judged by Morgan Talty

September 24 to November 19, 2023 (CLOSED)

 

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Thank you to everyone who submitted to this contest! We're busy reading every submission! We announce a longlist in 12 weeks!

We’re back with our fourth anthology, and we can’t wait to read your stories. We didn’t pick a theme for this contest because we want to revel in the deeply dynamic imaginations of our fantastic submitters. Each year, you wow our readers by writing the stories that only you could write, and we’re honored to give these stories a platform to introduce them to our dedicated readers who love flash and microfiction as much as we do. Challenge the status quo and surprise us with your unique characters, your specific settings, and your intriguing conflicts.

 

Showcasing today's best flash fiction writers. $5,000 awarded between 20 finalists. Submissions are open for the Fractured Lit Anthology Volume 4 from September 24 to November 19, 2023.

 

This year stories will be selected by Morgan Talty, who will choose 20 winners from a shortlist of 40 stories.

 

Morgan Talty, a citizen of the Penobscot Indian Nation, is the author of the nationally bestselling and critically acclaimed story collection Night of the Living Rez from Tin House Books, which won the New England Book Award, was a finalist for the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers, and is a finalist for the 2023 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction. His writing has appeared in Granta, The Georgia Review, Shenandoah, TriQuarterly, Narrative Magazine, LitHub, and elsewhere. A winner of the 2021 Narrative Prize, Talty’s work has been supported by the Elizabeth George Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts (2022). Talty is an assistant professor of English in Creative Writing and Native American and Contemporary Literature at the University of Maine, Orono, and he is on the faculty at the Stonecoast MFA in creative writing as well as the Institute of American Indian Arts. Talty is also a prose editor at The Massachusetts Review. He lives in Levant, Maine.

 

Fractured Lit is looking for flash fiction that lingers long past the first reading. We're searching for flash that investigates the mysteries of being human, the sorrow and the joy of connecting to the diverse population around us. We want stories that leave the conventional and the clichéd far behind. Fractured Lit is a flash fiction–centered place for all writers of any background and experience.

guidelines

  • Your $20 reading fee allows up to two stories of 1,000 words or fewer each per entry—if submitting two stories, please put them both in a SINGLE document.
  • We allow multiple submissions—each set of two flash stories should have a separate submission accompanied by a reading fee.
  • Please send flash fiction only—1,000 word count maximum per story.
  • We only consider unpublished work for contests—we do not review reprints, including self-published work (even on blogs and social media). Reprints will be automatically disqualified.
  • Simultaneous submissions are okay—please notify us and withdraw your entry if you find another home for your writing.
  • All entries will also be considered for publication in Fractured Lit.
  • Double-space your submission and use Times New Roman 12 (or larger if needed).
  • Please include a brief cover letter with your publication history (if applicable).
  • We only read work in English, though some code-switching is warmly welcomed.
  • We do not read anonymous submissions. However, shortlisted stories are sent anonymously to the judge.
  • Unless specifically requested, we do not accept AI-generated work.

The deadline for entry is November 19, 2023. We will announce the shortlist within ten to twelve weeks of the contest's close. All writers will be notified when the results are final.

Some Submittable Hot Tips:

  • Please be sure to whitelist/add this address to your contacts, so notifications do not get filtered as spam/junk: notifications@email.submittable.com.
  • If you realize you sent the wrong version of your piece: It happens. Please DO NOT withdraw the piece and resubmit. Submittable collects a nonrefundable fee each time. Please DO message us from within the submission to request that we open the entry for editing, which will allow you to fix everything from typos in your cover letter to uploading a new draft. The only time we will not allow a change is if the piece is already under review by a reader.

OPTIONAL EDITORIAL FEEDBACK:

You may choose to receive editorial feedback on your piece. We will provide a two-page global letter discussing the strengths of the writing and the recommended focus for revision. We aim to make our comments actionable and encouraging. These letters are written by editors and staff readers of Fractured Lit. Should your story win, no feedback will be offered, and your fee will be refunded.

 

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