We are thrilled to announce that Deb Olin Unferth, author of six remarkable books, including Wait Till You See Me Dance, Minor Robberies, and the forthcoming novel Barn 8, will judge this year’s American Short(er) Fiction Prize. The prize recognizes extraordinary short fiction under 1,000 words. The first-place winner will receive a $1,000 prize and publication. Previous winners of the Short(er) Fiction Prize have gone on to be anthologized in places such as The Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses. All entries will be considered for publication.
*Thank you for your interest in our Short(er) Fiction Prize. This year’s contest is now closed.*
General Guidelines
• Submit your entry online between November 5, 2019 – February 15, 2020.
• The first-place winner will receive a $1,000 prize and publication in a future issue of ASF. All entries will be considered for publication.
• Please submit your $17 entry fee and your work through Submittable. We no longer accept submissions by post. International submissions in English are eligible.
• Stories must be 1,000 words or fewer. You are allowed to include up to three stories per entry. Please submit all stories in one document. Each story must begin on a new page and be clearly titled. For the title of your submission list the story titles, separated by a comma. Please DO NOT include any identifying information on the manuscript itself.
• You may submit multiple entries. We accept only previously unpublished work. We do allow simultaneous submissions, but we ask that you notify us promptly of publication elsewhere.
Conflicts of Interest
Staff and volunteers currently affiliated with American Short Fiction are ineligible for consideration or publication. Additionally, students, former students, and colleagues of the judge are not eligible to enter. We ask that previous winners wait three years after their winning entry is published before entering again.
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Deb Olin Unferth is the author of six books, including Barn 8 (Graywolf Press, 2020), Wait Till You See Me Dance, Minor Robberies, and Revolution: The Year I Fell in Love and Went to Join the War. She has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, three Pushcart Prizes, and was a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist. Her work has appeared in Granta, Harper’s, McSweeney’s, and the Paris Review.
When asked why writing is important, Unferth has said, “It’s like taking part in a great conversation. A great, urgent, important conversation. To create art.”
Can’t wait for your submissions! Good luck!