Nigerian author Reyumeh Ejue has secured the second-place award in the 2023 Hudson Review Short Fiction contest with his story titled “Full Term.” The piece examines how an individual resists and eventually yields to societal pressures, weaving a meditation on personal agency and compromise.
The 2023 edition of the Hudson Review Short Fiction contest received 1,800 entries from writers across the world. Three winners were chosen for demonstrating mastery of the short story form. Previous recipients and notable mentions include Lara Prescott, a New York Times bestselling novelist, as well as Dana Fitz Gale, who was a finalist for the Flannery O’Connor Award.
“Full Term” was written over the course of 2022 and 2023.
Commenting on the selection, judge Gary Krist stated, “Another thing I really admired about the story is the seemingly casual, discursive way it unfolds, in a manner that really underlines the story’s overall preoccupation with the way our life paths are often determined, excuse me, determined by a makeshift combination of circumstance, expedience, conflicting desires, and even inertia.”
Ejue will receive $500, publication in The Hudson Review during spring 2025, and a feature slot in a webinar scheduled for July 2025.
“I didn’t see it coming,” Ejue said. “Winning a prize is such a good thing, so I can only respond with immense gratitude.”