Love Unraveled Challenge Winners
An inside look into the Vocal Curation Team's favorite pieces from the Love Unraveled Challenge
Sometimes the simplest challenges are the deepest and most revealing. For this challenge we asked you to “unravel the mysteries, joys, and challenges of love through the power of personal storytelling” — we all love, we all feel we know what it means to love. Yet this challenge offered a reminder of the infinite shapes of human connection, and what power love has over us, even in the face of struggle and pain.
Ruth K is our worthy winner with her piece simply titled: Love. She has 20 pieces on Vocal; and this is the first time she’s placed in a challenge, so extra congratulations. We were deeply moved by this piece, a paean to her lost sister Leah, who was as Ruth writes “challenging to love” — her absence is a never-healing wound. And yet: “My love for Leah is so strong that it has melded into every facet of my life,” Ruth writes in this clear-eyed and searingly honest piece. Here lies real emotional truth.
Our second place winner John Cox also places for the very first time with These Things I Remember, a meditation on parental love. He quotes from the Psalms, “These things I remember as I pour out my soul”, to track his love for his wife and children — but also to accept his failings as a father, his lack of presence; the cost of one ideal of masculinity, we might say. In naming it he vows to do better. This is personal writing as portrait and catharsis.
And we had some fine runners-up, as ever. F Cade Swanson in Letting Go writes evocatively about fostering with precision and care; Judah LoVato in Love Is a Shitload of Work uses original language and imagery to question how we think of love. Love is easy when it’s a noun; harder when it’s a verb. Nice work. And Josey Pickering is beautifully frank in A Neurodivergent Love Story. What else can we say but — we love you, Vocal creators, Thanks for the care you send out into the world, to all those around you. It means a lot, in these times. .
You can check out the full list of winners HERE and learn about our current challenges below:
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More stories from Vocal Curation Team and writers in Vocal and other communities.
Inverse Challenge Winners
Misplaced keys, biodegradable pots, rainbow jellycats… such “ordinary” objects, images, you might say — but they are what make Teresa Renton’s Lost Things Wait for You to Find Them but Sometimes They Don't inverse poem stand out as our winner. We are drawn into the particular world of this poem by specific visions like that. In this latest challenge, we asked you for a poem that could be read from the top or the bottom, and which takes on a different meaning depending which way you read. Teresa’s poem made me think a little bit of Elizabeth Bishop’s famous villanelle, One Art, in its conflicted engagement with loss and abandonment. A terrific achievement.
By Vocal Curation Team2 months ago in Resources
📢 Raise Your Voice Thread: 04/25/2024
Our “Raise Your Voice Threads” are hosted every other Thursday at 12PM ET to offer creators more avenues to uncover exceptional stories on Vocal. As we are continuously searching for fresh creators and inspiring stories, this thread provides an opportunity to exchange and discuss the stories that have moved and motivated us on Vocal.
By Raise Your Voice by Vocala day ago in Resources
The Voyeur's Incandescent Reasoning
The woman sat nonplussed, in the Waiting Room. In a sort of daze, looking straight ahead patiently. She had already had three small breakfast's that morning and a nip of sherry, this was not unusual she would typically wait until an hour after she took her anti-depressant and was her morning routine. She was merely following instructions she assured herself, shifted slightly in her seat and feeling a little heart burn thought, maybe she should skip lunch. Dom had said to have the task done this week. She was well used to his methods and desired to get this over and done with soon. She glanced at her watch, smiled weakly at the Receptionist who was there for a moment and then gone.
By Canuck Scriber L.Lachapelle Authorabout 22 hours ago in Fiction
Comments (23)
Hi Vocal Curation Team. I am honored that you've selected my story, Mother Mine, as a Runner Up in the Love Unraveled Challenge. Of all the content I've posted to this platform, that piece is a painful place to visit. I have kept watch on my Vocal Wallet for the wonderful encouragement that comes with earning placement ($20!) and have not yet seen it. When you have a moment, could you let me know more about that process, the timing, etc., or if there's some action I need to take. Thank you so much. And thank you, once again, for giving such love to my story. It means a great deal!!!
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Congratulations to the winner.
Congratulations, all!!! 👏🏻💗💗💗 And thank you so much, Vocal!
Congratulations to the winners
Congratulations, everyone!
Congrats to everyone who participated on this! All of you did amazing work!😊🫶
Congratulations
Congratulations!
Congratulations to all of the winners! 🎉
Definitely a well earned win! I started crying about 1/2 way in before I learned of the outcome! An amazing retelling of the life of siblings and a reminder to love fully!
Congratulations! Well done.
Congratulations 🎈 🎊 🎉
Congratulations 🎉
Come on Bravery ! 🫶🏼👏❤️
Congratulations
Congrats to all the winners!
Congratulations all!
Congratulations to all of the very talented writers
Congrats to all winners. 👏
Congrats winners <3
An honor to be a runner up, thank you everyone!
Congrats on the winners, they sound like excellent pieces.