Very Short Fiction Award

We are interested in reading your original, unpublished stories!
(We don't publish stories for children, I'm sorry.) Multiple
submissions are fine. (You can send more than one submission per
competition, if you like, or submit the same story for different
categories, if it qualifies). When we accept a story for publication,
we are purchasing first-publication rights. (Once we've published your
story, you are free to, for instance, include it in your own
collection.)

Dates:

• February. Results will be posted at www.glimmertrain.org on May 31.
• August. Results will be posted at www.glimmertrain.org on November 31.

Reading fee: $15 per story.

Awards: 1st place wins $1,200, publication in Glimmer Train Stories, 20 copies of that issue, and a one-year subscription. 2nd/ 3rd-place: $500/$300, respectively.

Other considerations:

• Open to all writers
• Stories not to exceed 3,000 words.(No minimum, though it's rare for a piece under 500 words to read as a full story.)

Fearless is an interesting word, for in fact, in being fearless you
are not without fear, rather you are withstanding fear. You are moving
forward in spite of it. Writing a very short story requires a degree of
fearlessness and I think reading one does also. I have deep respect for
the very short story for many reasons, perhaps most profoundly for its
fearlessness. –Meredith Pignon