(Contest Submission) The Short Story Prize

The Short Story Prize 

From 1990 until 2014, the biannual journal Short Story published a grab bag of short stories, critical articles, essays, interviews, and book reviews. It represented a unique contribution to the literary world. Well, it’s back—with a new look and vision under the auspices of the North American Review.

For a time, the two publications shared an institutional home at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and after a more than decade-long hiatus, the NAR is reviving its sister journal as an annual to make a home for an eclectic range of short fiction, craft essays, and other story-related material.

In order to create space for a wide range of different kinds of stories, Short Story returns with an eye toward plot and a strong narrative arc and an emphasis on entertainment. Our promise is to be a venue open not only to literary stories, but also westerns, rom-coms, thrillers, horror stories, crime stories, sci-fi stories, tales, yarns, and other narrative modes, forms, and genres. All finalists for our annual Short Story Prize will be published.

Open for submission: December 1, 2025 

Deadline: April 1, 2026 

First Prize: $1,000 

Finalists: $100 (upon publication)

Word count: 2,500 - 7,500 words 

Judge: Molly Antopol

• Submissions are judged anonymously; please remove identifying information from the manuscript.
• Current University of Northern Iowa students are not eligible to submit.
• Close friends, family members, or former students/teachers of the final judge are not eligible to submit. 
• The winner will be published in the 2026 annual issue of Short Story in the fall. All entry fees include copy. 
• All finalists for the prize will be published.
• Results will be announced in July. 

      Please see prize page on our website here for full FAQs and guidelines before submitting.