Deadline: November 3, 2023
Entry fee: $15
About the competition
F(r)iction is a triannual publication that boasts work from both industry legends and emerging writers. Each issue is carefully curated to evaluate an important cultural topic from vastly different perspectives. We accept short fiction, creative nonfiction, flash fiction, comics, and poetry submissions all year round, and also host contests featuring guest judges and cash prizes twice a year (each spring and fall). Every piece published in F(r)iction is also accompanied by custom artwork, making our journal a visual odyssey from cover to cover!
In our writing contests, we seek writing that reflects a similar mission to our journal, F(r)iction: work that actively pushes the boundaries of traditional publishing, that has complex characters and a strong narrative arc, and makes us feel something as we read it. We want stories we haven’t seen before, whether it twists or plays with genre, setting, language, voice, you name it. We accept submissions in three categories: Short Story, Poetry, and Flash Fiction.
Our contests also feature a panel of three guest judges to help us decide the winners for each category. For Fall 2023, we have Cathy Ulrich judging Short Story, Warsan Shire judging Poetry, and Sejal Shah judging Flash Fiction.Winners in each category will receive a cash prize, as well as work with one of our Senior Editors to see their work published either online or in our print journal!
Competition guideline
- The winner will be announced publicly on April 15, 2024. All participants will be notified about the contest results through their Submittable account so please do not contact us before this date asking about the results. Judges’ decisions are final.
- We accept work, written in English, from anywhere in the world—regardless of genre, style, or origin—and welcome speculative writing and experimental literature. Strange is good. Strange with a strong character arc is even better. Keep it weird, folks.
- Writers over the age of thirteen are welcome to submit. Please note that if you are aged 13 – 16 and your work is selected for publication, we will require a signature from a parent or a guardian.
- We are unable to offer refunds for contest submissions, so please read these guidelines and choose your submission category carefully.
- Read the whole guideline and submit an entry here.
