Nyabola Prize for Science Fiction 2021

The Mabati-Cornell Kiswahili Prize for African Literature has announced the Nyabola Prize for Science Fiction, for speculative fiction written in Kiswahili by authors aged 18-35.

The award is designed to promote and popularise a Kiswahili vocabulary for technology and digital rights, in order to empower citizens in Kiswahili-speaking communities to participate in broader conversations on the issues.

First prize will receive $1,000, second prize $500, third Prize $250, and the ...Read More

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QueerSciFi.com Flash Fiction Contest Opens

The QueerSciFi.com Flash Fiction Contest is open now through April 30, 2021, with the theme this year of “Ink”.

Tell us about ink (and the stain it leaves) on your characters, the culture, and the world, for better or worse.

We’ll be accepting works from across the queer spectrum, and would love to see more entries including lesbian, trans, bi, intersex and ace protagonists, as well as gay men. We ...Read More

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Jack L. Chalker Young Writers’ Contest

The Jack L. Chalker Young Writers’ Contest is open to original science fiction and fantasy submissions by Maryland students “no younger than 14 and no older than 18 years of age.” First, second, and third prizes are $150, $100, and $50, respectively, and the deadline for submissions is March 31st, 2021.

The contest is run by the Baltimore Science Fiction Society (BSFS) and “Judges shall be drawn from the membership

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2020-2021 NESFA Contest Winners

Winners of the New England Science Fiction Association (NESFA) SF/F short story contest were announced at Boskone 58, held online, February 12-14, 2021. Prizes included certificates of achievement, books from NESFA Press, and free membership to a future Boskone convention.

  • WINNER: “The Last Prophet”, Nicholas Marconi
  • Runner-up: “What We Take from Each Other”, Sam Ruhmkorff
  • Honorable Mention: “You Told Me To”, John Dulak
  • Honorable Mention: “Letter to Death”, K.S. Shere
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Infected By Art 9 Winners

The grand prize winners of the ninth Infected By Art competition have been announced:

  • 1st Place: “St. George and the Dragon“, Scott Gustafson
  • 2nd Place: “The Seers“, Vanessa Lemen
  • 3rd Place: “Dream of Quan Yin“, Forest Rogers
  • 4th Place: “The Dragon Dance“, Justin Gerard
  • 5th Place: “Ancient Stones“, Francesca Resta

Winners receive cash prizes, ranging from $125 to $1,000, and publication in Infected By Art: Volume 9. Judges were

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Octavia E. Butler Student Writing Contest

Washington STEAM Multilingual Academy (WSMA) in Pasadena CA announced a new science fiction writing contest named in honor of alumnus Octavia E. Butler. Last year, the school renamed its library after Butler as well. Librarian Natalie Daily said,

It’s the idea of [Butler] representing a very, unique way of integrating science and the arts, and bringing that to the world and her award-winning writing. And we want to inspire our ...Read More

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Imagine 2200 Short Story Contest

Submissions are now open for the Imagine 2200 short story contest. The theme is “Climate fiction for future ancestors.”

The contest is run by Fix, Grist‘s “solutions lab,” and will be judged by authors Adrienne Maree Brown, Morgan Jerkins, and Kiese Laymon. They are seeking entries between 3,000 and 5,000 words “that envision the next 180 years of equitable climate progress.”

First prize is $3,000, second prize $2,000, and third ...Read More

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ISFiC Writers Contest Results

Results of the 2020 Illinois Science Fiction in Chicago (ISFiC) short fiction contest for unpublished writers of science fiction and fantasy have been announced. No winner was selected, but the judges did choose “The Adventures of Nel” by S.Y. Kaplan as an honorable mention. Kaplan receives a one ounce silver coin.

The contest was “open to any resident of Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, or Wisconsin or ...Read More

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2020 Dream Foundry Contest Winners

Dream Foundry, a “non-profit dedicated to bolstering the careers of nascent professionals working with the speculative arts,” has announced the winners for its 2020 contests:

Writing Contest

  • First place: “Surat Dari Hantu”, Lisabelle Tay
  • Second place: “The Failed Dianas”, Monique Laban
  • Third place: “The Loneliness of Former Constellations”, P.H. Low
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Mike Resnick Memorial Award for Short Fiction

The inaugural Mike Resnick Memorial Award for Short Fiction will open for submissions from January 1 to April 30, 2021. The annual award — sponsored by Galaxy’s Edge, Arc Manor, and Dragon Con — is given to the best unpublished science fiction short story by a new author “who has not had any work (including short stories, novelettes, novellas and novels) published by any of the professional publishers listed by ...Read More

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Apex Holiday Horrors Flash Fiction Winner

The winner and runners-up of Apex magazine’s Holiday Horrors flash fiction contest have been announced:

  • WINNER: “All I Want for Christmas”, Charles Payseur
  • Runner-up: “Blood and Peppermint”, Clint Collins
  • Runner-up: “Missa do Galo”, Inês Montenegro

Payseur’s story will be published in Apex #121 on January 5, 2021. The runners-up each receive $10 and will be published on Apex‘s blog and Patreon page. The winner and runners-up were chosen by guest

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ISFiC Writers Contest Deadline Extension

The 2020 Illinois Science Fiction in Chicago (ISFiC) short fiction contest for unpublished writers of science fiction and fantasy has extended its deadline for submissions to November 27, 2020. First prize includes $300, publication in the Windycon 47 program book and on the ISFiC website, and membership and accommodations for Windycon 47, to be held at the Westin in Lombard, Illinois on November 12-14, 2021, COVID-permitting, featuring all of the ...Read More

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Kaguya Sci-Fi Contest Winners

Japanese science fiction website VirtualGorillaPlus (VG+) has announced the winners of its Kaguya Sci-Fi Contest, judged by Terrie Hashimoto:

  • Grand Prize: “Dewdrops and Pearls”, Umiyuri Katsuyama
  • Readers’ Prize: “Someday That Summer”, Mahiro Saeki
  • Chief Judge’s Prize: “Aboard My Grandfather”, Ryuhei Otake
  • Judge’s Special Prize: “Remote”, Kaoru Sakasaki

Winners were chosen from 416 entries on the theme of “Schools of the Future.” The grand prize story was translated into English and ...Read More

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SKRIVA Short Story Competition Winners

Results of the 2020 Fantastiknovelltävlingen, a Swedish “Fantastic Short Story Competiton” organized by writers’ email list SKRIVA, have been announced. First, second, and third place all resulted in ties.

First Place

  • “Tretton dagar i underjorden” [“Thirteen Days Underground”], Elin Frykholm
  • “Möbhell AB” [“Furniture Hell Inc”], Lukas Renklint

Second Place

  • “Rose-Majs stickning” [“Rose-Maj’s Knitting”], Frank Berger
  • “Sjöjungfrun i Fyrisån” [“The Mermaid in the Fyris Creek”], Tony Elgenstierna

Third Place

  • “Min vän
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2020 BFS Short Story Competition

Results for the British Fantasy Society’s (BFS) short story competition have been announced:

  • First place: “Thought Surgery”, Richard Webb
  • Second place: “Fairy Cattle”, Patrick Creek
  • Third place: “One Direction”, Beverley Haddon

First prize is £100 and a year’s membership in the BFS. Second prize is £50 and a year’s membership. Third prize is £20. All three stories will be published in BFS Horizons. Judges this year were Charlotte Bond, Lucy

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ISFiC Writers Contest Opens

The 2020 Illinois Science Fiction in Chicago (ISFiC) short fiction contest for unpublished writers of science fiction and fantasy is open to submissions through November 13, 2020. First prize includes $300, publication in the Windycon 47 program book and on the ISFiC website, and membership and accommodations for Windycon 47. Up to two honorable mentions will each receive an “American 1 oz. Silver Coin.”

The contest is open to applicants ...Read More

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Omega Sci-Fi Awards Open

The Omega Sci-Fi Awards, presented by Sci-Fest LA and the Light Bringer Project, are now open for entries in the following competitions:

The Roswell Award short story competition is open to writers 16 years old and up. First place winner receives $500 and access to the UCLA Extension writers’ program. Second prize is $250, and third prize is $100. The Women Hold Up Half the Sky Award, co-presented by Artemis  ...Read More

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Dream Foundry Contest Opens

The Dream Foundry short story contest “for beginning professionals” is open to submissions from August 10 – October 11, 2020. The contest is open to writers who have published, in total, fewer than 4,000 words, earned less than $320, and have never been nominated for a major award.

Contest coordinators will select ten finalists, and judges will select first, second, and third-place winners from those finalists. First prize is $1,000, ...Read More

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Photo Story: Fenners Take Over Spectrum

ARNIE FENNER retired as senior art director at An­drews McMeel on May 29, 2020. He & CATHY FENNER will take over as directors of the Spectrum Fantastic Art competi­tion and editors of the annual Spectrum art book, replacing JOHN FLESKES, beginning with the 28th competition this Fall. The Fenners founded the compe­tition in 1994 and ran it until Fleskes took over in 2013. Further announce­ments regarding the new advisory ...Read More

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2020 Jim Baen Memorial Award Finalists

Baen Books has announced the ten finalists for the 2020 Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award:

  • “The Boy Who Cried Fish”, D.A. D’Amico
  • “Stars of Their Own”, Austin Eberle
  • “Dancing on Spun Sugar”, Meghan Feldman
  • “Sample Return”, C. Stuart Hardwick
  • “Wander On”, William Paul Jones
  • “Primum Non Nocere”, K.D. Julicher
  • “Spinners”, Kate MacEachern
  • “Bounty #1486”, Wendy Nikel
  • “Bagala Devi Objective”, M.T. Reiten
  • “The Caretaker”, Tiffany Smith

The Grand Prize winner ...Read More

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NESFA Contest Winners

Winners of the New England Science Fiction Association (NESFA) SF/F short story contest were announced at Boskone 57, held at the Westin Waterfront Hotel in Boston MA, February 14-16, 2020. Prizes included certificates of achievement, books from NESFA Press, and free membership to a future Boskone convention.

  • WINNER: “Stick in the Mud”, Mary Alexandra Agner
  • Runner-up: “Hope Chest”, Sarah Day
  • Honorable Mention: “The Gravity of Grace”, Carina Bisset
  • Honorable Mention:
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Short Story Contests Open

The 2020 Poul Anderson Creative Writing Contest is open to Orinda CA high school students now through April 10, 2020. The contest is sponsored by the Friends of the Orinda Library, who will reward cash prizes in the categories of Science Fiction/Fantasy, Essay/Memoir/Biography, Poetry, and Short Story. For more information, see the contest website.

Continuum 16 is running a short story competition with the theme “Coming of age in other ...Read More

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Patterson Gives Bonuses

Author and philanthropist James Patterson is of­fering bonuses (a total of $200,000) to Barnes & Noble booksellers this year in the form of a contest: he will give $300 to the bookseller in each B&N branch who creates the best display, as judged by store managers. He says, “I’m excited about all the recent changes at Barnes & Noble and to see where they go next. But I’ve always been ...Read More

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Hugo Award Design Competition

CoNZealand, the 78th Worldcon to be held July 29 – August 2, 2020 in Wellington, New Zealand, has opened the competition to design the base for the 2020 Hugo and 1945 Retro Hugo Awards. The competition is open to artists “living and working in New Zealand.” The deadline to submit proposals is January 17, 2020, with a winner to be selected by early February.

The winner will receive a membership ...Read More

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Dream Foundry Writing Contest Winners

Dream Foundry, a “non-profit dedicated to bolstering the careers of nascent professionals working with the speculative arts,” has announced the winners of its inaugural writing contest, “open to anyone with a completed short story who had not yet been professionally paid for their work”:

  • First place: Jamie Adams
  • Second place: Claire Whitmore
  • Third place: Rose Wachowski
  • Honorable mention: Samantha Lynne Sargent

The contest coordinator was William Ledbetter. Judges for 2019

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Golakai Wins 2019 Morland Writing Scholarship

Hawa Jande Golakai of Liberia is one of four Morland Writing Scholarship recipients, chosen for “Speculative fiction of soaring imagination featuring a tightly controlled underwater city of glass in a future mecca for black people in West Africa.” Each winner will receive ₤18,000, paid monthly over the course of twelve months, “to allow them to take a year off to write a book.”

The Morland Writing Scholarships are for “anyone ...Read More

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2020 Neukom Awards Open

The Neukom Institute for Computational Science at Dartmouth College is open to submissions for its 2020 Literary Arts Awards now until December 31, 2019. Results will be announced in spring 2020, with $5,000 awarded to each winner in playwriting, established author, and debut author categories. The playwriting prompt is, “What does it mean to be a human in a computerized world?”

For more information, see the Neukom Institute website.

While ...Read More

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Dream Foundry Writing Contest Finalists

Dream Foundry, a “non-profit dedicated to bolstering the careers of nascent professionals working with the speculative arts,” has announced the finalists for its inaugural writing contest which “was open to anyone with a completed short story who had not yet been professionally paid for their work”:

  • Jamie Adams
  • Steven Berger
  • S Rain Lawrence
  • Samantha Lynne Sargent
  • Andrew J. Savage
  • Tiffany Smith
  • Sam Tovey
  • Rose Wachowski
  • Claire Whitmore
  • Douglas Wu

The

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2019 BSFS Amateur Writing Contest Winners

Winners of the 2019 Baltimore Science Fiction Society (BSFS) Amateur Writing Contest were announced on October 19, 2019 during Capclave, held at the Rockville Hilton in Rockville MD.

  • 1st Place: “Echo”, Preston Stone
  • 2nd Place: “Angel”, 3 Retired Rabbits
  • 3rd Place: “The Water Always Glints in the Sun”, Amy Bernstein

The contest is open to non-professional writers residing in Maryland. The first place winner receives $250, an invitation to read

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Curtis Brown First Novel Prize

Dazzling by Chikọdili Emelumadu has won the inaugural Curtis Brown First Novel Prize. Emelumadu will receive £3,000 and an offer of representation from the Curtis Brown agency. The Wickedry of Mrs Wood by Lucy Barker was runner-up, and Barker will also receive an offer of representation; Monkeyflower by Debra Hills won a special commendation prize, earning Hills “a place on a three-month novel-writing course.” Curtis Brown Creative received “more than ...Read More

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2020 Baen Memorial Contest Open

The 2020 Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award contest is open until February 1, 2020. Co-sponsored by Baen Books and the National Space Society, the contest focuses on stories of near-future space exploration.

The grand prize includes publication on the Baen website at “normal paying rates for professional story submittals,” an engraved award, an assortment of Baen books, free admission to the 2020 International Space Development Conference, a year’s membership ...Read More

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