Challenges
Enter themed storytelling contests to put your creativity to the test. Submit for a chance to win cash, prizes, experiences, donations, and more.
Open Challenges
Challenges you can enter now for a chance to win.
Craft Over Catharsis
Write a story that prioritizes structure, technique, or form over emotional release.
$200 Grand Prize3 days leftInstructions for a Feeling
Write a poem that gives instructions for how to experience, create, or avoid a feeling.
$200 Grand Prize8 days leftRituals of Affection
Write a story about a recurring ritual tied to love, romance, or connection. Something about it is unusual, unsettling, or unexplained.
$200 Grand Prize10 days leftThe Unnecessary Line
Write a poem that includes one line that does not strictly belong and let the tension it creates remain unresolved.
$200 Grand Prize17 days leftA System That Isn’t Working
Write about a system, whether social, economic, cultural, technological, or otherwise, that feels broken or misaligned.
$200 Grand Prize24 days leftEveryone Is Acting Normally
Write a story in which something is clearly wrong but all characters behave as if everything is normal.
$200 Grand Prize31 days leftThe Haiku of Now
Write a haiku that captures a small, precise moment from the present without reflection or commentary.
$200 Grand Prize36 days leftWhat the Myth Gets Wrong
Write a story set in a world where a well-known myth exists that focuses on a detail the myth simplifies, ignores, or distorts.
$200 Grand Prize38 days leftSomething Is Beginning, I Think
Write a story that opens at the edge of a beginning that feels uncertain, partial, or reluctant and avoid resolution.
$200 Grand Prize45 days leftSay It Plainly
Write a poem that states its central concern directly without metaphor, indirection, or symbolic substitution.
$200 Grand Prize52 days leftThe Rule Everyone Knows
Write a story centered on an unspoken rule that everyone in the story understands and follows, allowing the rule to emerge through behavior.
$200 Grand Prize57 days left
Recent Winners
Closed Challenges
These challenges are closed for entries. Our judges are reviewing submissions and winners will be selected soon.
Mismatch
Write a story that blends two contrasting genres, such as horror and romance, science fiction and western, or fantasy and noir.
$200 Grand PrizeClosedPublic Announcement
Write a poem that takes the form of a public announcement, notice, or warning.
$200 Grand PrizeClosedNothing But Voices
Write a complete short story using only dialogue. No descriptions, no dialogue tags, and no internal thoughts. Just voices on the page.
$200 Grand PrizeClosed
