NEO•GRIOT

Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction

About the Flannery O'Connor Award

More than fifty short-story collections have appeared in the Flannery O'Connor Award series, which was established to encourage gifted emerging writers by bringing their work to a national readership. The first prize-winning book was published in 1983; the award has since become an important proving ground for writers and a showcase for the talent and promise that have brought about a resurgence in the short story as a genre. Winners are selected through an annual competition that attracts as many as three hundred manuscripts.

Winners of the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction include such widely read authors as Ha Jin, Antonya Nelson, Rita Ciresi, and Mary Hood.

 

Announcing a new series editor

Nancy Zafris is the new series editor for the Flannery O'Connor Award. Her most recent novel is Lucky Strike, a Book Sense notable pick. She has also published The Metal Shredders, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her first book, The People I Know, won the Flannery O'Connor Award as well as the Ohioana Library Association award. She was the fiction editor of the Kenyon Review for nine years before becoming the Flannery O'Connor Award series editor. For more information about Nancy, visit her website at www.nancyzafris.net

 

A note from Nancy Zafris

I want to talk a little bit about the selection process we’ll be using under my editorship. We will still have three external judges, and we will continue to use a blind review process, meaning that the name of the author is stripped from the manuscript before judging begins. Each judge will read a third of the contest entries and will make a selection of 7-10 finalist manuscripts, which will then be forwarded on to me. I will then select two winning manuscripts from this group of 20-30 finalists. It is my hope that this slightly revised selection process will allow the external judges more freedom to take chances in selecting interesting finalist manuscripts and that the competition will represent a fuller aesthetic range.

I know from personal experience that the unpublished writer feels the odds are stacked monumentally against him or her. Getting published is a terrifically hard business. I went up through the slush pile myself. I had no MFA in Creative Writing and no contacts. It took me four years to get my first story published. My first big break was winning the Flannery O’Connor Award. At the time I had published only three short stories.

So, how do I read a collection of short stories? I’ve read hundreds of manuscripts as a teacher, a colleague, and an editor. I always begin with an open mind—a mood of receptivity. However, it is the author’s job to meet my expectations, my desire to be delighted or charmed or moved. This means that writers need to work very hard on their opening pages. Tell your story in your own (authentic) quiet or loud or funny voice and I’ll give your story a chance.

How should you put together your collection? Should your collection err on the short side or the long side? Should your best story go first, or last? Should your title story be your first story? Should your first story be a shorter one, or longer one? If you have a novella, should it go last (I’ll just go ahead and answer that one: yes). There is no right or wrong formula, but these are questions you need to think about.

I won the Flannery O’Connor Award on my second try. After that, I began working with the series editor, the wonderful Charles East. We switched out stories and did a lot of editing. I was worried that the book seemed short, but he assured me that people like shorter rather than longer. Winning the Flannery O’Connor Award resulted in two major career starters for me: I got an agent, and I got a visiting professorship at a university.

So that’s my experience. Consider what this competition has to offer and then do what’s best for you. I look forward to reading your manuscript in the pool of finalists. Good luck!

Submission Guidelines

Each year the University of Georgia Press selects the winners of the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction. Authors of winning manuscripts receive a cash award of $1,000, and their collections are subsequently published by The Press under a standard book contract. The Press may occasionally select more than two winners.

Selection process: in addition to series editor Nancy Zafris there are three external judges. The manuscripts undergo blind review, meaning that the name of the author is stripped from the manuscript before judging begins. Each judge reads a third of the contest entries and makes a selection of 7-10 finalist manuscripts, which are then forwarded on to Nancy Zafris, who selects the two winning manuscripts from the group of 20-30 finalists.

Eligibility

1. The competition is open to writers in English, whether published or unpublished.
2. Stories that have previously appeared in magazines or in anthologies may be included.
3. Stories previously published in a book-length collection of the author's own work may not be included.
4. Collections that include long stories or novellas are acceptable. Estimated length of a novella is between 50 and 150 pages. Novels or single novellas will not be considered.

Submission Format

1. Manuscripts must be typed, double-spaced, fall within the range of 50,000 to 75,000 words, and be numbered consecutively (hand-numbering is acceptable).
2. All manuscripts should be printed in a 12-point type or larger. A standard font such as Times New Roman is recommended. Unusual or sans-serif fonts are hard to read.
3. This is a blind review process. Please include the author’s name, address, phone number, email address, and the title of the manuscript on the top cover sheet. On a second cover sheet, include only the title of the manuscript.
4. The author’s name should not appear anywhere except on the top cover sheet. Any manuscript including the author’s name elsewhere (for example, at the top of each page) will be returned, and the entrant will be asked to submit a new copy of the manuscript without the name included.
5. No indication should be given about where a story was published, either at the start of the story or in the table of contents.
6. All manuscripts must be accompanied by a $25 submission fee. Please make checks payable to the University of Georgia Press. Only checks drawn on a U.S. bank or international money orders in U.S. funds are acceptable.
7. Photocopies are acceptable if they are legible and printed on good quality white paper. Please check photocopies carefully to avoid having to send replacement pages or stories.
8. Do not send manuscripts in binder notebooks or bulky containers. Use two rubber bands and mail in a padded envelope.
9. Retain one copy of the manuscript for your files. Manuscripts submitted to the contest will not be returned.

Dates for Submission

1. Manuscripts must be submitted between April 1 and May 31. (Postmark should be no later than May 31.)
2. Send manuscripts to:
   

   The Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction
   The University of Georgia Press
   330 Research Drive
   Athens GA 30602-4901

Multiple Submissions

1. Manuscripts under consideration for this competition may be submitted elsewhere at the same time. Please notify us immediately, however, if your manuscript is accepted by another publisher while it is under review with our press.
2. Authors may submit more than one manuscript to the competition as long as each submission is accompanied by a $25 check, meets all eligibility requirements, and does not duplicate material submitted to us in another manuscript.

Checklist

In order to be considered in the competition, each submission must include the following items:

1. $25 submission fee.
2. One self-addressed stamped postcard for acknowledgment of receipt of materials.
3. One self-addressed stamped envelope for notification of contest results.

Winning Manuscripts

1. Contest results will be made public before the end of November.
2. Entrants who have enclosed an SASE will receive a letter announcing the winning manuscripts.
3. Authors of winning manuscripts will be expected to submit the manuscript on disk.

Statement of Integrity

The University of Georgia is thoroughly committed to academic integrity in all of its endeavors.
The University of Georgia Press adheres to all University of Georgia policies and procedures. To help ensure the integrity of the competition, manuscripts are judged through a blind review process. Judges in the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction competition are instructed to avoid conflicts of interest of all kinds.

PLEASE NOTE: The Press will accept no phone calls regarding the Flannery O'Connor Award.