NEO•GRIOT

The Wordstock Ten

Short Fiction Competition

This international contest is a “double blind” competition. The judges, a collection of writers, academics, publishers, bookstore owners, and literary critics, choose ten finalists from the stories submitted. All ten finalists’ stories are published in The Wordstock Ten, an anthology that is available at the festival, at Portland-area bookstores, and online through the Wordstock website.

The winner of the competition, chosen from this field of 10 finalists, receives a first prize of $1,000. The top submission by an Oregon-based writer will receive publication in the October issue of Portland Monthly magazine.

2012 Contest

The final judge for this year’s competition will be essayist and short story author Steve Almond. Check below for complete guidelines and submission link.

Purchasing The Wordstock Ten
Previous editions of The Wordstock Ten from 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011, are available for purchase (though sadly, 2007 is out of print). You can find information about all the editions here, on The Wordstock Ten – Past Editions page. To purchase previous editions, contact us.

Any proceeds from the Wordstock Short Fiction Competition are used to support Wordstock’s work with teachers and students.

Click here to submit your short fiction to Wordstock — Submission deadline is July 1st

The Guidelines
Wordstock only accepts electronic entries to this competition. (NB: 2012 submissions close July 1st.)

Submission guidelines
- All short stories must be works of fiction written in English
- Stories must be an original work and not previously published
- The entry fee is $30 per short story entry
- There are no genre restrictions, and comics are acceptable
- Manuscripts may be in Word compatible or PDF format
- Manuscripts must be double-spaced
- Stories should be no less than 1,500 and no more than 3,000 words
- Each submission file you upload must omit the writer’s contact information—DO NOT put this information on the manuscript!
- Entries that do not follow these guidelines will be disqualified

Questions? Contact us

Click here to submit your short fiction to Wordstock — Submission deadline is July 1st