Submissions open July 1st – August 28th

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Summer is for Short Stories! The Masters Review’s Short Story Award for New Writers is a bi-annual contest that recognizes the best fiction from today’s emerging writers. Judging this year’s summer contest is Chelsea Bieker, author of GODSHOT and the new collection Heartbroke. The winner receives a $3,000 prize and agency review, and their story will be published online in late winter/early spring. Second and third place finalists will be awarded publication, agency review and $300/$200 prizes. Participating agents include: Nat Sobel from Sobel Weber, Victoria Cappello from The Bent Agency, Andrea Morrison from Writers House, Sarah Fuentes from Fletcher & Company, and Heather Schroder from Compass Talent. Our mission from day one has been to support emerging writers. We want you to succeed. We want your words to be read.

• Winner receives $3000, publication, and agency review
• Second and third place prizes ($300 / $200, publication, and agency review)
• Stories under 6000 words
• Previously unpublished stories only
• Simultaneous and multiple submissions allowed
• Emerging writers only; writers with book-length work published or under contract with a major press are ineligible. (We are interested in offering a larger platform to new writers. Authors with short story collections are free to submit unpublished work, as are writers with books published by indie presses.)
• International English submissions allowed. No translations.
  
• Double-spaced, 12 pt easy-to-read font (i.e., Times New Roman, Garamond, etc.) please!
• $20 entry fee
• Deadline: August 28th, 2022
• All stories are considered for publication
• All submissions will receive a response by the end of November
• Winners will be announced by the end of December
• Friends, family and associates of the final judge are not eligible for this award. Consider submitting to the Winter contest!
• A significant portion of the editorial letter fees go to our feedback editor, according to the rates established by the EFA

Chelsea Bieker is the author of two books, the novel GODSHOT which was a finalist for both the Oregon and California Book Award, longlisted for The Center For Fiction’s First Novel Prize, and named a Barnes and Noble Pick of the Month, and the story collection, HEARTBROKE. Her writing has appeared in The Paris Review, Granta, The Cut, McSweeney’s, Lit Hub, Electric Literature, and others. She is the recipient of a Rona Jaffe Writers’ Award, as well as residencies from MacDowell and Tin House Books. Originally from California’s Central Valley, she lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and two children where she is writing her third book.

The winter finalists have been announced! Check here for the full shortlist.

Winner update: Joe Bond earned representation from Sarah Fuentes of Fletcher & Company, and Caitlin O’Neil earned representation from Victoria Marini and our 2016 Fall Fiction winner, Ruth Joffre, selected by Kelly Link sold her story collection to Grove Atlantic with our winning piece as the title story. Awesome.

You can scroll to the bottom of this page to sign up for a text reminder before the deadline.

// PAST AWARD WINNERS //

2021 Summer Award Winners:

Judged by Kristen Arnett.

Winner:
“Night Stencils” by Sherine Elbanhawy

Second Place Story:
“Wish You Were Here” by Carlee Jensen

Third Place Story:
“All This is Yours to Lose” by Marcus Tan

Honorable Mention:
“Degenerate Matter” by Jen Galvao

2020 Winter Award Winners:

Judged by Helen Oyeyemi.

Winner
“Straight to My Heart” by Dean Jamieson

Second Place
“Collection of the Artist” by Corey Flintoff

Third Place
“You’re Not the Only One” by William Hawkins

Honorable Mention
“Celestial Navigation” by Heather Marshall

2020 Summer Award Winners:

Judged by Kali Fajardo-Anstine.

Winner:
“Burning” by Adeline Lovell

Second Place Story:
“Matchbox” by Nancy Ludmerer

Third Place Story:
“Como La Flor” by Dayna Cobarrubias

Honorable Mention:
“Petrified” by Clare Howdle

2019 Winter Award Winners:

Judged by Kimberly King Parsons.

First Place Story:
“The Driver” by Samantha Xiao Cody

Second Place Story:
“Joe Blake” by Raeden Richardson

Third Place Story:
“The Easiest Thing in the World” by Taylor Grieshober

Honorable Mention:
“Rapture” by Chloe Seim

2019 Summer Award Winners:

Judged by Tope Folarin.

First Place Story:
“Ghost Story” by Becca Anderson

Second Place Story:
“Escape Velocity” by Karisa Tell

Third Place Story:
“Mutts” by Shane Page

Honorable Mention:
“Terraforming Mars” by Emmett Knowlton

2018 Winter Award Winners:

Judged by Aimee Bender.

First Place Story:
“Damico” by Joe Bond

Second Place Story:
“Caretaker Needed” by Meghan Daniels

Third Place Story:
“Narada’s Ears” by Sanjena Sathian

Honorable Mention:
“At This Late Hour” by Rebecca Turkewitz

2018 Summer Award Winners:

First Place Story:
“Confirmation“ by Alina Grabowski

Second Place Story:
“Portrait of a Virgin“ by Rachel Cochran

Third Place Story:
“A Country Where I Am Beautiful“ by Patricia Smith

Honorable Mentions:

“Headshot” by Charles Ullmann
“We Are The Horizon” by Laura Fletcher

2017 Winter Award Winners:

First Place Story:
“Drop Zone Summer” by Nick Fuller Googins

Second Place Story:
“A History That Brings Me To You” by Katie M. Flynn

Third Place Story:
“Birth Stories” by Sarah Harris Wallman

2016 Winter Award Winners:

First Place Story:
“Operation” by Scott Gloden

Second Place Story:
“White Out” by Caitlin O’Neil

Third Place Story:
“Malheur Refuge” by Rick Attig

2016 Summer Award Winners:

First Place Story:
“Red” by Katie Knoll

Second Place Story:
“Ledgers” by Claire Boyles

Third Place Story:
“The First Location” by Molly Reid