Strength in Stories Contest
FLARE is happy to announce our first contest in 2026!
Submissions OPEN Now-March 1st, 2026!
How Will This Work?
Theme: Disability as a Strength
We want pieces that show finding your voice when it comes to managing mental health, disabilities, and chronic illnesses. So often, a disability, a chronic illness, and/or a mental health condition is seen as a stigma or a weakness. But we didn’t have a choice–we were dealt a bad hand. So, this is your chance to find your voice and showcase how being disabled has made you (or a character, if fiction) stronger. What are your badges of honor, your battle scars? What does your “fight” look like?
Pieces must use this theme for the contest. This is only a writing contest, so no art for this contest. This contest is open WORLDWIDE.
*Please note that the FLARE team consists of ONE person.
The Nitty Gritty Details
This contest is COMPLETELY FREE to enter, but please only ONE piece (this includes poetry) per person. Winners get paid via PayPal or Venmo.
1st Place Winner: $140 + online publication (Update 2/7/26: we increased the prize money $15 due to donations received – original was $125.)
2nd Place Winner: $80 + online publication (Update 2/7/26: we increased the prize money $5 due to donations received – original was $75)
3rd Place Winner: $55 + online publication (Update 2/7/26: we increased the prize money $5 due to donations received – original was $50)
3 Runners Up: $15 each + online publication (Update 2/5/26: we received some donations, so we can pay runners up a little now! This number might increase if we get more donations!)
Update 2/5/26: There will be a longlist! These writers won’t receive publication or prize money, but they can list the accomplishment on socials, websites, writing bios, and for street cred! Think of this as an honorable mention!
Please number the pages and REMOVE ANY IDENTIFYING INFORMATION IN THE DOCUMENT INCLUDING THE TITLE OF THE DOCUMENT. ANY INCLUDED WILL RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION. We plan to read these blindly to ensure fairness.
Response Time for Contests
Since we are open for longer periods of time, we will likely not be responding to entries within 24 hours like for regular issue subs, but it is possible to hear back within 24 hours for a rejection (it depends on where we are in submission reading). We try to manage the workload as subs come in because this is one-person show (one editor, no readers or other editors).
The winners will be announced shortly after the contest ends. We’ll give an update as we receive entries and/or after the contest closes.
Extra Important Info!
In 2025, we raised about $250 between our GoFundMe and Redbubble store, which is amazing! If anyone cares to donate to our GoFundMe from last year and/or buy something through our Redbubble store during the open call, we’ll increase the monetary prize for winners! But of course, this is only OPTIONAL and as already said, this contest is absolutely free to enter. The 2025 GoFundMe can be found here!
To continue having contests, we’re opening a GoFundMe page for 2026, and any donations will be for future contests in 2026 or 2027 and beyond! To donate to the 2026 GoFundMe, you can donate here!
Since this is a contest, there will be no feedback option for this, like regular submissions have the option.
Please only submit unpublished pieces for contests.
Accepted Genres for This Contest
- flash fiction: up to 1200 words (giving more leeway here since it’s a contest)
- microfiction: up to 400 words
- short story: up to 2500 words
- creative nonfiction: up to 2000 words
- poetry: ONE poem ONLY per person (prose poetry is allowed) if more than one piece is sent in, only the first piece will be judged.
- hybrid/experimental: up to 1200 words and ONE piece ONLY
ONLY Microsoft Word and/or PDFs are allowed.
Please double-space prose submissions!
Please use content warnings ahead of your submission.
Simultaneous submissions are okay, but like with general subs, please let us know immediately when it’s accepted and promptly withdraw your submission.
When submitting, please put the title of your sub and its genre (poetry, short story, etc.) in the subject line of the email. Also, please write CONTEST in the subject line as well, so we can differentiate between contest subs and general submissions when we open in February!
In the body of the email, please include a short 3rd-person bio with pronouns, any website links, and any social media links/handles (including which social media platform each handle belongs to). You’ll also include your name in here too, but just not in the piece itself.
Send your submission to:
flaremagazinesubmissions@gmail.com
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