrick Synan

Patrick Synan is a young poet from New Hampshire. He studied literature at Boston College and teaches in Boston. His first poems appeared in Crosswinds Poetry Journal.

Tenth Anniversary Celebration

by Senior Editor Mary Bast

With our 2019 issue, Bacopa Literary Review rejoices in ten years of publication. To celebrate, below are our First and Second Place prize winners from each year (follow links for more about the authors and/or the works):

2010
Fiction (Editor Gen Aris): First Place Rick Sapp, "What the Old Man Knew About Time;" Second Place Jordanna Faye Brown, "Guardamar"
Creative Nonfiction (Editor Mary Bast): First Place Elaine Jordan, "Swimming with Joan Baez;" Second Place Charles Patrick Norman, "Walking Around the World for Life"
Poetry (Editor David Maas): First Place Angela Masterson Jones, "At the Crossing;" Second Place Valerie Ann Asay, "Arise"

2011
Fiction (Editor Gen Aris): First Place JoeAnn Hart, "Open House;" Second Place Mandy Manning, "Growth"
Creative Nonfiction (Editor Mary Bast): First Place Amanda Skelton, "Warding Off the Monkey;" Second Place Carolyne Wright, "Los Olvidados:The Forgotten Ones"
Poetry (Editor Eldon Turner): First Place Colleen Runyan, "me or the tea;" Second Place Erika Brumett, "Fight Overheard in Sign Language"

2012
Fiction (Editor Gen Aris): First Place Cecile Barlier, "Legionnaire;" Second Place Stephanie Seguin, "Candy Andy"
Short Fiction (Editor Kaye Linden): First Place Grier Jewell, "Girl in the Gibbous Moon;" Second Place Margaret F. Chen, "The Yellow Curtain, The Red Floor"
Creative Nonfiction (Editor Dorothy Staley): First Place Jeremiah O'Hagan, "The Hymnal;" Second Place Colleen O'Neil, "Transplant"

Poetry (Editor Eldon Turner): First Place Sb Sowbel, "Room 5, Guest 1: Being Human, American Style;" Second Place Nancy Hastie, "Barefoot days fall firefly nights"

2013
Fiction (Editor Gen Aris): First Place JL Schneider,  "Dick and Jane Meet Again;" Second Place Shayne Laughter, "The Valentine"
Short Fiction (Editor Gen Aris): First Place Stephanie Barbe Hammer, "Red"
Creative Nonfiction (Editor Dorothy Staley): First Place Gina Warren, "A Sparrow;" Second Place Samantha Claire Updegrave, "Canoe"
Poetry (Editor Eldon Turner): First Place Carolyne Wright, "Sestina: Into Shadow;" Second Place Karen Majorowicz, "(sens of plas)"

2014
Fiction (Editor Gen Aris): First Place Charlotte M. Porter, "Pangs;" Second Place Jim Fairhall, "The Night Baker on Firebase Arsenal"
Creative Nonfiction (Editor Dorothy Staley): First Place Melani "Mele" Martinez, "Burned;" Second Place JL Schneider, "Man in a Bag"
Poetry (Editor E.R. Turner): First Place Julia Wagner, "Coming to Center;" Second Place Richard King Perkins II, "Distillery of the Sun"

2015
Fiction (Editor Shellie Zacharia): First Place Ellen Perry, "Milk--Bread--Soft Drinks;" Second Place Debra A. Daniel, "Assisted Living Home"
Creative Nonfiction (Editor Dorothy Staley): First Place Kaye Linden, "The Linear and Circular One Sentence of Tattoo Designs;" Second Place Michael Kite, "Memories of a Honeymoon and Milk Carton"
Poetry (Editor Gen Aris): First Place Diane Stone, "Local Weather;" Second Place Justin Hunt, "Autumn, Huntington Beach"

2016
Fiction (Editor U.R. Bowie): First Place Afia Atakora, "The Crooked Man;" Runner-Up Joseph Saling, "Eva"
Creative Nonfiction (Editor Rick Sapp): First Place Jessica Conoley, "I Am Descended from Giants;" Runner-Up Debra Burks Hori, "A Clothesline Meditation"
Poetry (Editor Kaye Linden): First Place Carolyne Wright, "Sestina: That mouth...;" Runner-Up Leslie Anne Mcilroy, "Big Bang"

2017
Fiction (Editor U.R. Bowie): Chad W. Lutz, "Ignis Fatuus, and More, at Eleven"
Flash Story (Editor Kaye Linden): Charlotte M. Porter, "Terminal Trance"
Creative Nonfiction (Editor Susie H. Baxter): Raphael Kosek, "Caregiver's Journal: How to Survive, or Not"
Poetry (Editor J.N. Fishhawk): Claire Scott, "A Mote of Dust"

2018
Short Story (Editor Kaye Linden): Dean Gessie, "Nobody Knows How Much You Love Him"
Creative Nonfiction (Editor Susie H. Baxter): Roberta Marstellar, "I Said No"
Prose Poetry (Editor Kaye Linden): Cynthia A. Roby, "U-Turn"
Poetry (Editor J.N. Fishhawk): Patrick Synan, "Outside the Clinic"

2019
Fiction (Editor Mary Bast): Avra Margariti,"The Calligrapher"
Creative Nonfiction (Editor Susie H. Baxter): Hugh E. Suggs, "From One Field to Another"
Mixed Genre (Editor Kaye Linden): Jeff Streeby, "A Brindle Bull, After Kuòān Shīyuǎn"
Haiku (Editor Kaye Linden): Michael Dylan Welch, "Shēngxiào / 生肖"
Poetry (Editor J.N. Fishhawk): Raphael Kosek, "When the saints come among us"