The Blue Frog is Flash Frog’s annual flash fiction contest. Taking place each January, the contest features a new theme based on what type of stories we wish we had seen more of in the queue. Each year also features a new Guest Judge and Guest Artist. The Blue Frog awards a total of $700 in prize money as well as signed books and original art!

1st Place: Leaving by Wasima Khan

2nd Place: Doesn’t That Sound Great, Mary Beth? by Jessica Klimesh

3rd Place: Lies I Tell My Children (#17) by Ruth Joffre

Pamela Baker

Travis Flat

Bethany O’Brien

Amanda O’Callaghan

Kelly Pedro

Jack Pincelli

James Keith Smith

Rebecca Tiger

2026 Theme: “Family”

2026 Guest Judge: Camille U. Adams

2026 Guest Artist: Ali McLafferty

1st Place: Materials Needed by Kyle Weik

2nd Place: The Third by Alison Morretta

3rd Place: Gulls of the Algarve by Matt Barrett

Nadia Born

Sara Hills

Martha Hipley

Mitch James

Ruth Joffre

Sarah Perrin

Emily Rinkema

Sonia Alejandra Rodriguez

Hally Winters

2025 Theme: “Voice”

2025 Guest Judge: Gina Chung

2025 Guest Artist: Jiksun Cheung

The 2024 Winners

1st Place: The 250th Annual Radishtown Day Summer Parade by Ani King

2nd Place: Three Miles Off the Highway Past Exit 509 by Jo Gatford

3rd Place: Pool Hoppers by Phoebe Gibb

Finalists

Autumn Bettinger

Brett Biebel

Sara Chansarkar

Allison Field Bell

Holly Grover Brandon

Connor Harding

Kara Killinger

Beth Konkoski

Jacqueline Parker

Dawn Tasaka Steffler

Lisa Thornton

Tara Isabel Zambrano

2024 Theme: “A Sense of Place”

2024 Guest Judge: Kristen Arnett

2024 Guest Artist: Ruri Kato

The 2023 Winners

1st Place: No Dead Bodies in the Dining Room by Kathryn LeMon

2nd Place: The Whale Bone Man by Kaylie Saidin

3rd Place: Patagium by K.C. Mead-Brewer

Finalists

Abbie Barker

Melissa Bowers

Joel Hans

Kathy Hoyle

Rachel Lastra

Georgie Morvis

Lauren Osborn

Melissa Ragsly

Angeline Schellenberg

Emma Stough

Cathy Ulrich

2023 Theme: “The Surreal”

2023 Guest Judge: Aimee Bender

2023 Guest Artist: Daegan Lunsford

2022 Winners

1st Place: Press 3 for Random Track by Dri Chiu Tattersfield

2nd Place: Alligator Girls by María Alejandra Barrios

3rd Place: Why I Say We’re Cousins by Shih-Li Kow

Finalists

Kathryn Aldridge-Morris

Eleonora Balsano

Rodney Evans

Rosie Garland

Sara Hills

Shareen K. Murayama

Hema Nataraju

Bayveen O’Connell

Maria Poulatha

Pip Robertson

Cherry Lou Sy

2022 Theme: “Around the World”

2022 Guest Judge: Tara Isabel Zambrano

2022 Guest Artist: Rob Kaniuk