Setting as Catalyst

It started with a conversation, the kind that drifts in like salt air and stays long after it’s gone. L.K. Rolan had just returned from a trip to Arch Cape and Astoria, Oregon—windswept towns that know how to press a thumbprint into your soul. We got to talking, as we do, and found ourselves circling one truth:

Some places don’t just change your scenery. They change you.

So this month, your challenge is simple and sacred:

Let the setting be the catalyst.

Who was your character before they arrived?

Who were they when they left—or did they decide to stay?

Fiction or nonfiction, let the place transform them.

Let the cliffs, the fog, the storefronts, the silence—all of it—leave a mark.

Submission Guidelines:

- Word count: 800–1,000 words

- Fiction goes under the Fiction category

- Nonfiction (essays, memoirs, reflections) should be published in the Journal

- After publishing, reply in the comments below with your link

- Entries will be accepted from April 1, 2025, to April 20, 2025. Judging will begin April 21, 2025, and end April 30, 2025.

We’re calling this one “Setting as Catalyst.”

Because some stories don’t begin with a character.

They begin with a place.

And sometimes, that place doesn’t let you go.

I can’t wait to see what the landscape makes of you.

– Mother Combs

* First prize is $25

Second prize is $15

Third prize is $5