This contest is now closed. Thank you to everyone that submitted!
judged by Sara Lippmann
May 15 to July 16, 2023
And the winners are:
Grand Prize Winner: For a Short Time Only by Holly Burns
15 Finalists (in alphabetic order) are:
- Pairs by Jennifer Ahlquist
- possible future for our daughter #683 by Carly Alaimo
- Is Now and Ever Shall Be by Alex Bisker
- If we name it Mittens, can we please keep the food delivery bot, please? by Moisés Delgado
- We Mistakenly Think It Keeps Growing by Marilyn Hope
- Candied Lemon by Grace Kennedy
- Intertidal by Ali Mckenzie-Murdoch
- In All The Loveless Places by Jennifer McMahon
- My Mother, the Water Monster by Aeriel Merillat
- The Girl Made of Dirt by Dawn Miller
- Piel Muerta by Gabriella Navas
- Cheerful by G. Ochsner
- Four by Evan Ramzipoor
- Fullness by Payne Ratner
- Snagging Blanket by Abigail F. Taylor
We're excited to launch a new contest for our flash writers. From May 15 to July 16, 2023, we welcome writers to submit to the Fractured Lit Flash Fiction OPEN.
Fractured Lit publishes flash fiction with emotional resonance, with characters who come to life through their actions and responses to the world around them. We’re searching for flash that investigates the mysteries of being human, the sorrow and the joy of connecting to a diverse population.
We're thrilled to partner with Guest Judge Sara Lippmann, who will choose one grand prize winner and 15 finalists from a shortlist. The first-place winner will receive $2,000 and publication, while the 15 finalists will receive $100 and publication. All entries will be considered for general publication.
Good luck and happy writing!
SARA LIPPMANN is the author of the novel Lech (Tortoise Books) and the story collections Doll Palace (re-released by 7.13 Books) and Jerks (Mason Jar Press.) Her fiction has been honored by the New York Foundation for the Arts, and her essays have appeared in The Millions, The Washington Post, Catapult, Literary Hub, and elsewhere. With Seth Rogoff, she is co-editing the anthology Smashing the Tablets: Radical Retellings of the Hebrew Bible for SUNY Press. She is a founding member of the Writing Co-Lab and lives with her family in Brooklyn.
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 requires 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.
The deadline for entry is July 16, 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 to 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 global letter discussing the strengths of the writing and the recommended focus for revision. Our aim is 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.