Featured: Mibba Magazine's "Strong Women" Contest Winners!

In modern media, we see many tales of male strength, but the strength women can possess is often ignored. This month, we chose to use August's birth flower – the gladiolus – as inspiration for our Mibba Magazine's writing contest. Representing strength of character, the gladiolus is the perfect insignia for MM's Strong Women Contest, where entrants were asked to write stories or poems featuring strong female characters. Whether those women were strong in the conventional sense or showed strength in ways people may not immediately think of, all were welcome! All of the entries submitted dealt with the prompt in their own wonderfully unique way, but as always, only one person can take the first-place spot for each section.

Our winning story this month is Warrior by sassenach. This story deals with a young woman with social anxiety and the issues she faces upon entering a large crowd of people. Anna’s plight is one that many of us can relate to, and her character shows great strength in pushing down her fears to do something that she truly loves.

Nabbing the first-place spot for poems is XXXataktoulaXXX’s My Book of Wrongs. This poem portrays the strength and courage of the female narrator, who leaves her abusive relationship in order to protect the well-being of her children. The personal nature of this poem allows the reader to become immersed in the world of this unnamed woman, and readers will find themselves invested in her actions as well as the outcome of her story.

Strength doesn't have to be defined in only the physical sense. Instead, it can focus on how a person deals with the things life throws at them, how they react when faced with tough choices, or what they do when forced to act against their own personal interests. Both of the entries above, as well as all of the pieces entered, do a wonderful job of showing us the many ways women can not only show great strength, but also show great courage.

You can find all of August’s entries in the contest thread: The Mibba Magazine's “Strong Women” Contest. Mibbians are encouraged to read and choose their own personal favourite entries. Be sure to let us which stories and poems you enjoyed!

Special thanks to losing control. and Audrey T for editing.