William Van Dyke Short Story Prize
We are now accepting entries for the 2012 Short Story Prize. We are proud to announce that this annual short story contest is now being sponsored by the William Van Dyke Charitable Fund and has been renamed The William Van Dyke Short Story Prize. The prize award has also been generously increased to $1,000. We are so grateful for this gift. We are also thrilled to announce that our finalist judge is award-winning author Leif Enger.
The entry deadline is October 1st, 2011. The winning story from the 2011 Prize, selected by Leif Enger, appears in Issue 19 of Ruminate. You can also read 2009's winning story, selected by award-winning author Bret Lott and awarded a notable mention in the Best American Short Stories anthology.
Guidelines:
-The submission deadline for the short story contest is midnight October 1st, 2011.
-The entry fee is $15 (includes a free copy of the Spring 2012 Issue).
-You may submit one short story per contest entry and it must be 7000 words or less. There is no limit on the number of entries per person.
-$1000 will be awarded to the winner and publication in the Spring 2012 Issue will be awarded to the winning story and runner-up story.
-A blind reading of all entries will be conducted by a panel of RUMINATE readers, who will select 8 short stories as finalists.
-Close friends and students (current & former) of the finalist judge are not eligible to compete. Nor are close friends or family of the RUMINATE staff.
-All submissions must be submitted via our online submission form below. We will not accept mail or email submissions. We do not accept previously published entries.
-You may pay online below or mail your payment.
-Winners will be announced in the Spring Issue, March 2012.
-We will be notifying all entrants of submission status in early January, 2012.
-Please remove your name, bio, and any contact info from the file that you submit.
Submission is a two-step process:
1. You must first pay the submission fee by selecting the "Pay Now" button below. A new window will open at the Paypal website where you can either pay by credit card (you do not need a Paypal account for this option), or with your Paypal account if you have one.
Short Story Entry Fee
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2. After paying the submisison fee for the short story contest, you can fill out the submission form and upload your story by selecting the link below.
Submission Form
*You may also pay by mail. Upload your work using the above submission form and then mail a check made payable to RUMINATE MAGAZINE, attention Short Story Prize at 140 N. Roosevelt Ave., Fort Collins, CO 80521. Along with your entry fee, please let us know the title of the piece you have submitted and make sure your entry fee is postmarked by October 1st, 2010.
Please Note: RUMINATE adheres to the following Contest Code of Ethics, as adopted by the Council of Literary Presses and Magazines , of which RUMINATE is a proud member: "CLMP's community of independent literary publishers believes that ethical contests serve our shared goal: to connect writers and readers bypublishing exceptional writing. We believe that intent to actethically, clarity of guidelines, and transparency of process form the foundation of an ethical contest. To that end, we agree to 1) conduct our contests as ethically as possible and to address any unethical behavior on the part of our readers, judges, or editors; 2) to provide clear and specific contest guidelines -- defining conflict of interest for all parties involved; and 3) to make the mechanics of our selection process available to the public. This Code recognizes that different contest models produce different results, but that each model can berun ethically. We have adopted this Code to reinforce our integrity and dedication as a publishing community and to ensure that our contests contribute to a vibrant literary heritage."
Ruminate Magazine sponsors three annual writing contests: our poetry contest, short story contest, and nonfiction contest. We are one of the only Christian-minded literary magazines to sponsor short story contests, poetry contests, and nonfiction contests, and while our contests--just like our magazine--are not defined as Christian poetry contests or Christian short story contests or Christian essay contests, we do believe we are providing a forum for the conversation between art and faith to exist and continue. Past winners from the Ruminate Magazine writing contests have been recognized by Poets & Writers Magazine and have received notable mention awards in The Best American Short Stories anthology or have gone on to appear in other collections or anthologies. Past finalist judges of our poetry contests and short story contests include Bret Lott, David James Duncan, Luci Shaw, Vito Aiuto, Greg Wolfe, and Leif Enger. We hope our writing contests provide a significant venue for our talented contributors to receive the support and recognition they deserve.
