Writing Competition: University of North Texas Press 2025 Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction

The University of North Texas Press announces the 2025 Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction. The winner of this annual award will receive $1000 and publication by UNT Press. Entries will be judged by an eminent writer.

Dates For Submission

Manuscripts may be submitted starting May 1 and closing at end of date on June 30. The winning manuscript will be announced in January 2025.

We only accept electronic submissions through Submittable.

Our online submissions manager is available here: Online Submissions

In order to ensure that all writers have access to publication, this contest will be open for fee-free submissions on Monday, June 1st from 12:00 am to 11:59 pm.

The $25 entry fee can be paid online via credit card or PayPal.

Entries must be a collection of any combination of flash fiction, short stories, or novellas, from 100 to 200 book pages in length (word count between 27,500 and 50,000). Material should be previously unpublished in book form. Once a winner is declared and contracted for publication, UNT Press will hold the rights to the stories in the winning collection. They may no longer be under consideration for serial publication elsewhere and must be withdrawn by the author from consideration.

Manuscript Guidelines 

1. Please be sure manuscript pages are numbered.
2. Please include a table of contents.
3. Please use a standard, easy-to-read font such as Times New Roman in twelve-point size.
4. Stories included in the submission may have appeared previously in magazines or anthologies but may not have been previously published in a book-length collection of the author’s own work.
5. Authors may submit more than one manuscript to the competition for consideration as long as no material is duplicated between submissions. Each submission will require a separate entry fee.
6. Manuscripts under consideration for this competition may be submitted elsewhere at the same time. Please withdraw your manuscript if it is accepted by another publisher and should no longer be considered for the Katherine Anne Porter Award competition. Withdrawal can be completed via the submissions manager website.
7. Entry fees are not refundable.