Every love story begins with an act of flirtation. But flirting isn't just about landing the perfect mate. We flirt because we are inherently playful, because we want the attention, because it allows us fight and flight. Be inspired by love, but also by other ways we flirt with the forces of the world. Flirt with danger. Flirt with death. Flirt with the idea of revealing something spicy.
Remember: it's only a flirt!
We want 100 words about 5 minutes of your life, on the theme of FLIRT. Interpret any way you’d like. The word FLIRT does not need to be in your piece. Submit twice! Each entry $5; fee happily waived, just enter through our regular submissions portal and put the word CONTEST in all caps in the title space on the form, before the title of your piece.
Our contest readers will read/score pieces. The top ten pieces will be sent to Contest Judge Max Pasakorn who will choose the winner. All top ten pieces will run in Five Minutes.
The winner will receive $125.
Please read Five Minutes’ guidelines for our regular submissions, which apply here, except you MAY submit even if you have pieces upcoming in Five Minutes, and you may submit twice. We will return your entry and request a re-format if guidelines haven’t been followed.
The contest runs October 1-31; our regular submissions are also open at this time.
Meet the Judge
Photo: Enqueered
Max Pasakorn (he/she/they, in no particular order) is a queer writer of creative nonfiction and poetry who has lived in Thailand, Singapore and the United States. Max holds a BA in Arts & Humanities (Creative Writing) from Yale-NUS College.
Max’s debut nonfiction chapbook, A Study in Our Selves, won the OutWrite 2022 Chapbook Competition (Nonfiction) selected by Joseph Osmundson and was published by Neon Hemlock Press in 2023. Max is the winner of the 2024 swamp pink prize in Nonfiction and the 2022 Chestnut Review Stubborn Writers’ Contest in Poetry. Max’s other writing has been published or is forthcoming in venues such as Split Lip Magazine, WITNESS Magazine, Foglifter Journal, Speculative Nonfiction, SUSPECT Journal of Asian Writing and Art, Eunoia Review, Strange Horizons, Honey Literary and Chestnut Review.
Meet the Readers
Kat Abdallah (she/her) is a Palestinian-American writer, educator, and advocate for refugees. Her work has appeared in Adi Magazine, Rising Phoenix Review, The Los Angeles Review, and Welter Literary Journal. Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Kat is currently pursuing a PhD in creative writing at Oklahoma State University.
Susanna Baird is a writer and editor living in Salem, Massachusetts. A graduate of Grub Street’s Novel Generator, she’s published fiction, poetry, and CNF in a variety of journals. When not writing, reading, or editing Five Minutes, she helps lead a small nonprofit that gets clothing and toiletries to public school students. Susanna is the founder and editor of Five Minutes.
Gavin Garza was raised in the Institute of Basic Life Principles, a Christian cult. Today, he’s a Best-of-the-Net nominated poet and memoirist studying English at the University of California, Berkeley. His work stays rooted in Fresno, California, and can be found in MudRoom, Eucalyptus Lit, The Acentos Review, plus more.
Bethany Jarmul is an Appalachian poet and author of the flash nonfiction chapbook Take Me Home. Her debut poetry collection Lightning Is a Mother is forthcoming. Her writing was selected for Best Spiritual Literature and Best Small Fictions, and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Best Microfiction. Bethany’s “Motherhood” won third place in last year’s Fall Contest.
Bobbi Lerman is a writer of historical romance and travel essays, and is the founder of Scribbler's Ink, an online community/website offering writing tips, prompts, and workshops. Bobbi was the first Five Minutes reader and has scored every submission since the early days.
Michelle I Linder is hard at work on a supernatural thriller featuring a PI/Pacers cheerleader who can’t stop seeing ghosts. She is a graduate of the Augsburg University low-residency MFA program and a member of the Indiana Writers Center fiction group. Michelle’s “Handoff” won second place in last year’s Fall Contest (theme: Away).
Kate Meen lives in Salem, Massachusetts. She enjoys reading books of any genre, though always appreciates a good fantasy novel. She is also fond of writing, knitting, and drawing. She hopes to one day be a journalist. Kate is the newsletter editor for Five Minutes.
Damhuri Muhammad is an Indonesian-based writer and was nominated for The 2023 Pushcart Prize. His recent works have appeared in Mekong Review, 101 Words, Switch Microfiction Journal, The Icarus Writing Collective, Five Minutes, and elsewhere. He is the managing editor of Porch Literary Magazine. X handle: @damhurimuhammad
Maria S. Picone—수영—(she/her/hers) has four chapbooks, Anti Asian Bias, Adoptee Song, This Tenuous Atmosphere, and Korean Girl Ghost. Maria is the recipient of an Emerging Artist Grant from the South Carolina Arts Commission. She won Cream City Review’s Summer 2020 Poetry Prize and Salamander’s Louisa Solano Memorial Emerging Poet Award. Maria is managing editor of Five Minutes.
Sumitra Singam is a Malaysian-Indian-Australian coconut writing in Naarm/Melbourne. She travelled through many spaces to get there and writes to make sense of her experiences. She’ll be the one in the kitchen making chai (where’s your cardamom?). You can find her and her other publication credits on Twitter: @pleomorphic2