Writing Competition: CRAFT Flash Prose Prize 2024

Flash prose, in all its invigorating variety, demonstrates an uncanny ability to speak to the core of the matter. Whether flash fiction or flash creative nonfiction, the heart and heat of the work must make themselves undeniably known. For the CRAFT 2024 Flash Prose Prize, Guest Judge Meg Pokrass offers flash writers some lively advice:

The key to making a reader care is in allowing the work to reflect our own human experience. A flash prose piece must contain dramatic urgency with which we, the reader, can connect with on a deep level. We care about characters who love messily, dream uneasily, and refuse to see their lives as hopeless. I will stand and cheer when a writer’s obsessions, worries, and dreams poke through every word. A piece may be technically brilliant—but what matters more is that it moves me. The successful flash prose writer must offer a personal vision, yet in doing so, illuminate the world we all share.

Submissions are open September 1 to October 27, 2024. 

Entries cost $20. 

Three winners will receive $1,000 each. Three additional editors’ choice selections will receive $200 each. Please carefully review our guidelines below—then send us your best flash prose!

GUIDELINES: 

• Submissions are open to all writers, emerging and experienced. CRAFT is a market for adult literary fiction.

• International submissions are allowed.

• Please submit prose work primarily written in English, but some code-switching/meshing is warmly welcomed.

• Please submit flash prose ONLY! We’ll review both fiction and creative nonfiction for this prize.

• Please adhere to the 1,000 word count maximum per piece (you may send up to two flash prose pieces per submission).

• We review literary work but are open to a variety of genres and styles. Our only requirement is that you show excellence in your craft.

• Please send previously unpublished work only—we do NOT review reprints, or even partial reprints, for contests (including any form of self-publishing, blogs, personal websites, social media, et cetera). Reprints will be automatically disqualified.

• We allow simultaneous submissions—writers, please notify us immediately and withdraw your entry if your work is accepted to be published elsewhere.

• The $20 reading fee per entry allows up to two 1,000-word flash prose pieces—if submitting two works, please send them in a SINGLE document.

• We allow multiple submissions—please submit each flash piece (or set of two pieces) as a separate submission accompanied by a separate entry fee.

• All entries will be considered for general publication in CRAFT.

• Please double-space your submission and use Times New Roman 12.

• Please include a brief cover letter with your publication history and any content warnings, if applicable.

• We do not require anonymous submissions, but the guest judge will review the fifteen shortlisted pieces anonymously.

• Writers from historically marginalized groups will be able to submit for free until we reach fifty free submissions. This free category will close when we reach capacity. No additional fee waivers will be granted—please submit early if you qualify. (This free category is now closed.)

• We do not discriminate on the basis of age, ancestry, disability, family status, gender identity or expression, national origin, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation, or for any other reason.

• Additionally, we do not tolerate discrimination in the writing we consider for publication: work we find discriminatory on any of the bases stated here will be declined without complete review.

• AI-generated submissions will be automatically disqualified.

• Unless you’ve already secured the necessary permissions, please do not include quoted song lyrics in your submitted work. Paraphrased lyrics are allowed, however, as are older lyrics that have already passed into the public domain.

• Any work that does not adhere to these guidelines will be automatically disqualified.

We are always happy to help if you have questions. Email us: 

contact@craftliterary.com

AWARDS:

The writers of the three winning pieces will receive: $1,000 each;
a bundle of the Rose Metal Press Field Guides;
and publication in CRAFT, with an introduction by the guest judge as well as an author’s note (short craft essay) to accompany the piece.

The writers of the three editors’ choice selections will receive: $200 each;
and publication in CRAFT, with an introduction by our editorial team as well as an author’s note (short craft essay) to accompany the piece. 

 FINE PRINT: 

• Friends, family, and close associates of the guest judge are not eligible for consideration for the award.

• Our collaboration with editorial professionals in the judging and awarding of our contests does not imply an endorsement or recognition from their agencies, houses, presses, universities, et cetera.

• As we only consider unpublished writing for contests, and will publish the winning pieces in April 2025, anything under contract to publish prior to July 2025 should not be entered.

Submit your entry here.

Fellowship: The Kenyon Review

The Kenyon Review invites applications for a two-year residential post-graduate fellowship in creative writing beginning in August 2025. During these two years, fellows will undertake a significant writing project and teach one course per semester in the Kenyon College English Department, contingent upon departmental needs. 

Fellows will also assist with creative and editorial projects for The Kenyon Review. Fellows are required to live in the local community and are expected to participate in the cultural life of Kenyon College. Fellows to hold no other teaching, graduate study or fellowship obligations. 

Qualifications include an MFA in creative writing, or a PhD in creative writing, English literature, or comparative literature. The degree must be completed between January 1, 2019 and September 15, 2024. Qualified candidates will also have teaching experience in creative writing and/or literature at the undergraduate level. A history of publication in literary journals is expected. 

The Kenyon Review will provide an annual $42,000 stipend, plus health benefits. 

To apply, candidates should visit the online application site found at http://careers.kenyon.edu. A complete application will be composed of 

1) a one-page cover letter; 

2) an 8-10 page writing sample; 

3) a one-page course proposal for an undergraduate introductory-level multi-genre creative writing class; 

4) a Curriculum Vitae; 

5) an unofficial transcript; and 

6) two (2) letters of recommendation, one of which must directly address the applicant's teaching ability. All application materials must be submitted electronically through Kenyon's employment website. 

Review of applications will begin on September 23, 2024, and will continue until the position is filled. Completed applications must be received by October 18, 2024 to guarantee full consideration.

Call for Poetry Submissions: The Shore

The Shore is an online poetry publication seeking cutting, strange, and daring work from new and established poets alike. We want poems that explore the worlds of things and ideas, that recognize the liminality, the shifting of everything around us and our ability to name a thing whole. We want poems that press and push and ache and recede. Send us your best. We publish 4 times a year, once each season.

Our reading period is currently: OPEN

Submissions for ISSUE TWENTY-FOUR: WINTER 2024 are open until December 1.

Submission Guidelines:

To submit, email 3-5 poems in a single document in .doc or .docx format to:

theshorepoetry@gmail.com

with the subject line: “Last Name_First Name THE SHORE submission” with a cover letter and third-person bio included in the body of the email. Any submissions that do not follow these guidelines will be discarded.

We accept simultaneous submissions as long as you notify us if the piece is accepted elsewhere, but we do not accept reprints. Upon acceptance, please withdraw your poems from other consideration. We ask that you please only submit once per reading period. We also ask that former contributors please wait a year from their date of publication to submit again.

We have weekly editorial meetings, so our usual response time is 1-10 days. Since we do not hold submissions between reading periods, no submission reply should take more than about 60 days.

Call for Submissions: New England Review

Thinking of submitting to New England Review?
We are open for submissions in all genres from March 1 through May 1 and September 1 through November 1. We may close before the end of the period if we receive more than our allotted number of submissions, so it’s best to submit early.

UPDATE for September 2024: When we open on September 1, we will begin taking submissions for our November 2025 “emerging writers and translators” feature. We will dedicate half of a special double issue (Vol. 46.3-4) to those who have not yet published a book or have a book under contract. Eligible writers and translators can indicate their interest in being considered for that feature when they submit.

What we’re looking for.
We welcome submissions in fiction, poetry, nonfiction, dramatic writing, and translation in all genres.

For translations, please confirm that translation rights are available and submit under the genre that best represents the work.

We only accept writing that has not been published previously, whether in print or on the web.

Please send only one submission at a time, across all genres, including translations. Do not resubmit work, even if it has been revised, unless it has been requested by the editors. Simultaneous submissions are accepted in all genres, but please be sure to withdraw your submission immediately upon acceptance elsewhere. We attempt to respond to submissions within twelve weeks, but it can take longer.

We welcome and encourage submissions from writers of every nationality, race, religion, and gender, including writers who have never been affiliated with an MFA program and whose perspectives are often underrepresented in the literary world.

We suggest that NER authors wait about a year after their most recent publication until they submit again (e.g., If you were published in spring 2024, please wait until spring 2025 to submit new work).

What you get.
Payment for work published in the journal is $20 per page ($50 minimum), plus two copies of the issue in which the work appears and a one-year subscription to the print or e-book edition.

For online publication in NER Digital, payment is $50 and a one-year subscription to the magazine.

Your cover letter—just the facts.
Your cover letter should provide contact information and state the genre, title, and word count (for prose) of the submission, as well as any salient information about you—e.g., previous publications, never before published—or about your piece.

Online submissions.
Please submit your work through Submittable, our online submissions portal. The small fee we charge for online submissions helps to support New England Review in its mission to publish writers at all stages of their careers. You can submit for free if you purchase a subscription or renewal at the time of submission. If the submission fee presents a financial hardship, please email us.

You can check on the status of an existing submission on Submittable. If it says “new” or “in progress,” that means we have not yet made a decision about the piece. If you have other submission queries, send us an e-mail and we will respond as soon as possible.

Paper submissions.
We allow paper submissions for writers who for any reason are unable to use Submittable. Please do not send your only copy, as we cannot be responsible for lost or damaged manuscripts, and include a letter-size self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) for our reply only. There is no fee. Please do not send paper submissions outside of our open submissions periods or they will be returned unread. Our mailing address is:

New England Review

Middlebury College

Middlebury, VT 05753

 

More information here.

Call for Submissions: The Massachusetts Review

What kinds of writing are you looking for?

We seek a balance between established writers and promising new ones. We're interested in material of variety and vitality relevant to the intellectual and aesthetic questions of our time. We aspire to have a broad appeal; our commitment, in part regional, is not provincial. "Inspired pages are not written to fill space, but for inevitable utterance; and to such our Journal is freely and solicitously open." —Ralph Waldo Emerson

N.B. Submissions from authors who are Black, Indigenous, or People of Color will be accepted year-round; however, outside our regular reading period, when the online submission manager is shut down, all submissions from BIPOC writers should be sent by regular mail or emailed to:

massrev@external.umass.edu

Nonfiction: Articles and essays of breadth and depth are considered. Since its inception, in 1959, the Massachusetts Review has provided a literary space that engaged and challenged society, provoked political and social change, and published under-represented voices. We also publish discussions of leading writers, of art, music, dance, and drama, and analyses of trends in literature, science, philosophy, and public affairs. One essay per submission, with a maximum of 20 pages or 7500 words. Please include your name and contact information on the first page. We encourage page numbers.

Fiction: We are interested in all styles and subjects, from flash fiction and experimental writing to historical and realist fiction; we do typically favor work that focuses more on the world than the self. We consider one short story per submission, a maximum of 20 pages or 7500 words. Please include your name and contact information on the first page, and we encourage page numbers.

Performance: Most work on performance is featured online, to take advantage of the multimedial potential of digital publication. We also occasionally publish short-form performance scripts as well as excerpts from longer works in the print magazine, up to 30 pages per issue.

Poetry: A poetry submission may consist of up to 6 poems. There are no restrictions for length, but generally our poems are less than 100 lines. Please include your name and contact on every page.

Hybrid: A hybrid submission may cross genres with fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or art. We consider one such text per submission, with a maximum of 30 pages or 7500 words. Please include your contact information on the first page; we encourage page numbers.

Translation: Fiction, poems, or essays are accepted. The above guidelines for essays, fiction, and poetry should be followed, and a copy of the translated text should be submitted along with the translation. Before submission, the translator should have researched who holds the rights and, ideally, have secured permission to publish. N. B. Translations will be accepted year-round; however, outside our regular reading period, when the online submission manager is shut down, submissions should be sent by regular mail or emailed to massrev@external.umass.edu.

Art: We publish one visual artist per issue, and most visual art is solicited. We are happy to consider submissions & will try to respond promptly. One portfolio per submission, a maximum of 8 pages We do not hire illustrators to illustrate our fiction or prose pieces, they run without illustration. Please include your name and contact information on the first page, and we encourage page numbers.

Also please note: Essays, fiction, hybrid, poetry, and translation manuscripts should be submitted separately. No mixed submissions please.

Are there any genres or topics that you do not consider?

We publish book reviews online, but not in the print magazine.

When is your reading period?

Submissions are NOT accepted from May 1 to September 30. Mailed submissions received during this time will be held for the next reading period. The electronic submission database will reset once all manuscript decisions have been made, and any work submitted within the subsequent reading period will require an account reactivation.

Due to extenuating circumstances, we are currently experiencing a heavy backlog in submissions. Please allow our readers six months to respond to your submission. We apologize for the delay and appreciate your patience!

Do you accept simultaneous submissions?

Reluctantly. It is the author's responsibility to notify editors immediately once a manuscript is accepted elsewhere.

Do you accept multiple submissions?

No.

Prose manuscripts are limited to one submission at a time. Poetry submissions cannot exceed six poems per submission. Authors must await decision notification before submitting again in the same reading period.

Do you pay for contributions?

At the time of publication, we pay a $100 honorarium for work published in a single issue. Authors also receive two complimentary contributor's copies.

I'm mailing my submission, how should I submit work?

There is no charge for mailed submissions. All prose manuscripts should be typed and double spaced.

Fiction and Non-fiction submissions should include name and address on the first page of the manuscript with page numbers. Poetry should include name and contact information before each title of a poem. The Massachusetts Review is a non-profit journal, and it is impossible for us to acknowledge receipt of manuscripts unless a self-addressed stamped postcard is enclosed with your submission. The Massachusetts Review is not responsible for lost manuscripts. No manuscript can be returned or query answered unless accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope.

Please read a copy of MR before submitting work. We cannot offer free sample copies, but you may order current or back issues here. We do not accept manuscripts via fax.

I'm submitting electronically, how should I submit work?

Read this first!

All submissions should include name and contact information on every page of the manuscript. A suggestion is to include this information in the header or footer. All prose manuscripts should be typed and double-spaced. We strongly encourage Fiction and Non-fiction to include page numbers.

All poems, a maximum of six per submission, should start on a new page and be included in one document. Multiple submissions will not be accepted.

Please read a copy of MR before submitting work. We cannot offer free sample copies, but you may order current or back issues online. Click here to purchase a copy.

Please note that there is a $3.00 fee to submit electronically per reading period. In addition to maintaining the database, the fee was designed with the intention of diminishing your submission costs. The process will require a one time account set-up per reading period. We accept Visa, Master Card, or Discover; payment is made via Commerce Manager.

The electronic submission provides continuous access to check on the status of your submission. To withdraw specific poems or prose from consideration, please email the managing editor at:

massrev@external.umass.edu 

Should you choose to withdraw your submission for any reason, no refund will be provided.

You will receive a one time account set-up confirmation e-mail, a submission receipt confirmation e-mail every time you submit, and, once our editors read your submission, a notification of decision e-mail.

Click here to begin the electronic submission process.

Address for mailing submissions:

The Massachusetts Review
400 Venture Way
Hadley, MA 01035

Call for Submissions: HOOT: a postcard review of mini prose and poetry

We accept fiction, non-fiction, memoir, poetry, and book reviews year-round. Graphic fiction/non-fiction is also welcome, but it must fit on a postcard. We publish only one (1!) piece in print form each month– we publish 1-4 pieces in our online issue.

We accept work three times a year: from January 1st to March 1st, June 1st to August 1st, and October 1st to November 27th –you can expect to hear from us within a month to six months if we’re on schedule, which we are about 50% of the time. Even though it may take us a spell to get back to you, we offer personal feedback – especially upon request. Please email us directly with questions or concerns 

ALL PROSE: <150 words. We’re not going to count them, but…we mean it.
ALL POETRY: <10 lines (if it’s more, be open to “creative reformatting”), but still <150 words. Remember, it has to fit on a postcard!
BOOK REVIEWS: These will be published online, or on the back of a postcard when possible. Still <150 words. Must be of a recently published book (within the last year). The book must be published by an independent or small press. You are welcome to query before submitting if you would like our feedback on the book you are reviewing. If you would like your book reviewed by us, please send a query letter to:

info@hootreview.com.

Only two pieces per submission, please. If your work is accepted, please wait a year until you re-submit. If your work is rejected, please wait six months to re-submit (only because we publish so few pieces). We accept reprints, but please state that the piece has been previously published in your submission. Simultaneous submissions are, of course, allowed–but please let us know if your work is placed elsewhere.

We will read all types of work. However, we especially like work that is audacious, surprising, and energetic. Furthermore, we want this postcard to be shareable. As you’re submitting, remember the Refrigerator Rule. Ask yourself: “Would someone want this hanging on their fridge?” Work that’s about the depressingness of gloomy alcohol clinking on the bottom of a shadowy glass in the gloaming after a father’s death wouldn’t work as well hanging from a fridge or tucked playfully in someone’s lunchbag.

That said, if you’ve got some melancholy work that is surprising and zesty and GOOD then we would be very excited to check it out.

See our “ISSUES” page to read samples of the work we have published in the past.

Note: We do not solicit work. Every submission we receive is given the same consideration, and is read by at least two, but up to four people, and often out loud (while we consume delicious items, like raspberry tart and/or dumplings.)

Other Stuff

You have to be okay with having your work ‘creatively’ formatted—so that it will both look cool and fit on a postcard. Which means—we might paint the words on some wood and photograph them, or photo-edit the words onto an interesting-yet-appropriate thing, like a medicine bottle label, or a paper napkin, etc. If you are submitting a poem, this sometimes means we have to change line breaks…though we try not to do this, and we always do it tastefully (at least, we think so.) Do not submit your work if you are not okay with this.

Because of how few pieces we publish, it might take a considerable amount of time (like…a long long time) to get the piece live. If you do not hear from us about an acceptance for too long a time please email us and don’t message through Submittable. Email us at: 

info@hootreview.com

We are often asked about what informs our decision regarding publishing a piece on a postcard versus publishing it in our online issue. Choosing pieces for postcards vs. online is not a matter of “which ones we like best.” We love all of the pieces we publish. Factors include- what pieces we have for other months (we try to balance poems and prose, as well as keep style and content varied from postcard to postcard), appropriateness for sharing (see the Refrigerator Rule above), and illustration potential (both imagery and length of the piece factor here, as longer pieces are much harder to work with.)

In general, if you do not hear from us for a long time please email us and (again) don’t message through Submittable. Email: 

info@hootreview.com

Payment: Unknown amount.

Submit your work here.

Call for Submissions: Augur Literary Society

Augur Magazine is open to both themed and unthemed fiction and poetry submissions from everyone, everywhere.

Tales & Feathers is open to short slice-of-life fantasy fiction submissions from everyone, everywhere.

October 1st-31st:

Both markets open to everyone internationally.

November 1st-15th:

Open exclusively to creators who are BIPOC, trans, and/or disabled.

Tales & Feathers will be open internationally during this time.

Augur Magazine will be open to Canadian citizens/permanent residents and/or those living on the land colonially known as Canada.

The themed call for Augur Magazine is for A NATURAL DESIRE. What does it mean to want and need? In this issue, we're looking for speculative stories and poems that explore:

• Raw connection

• Love and lust

• Desperately important platonic relationships

• Community in context

Especially when grounded in nature; flora; fauna; and other non-urban settings. Give us conflict and challenge; joy and celebration; and the spark of repair. Give us pieces that span genre from high fantasy to supernatural, from myth to body horror, from dreamy realism to deep scifi.

We are especially interested in pieces that explore desire from non-Western and Indigenous contexts, or interrogate the ways in which Western relationships are often tied to colonialism and extraction.

---

Please query if you have not received a response by the end of January 2025.

Want to know if you’re a fit? Snag a digital subscription or a single issue from our store! Want to know what'll happen once you submit? Check out our article!

We do not accept AI-generated submissions. The actual text of your piece must be ideated and written by a human. Any piece found to be AI-written will result in a breach of contract, should your piece be accepted.

WHAT TO SEND AUGUR MAG
(Although we always love surprises)

Our perfect submission defies categorization—pieces that could be “too speculative” for CanLit or literary magazines or “not speculative enough” for speculative magazines. However, we also love a good genre romp, and will publish across many genres, including: 

• Fantasy

• Science fiction (softer side)

• Dystopia/utopia

• Apocalypse/post-apocalypse

• Slipstream

• Fairytales

• Fables

• Fabulism

• Magical realism (note: educate yourself before you claim this term)

• Dreamy realism

If you think you match our tone, give us a try. We recommend checking out our preview issue, free online, or grabbing an issue, to see what we’ve published before.

We accept multiple submissions and simultaneous submissions. Our goal is to respond to all submissions within eight weeks.

Our submissions system, Moksha, should send you a verification email within 24 hours. If you do not receive one, resubmit and send us an email letting us know what happened.

Text submissions should be formatted as follows: 

• Standard manuscript format

• .doc

• Without your name (for anonymous reading)

• Preferably, in size 12 Times or Times New Roman font

Finally: If you fit into our guidelines, don’t self-reject! Submit, submit, submit!

WHAT TO SEND TALES & FEATHERS 

Cozy short fantasy stories

Tales and Feathers is a home for cozy slice-of-life fantasy short stories.

Our ideal submissions look like this:

• Quiet character-driven storytelling

• Gentle moments

• Rich fantastical worldbuilding

• Everyday moments

• Stories that take place before or between or after the epic conflicts

• Stories that offer warmth, comfort, and possibility

We welcome stories written in any fantasy genre or genres, including stories that blur genre lines. We are especially interested in high fantasy, fairy tales, and myth.

We also welcome stories that have been translated into English and stories that engage with non-Western fantasy genre traditions.

If you think you match our tone, give us a try. We recommend checking out our preview issue, free online, or grabbing an issue, to see what Augur has published before (especially 5.1, their joy issue).

We accept multiple submissions and simultaneous submissions. Our goal is to respond to all submissions within eight weeks.

Our submissions system, Moksha, should send you a verification email within 24 hours. If you do not receive one, resubmit and send us an email letting us know what happened.

Text submissions should be formatted as follows:

• Standard manuscript format

• .doc

• Without your name (for anonymous reading)

• Preferably, in size 12 Times or Times New Roman font

Finally: If you fit into our guidelines, don’t self-reject! Submit, submit, submit!

Augur Literary Society pays $0.14 (CAD) per word and a flat $112.00 for flash fiction. More information and submission links here.