The prize
includes a $1,000 honorarium and publication in the next issue of Sonora
Review. Lucy Corin, the contest judge, commented the following:
"I chose 'River Rats' because I believed every outrageous sentence the
whole way through— and yet it took three reads for me to feel like I had a
handle on the work it was doing. I’m a sucker for a 'first person reveal' that
is executed with skill and purpose. I’m a sucker for that sense of not quite
understanding, but believing, and then coming to understand where the belief
came from."
Matthew Dougherty grew up in Ohio, taught elementary school in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas, and now pursues an MFA at West Virginia University. His stories have appeared or are forthcoming in Sonora Review, Crab Orchard Review, and Salamander, all as contest winners. He also enjoys writing and performing original songs under the artist name Matt Skerk.