good catch! I agree with all of this except I don't think every story that adheres to distribution standards is actually distributed and I didn't think that a story had to be distributed to be considered for the contest, only to adhere to the standards. But you're right, she did NOT adhere to the standards. Would not surprise me at all if there are personal relationships between the judges and the winners. But even if that is not the case, the winners are perfectly aligned with the latest trendy zeitgeist and all of them bored me. Good first paragraphs and good last paragraphs with lots of dull filler in between. Also it seems odd that they are all about the same length, as if there was some "optimal length" clause in the guidelines that I missed. The making mom's food one made my eyes roll. How many fucking stories by comfortable, successful immigrants have we read where they're talking about their mother's or grandmother's food back home? Lame and disappointing all around. Really good callout here, Jay!