The Masters Review Anthology Volume XII
//Submissions Open Through April 2nd//
Every year The Masters Review opens submissions to produce our anthology, a collection of ten stories and essays written by the best emerging authors. Our aim is to showcase ten writers who we believe will continue to produce great work. The ten winners are nationally distributed in a printed book with their stories and essays exposed to top agents, editors, and authors across the country. Our third volume was awarded the Silver Medal for Best Short Story Collection through the INDIEFAB Awards in 2015, and our fourth volume was an honorable mention for best anthology. Check us out on Amazon!
JUDGING
Each year The Masters Review pairs with a guest judge to select stories. Our editorial team produces a shortlist of stories, which our judge reviews to select winners. Our past judges include Lauren Groff, AM Homes, Lev Grossman, Kevin Brockmeier, Amy Hempel, Roxane Gay, Rebecca Makkai, Kate Bernheimer, Rick Bass, Diane Cook, and Peter Ho Davies. This year’s judge is Toni Jensen!
Toni Jensen is the author of Carry: A Memoir of Survival on Stolen Land, a finalist for the Dayton Peace Prize and a New York Times Editors’ Choice book (Ballantine 2020). An NEA Creative Writing Fellowship recipient in 2020, Jensen’s essays have appeared in Orion, Catapult and Ecotone
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
-
Previously unpublished works of fiction and narrative nonfiction only
- Up to 7000 words
- We accept simultaneous submissions as long as work is withdrawn if it is accepted elsewhere
- Multiple submissions are allowed
- International English submissions allowed
- Emerging Writers Only. Writers must not have published a novel-length work at the time of submission (authors of short story collections and self-published titles can submit as can authors with novels or memoirs with a low distribution [no more than 5000 copies])
- Standard formatting please (double-spaced, 12 pt font, pages numbered)
- $20 entry fee
- Deadline: April 2nd, 2023
- Please, no identifying information on your story
- All submissions are considered for publication in the anthology as well as New Voices
- If requesting an editorial letter, please indicate on your cover letter if the submissions is fiction or creative nonfiction
- A significant portion of the editorial letter fees go to our feedback editor, according to the rates established by the EFA
- All submissions will receive a response by the end of June
- Winners will be announced by the end of July
- To view a list of our most commonly asked questions regarding submitting to The Masters Review, please see our FAQ page
- Friends, family and associates of the final judge are not eligible for this award
- Writers who have earned an Anthology Prize before and whose work appears in our printed book cannot submit to this category but are welcome to send us work in other open categories
We don’t have any preferences topically or in terms of style. We’re simply looking for the best. We don’t define, nor are we interested in, stories identified by their genre. We do, however, consider ourselves a publication that focuses on literary fiction. Dazzle us, take chances, and be bold
TEN PUBLISHED AUTHORS WILL RECEIVE:
- $500 award.
- Publication in our nationally distributed journal.
- Exposure to over 50 literary agencies.
- Contributor’s copy.
- All writers are part of an exclusive mailing. We send our anthology to editors, writers, and literary institutions across the country.
Congratulations to the Anthology XI finalists!
Funny Not Funny by Jenna Abrams
Open Enrollment by Danielle Claro
The Tree in the Desert by David DeGusta
Bad Guys by Patricia Garcia Lujan
Sanctuary by Tim Griffith
Walking to Camano by Clemintine Guirado
The Dog by Fredrick Kunkle
Barely a Sound by Kathleen Latham
Hammock by Roy Udeh-Ubaka
Egging by Sophia Zaklikowski
The full shortlist can be found here.
“I read your issues like clockwork! I’m a literary agent, and there’s such a great cast of emerging writers on this site that I’m always checking in to see if there’s anyone who might be looking for representation for longer form work.” –VICTORIA MARINI, GELFMAN SCHNEIDER / ICM PARTNERS
“If these are the voices we’ll be hearing from, American literature has an awful lot to look forward to.” –RAMONA AUSUBEL, author of No One is Here Except All of Us and A Guide to Being Born
“The future of literature.” –Reader’s Favorite
The Masters Review Volume X
Congratulations to the authors selected for our tenth volume and a warm thank you to all who submitted; this list represents a small piece of the incredible fiction and nonfiction we received. You can purchase a copy of The Masters Review Volume X by ordering on Amazon.
The Masters Review Volume X – Judged by Diane Cook
Chelsy Diaz Amaya – Tanya Bellehumeur-Allatt – Megan Callahan – John Darcy – Hilary Dean – Travis Eisenbise – Elissa C. Huang – Eliana Ramage – Greg Schutz – Francis Walsh
The Masters Review Volume IX – Judged by Rick Bass
Emma Eun-joo Cho – Paola Ferrante – Jack Foraker – Dara Kell – Charisse Hovey Kubr – Leeyee Lim – Barbara Litkowski – Stefani Nellen – Stephanie Pushaw – Rachel Markels Webber
Author’s Rights
The Masters Review holds first publication rights for three months after publication. Authors agree not to publish, nor authorize or permit the publication of, any part of the material for three months following The Masters Review’s first publication. For reprints we ask for acknowledgement of its publication in The Masters Review first.
