In 300 words or less: micro memoir winners announced at Double Decker

The contest brought together some of Oxford’s sharpest storytellers.

by Rose Harmon, The Daily Mississippian

 Ibrahim Williams is the winner of the first Oxford Micro Memoir Contest during the 2026 Double Decker Arts Festival on April 25. 

The contest was put on by the Greenfield Farm Writers Residency and sponsored by Visit Oxford. Finalists were invited to read their work on stage. Williams received $750 for winning first place, and second-place finisher Shirley Gray earned $250.

Beth Ann Fennelly, distinguished professor of English and Mississippi Poet Laureate from 2016-21, announced Williams as the winner. Fennelly helped create the micro memoir, a form of creative writing that blends flash fiction, poetry and memoir, allowing writers to take a brief, yet in-depth, examination of a small facet of their lives. Earlier this year, Fennelly published a book of micro memoirs titled “The Irish Goodbye: Micro-Memoirs.”

Read the full article here.

Congratulations to the 2026 Micro Memoir Contest Finalists. Read the winning entries here.