Announcing The 2024 First Page Cage Finalists!

Down to the Final Two!

We are delighted to announce the Finalists for the 2024 First Page Cage Match! This contest is our way of recreating the experience of live-action slush reading. It’s also a little window into the ins and outs of finding a home for your work.

Here’s what’s happened so far:

The Pulp Lit editors selected the eight entries for the First Page Cage Match that enticed us enough to want to read more. These eight quarter-finalist authors then sent along the first ten pages of their manuscripts.

The editors then selected the four ten-page entries that made at least two of the three of us want to read more, resulting in our four semi-finalists. These four semi-finalist authors then sent us the first thirty pages of their manuscripts.

Now from these four, the Pulp Lit editors have chosen the two thirty-page entries that made us want to read even further. And it was no easy task! None of our editors ranked the semi-finalists quite the same, from first through fourth, resulting in a tie. And so a fourth, tie-breaking editor was called in for backup!

After much deliberation, here are the results.

The Finalists

Going North by Catherine Mackie

Sierra noted that this story was well-written and made good use of complex characters. She particularly liked Ed, but wasn’t sure of what to expect going forward. Jen thought that the story moved slowly, with a bit too much description of the cabin’s amenities and a shift in genre, but saw opportunities for this to be remedied. Mel felt that the tone of this story was handled especially well, and cared for the characters along with the setting and central conflict. She looks forward to reading more.

The Change by William Kaufman

Mel thought that the time, place, genre, and tone of this story made for a great start, and was intrigued to know more about the family at the gate. While she wanted to know more about Brick, beyond his adherence to his community’s rules, and found the story’s lack of contractions a bit distracting, she noted that she would like to read on. Jen shared that she liked portions of the narrative, but found herself skimming. Sierra noted that some of the exposition shared between Elizabeth and Arthur took her out of the story, but that the family narrative brought her back. The unveiling of information about them was especially intriguing, and prompted her to want to read more.

Congratulations to all of our participating authors, and thank you for trusting us with your work!

Stay tuned to the blog to discover which of these finalists will be announced as our winner…

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Keep the presses rolling!

Our 2024 Pulp Literature Silent Auction is open until the 17th of December. Bid now on prizes ranging from books to writing services to fabulous experiences, and help us to cover our printing costs!

You are also invited to our Holiday Launch Party! Join us at Café Duello in Downtown Vancouver on Sunday, December 8th from 2:30-5:00pm. We will be celebrating with signings and feature readings from Pulp Literature Issue 44, along with an open mic. We hope to see you there!