Whitefish Review announces 2024 fiction winner

Jeff Guay is the winner of Whitefish Review’s 2024 Montana Prize for Fiction for his short story “Emerald Casino.”  

He will receive a $1,000 and his work published in the literary journal’s upcoming music issue slated for release Sept. 12. The competition was judged by author and Whitefish Review editor-at-large Rick Bass. 

“Winning this prize has been both exciting and humbling,” said Guay, a writer and musician living in Boulder, Montana. “Rick has a great sense for what is ‘real’ in a story, the beating heart that makes it resonate. He challenged me to make a smarter, more tangible, and honest version of the story. Going through the editorial process with Rick reminded me why I write, which is to learn, grow, and improve at my craft.” 

Guay has taught English and writing in the Boulder area for six years and has a master's in creative writing from the University of Montana. He will read from his prize-winning story at the music issue launch party Sept. 13 at The Lodge at Whitefish Lake in the Lakeside Pavilion. 

Selecting one winner is a meticulous process.  

“Over the years, Whitefish Review has received hundreds of entries for our annual fiction contest,” Bass said. “The process couldn’t exist without the heroic reading by our enormous pool of volunteers: eyes scanning each word, each piece of punctuation, listening for a kind of music we likely haven’t ever heard before but believe we will recognize it when finally it is encountered.”  

Bass is an award-winning author of more than 30 books, with his latest titled, “With Every Great Breath: New and Selected Essays, 1995-2023.”  

Whitefish Review is currently accepting submissions for The Montana Prize for Humor, which also comes with a $1,000 award. People may submit stories at www.whitefishreview.org through Sept. 30. 

Molly McNearney, co-head writer and executive producer of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and the executive producer and writer of the 2024 Oscars, will judge the humor writing contest. 

The journal is also accepting regular submissions through Oct. 31.

For more information, visit the website or contact editor Brian Schott at 261-6190
or editor@whitefishreview.org.