Short Story Contest 2027 Guidelines

About

The 18th International Conference on the Short Story in English (ICSSE) is proud to sponsor our annual short story contest. We welcome entries from writers around the world; you don’t need to register for or attend the conference to enter. Contest winners will be invited to read and be recognized at the conference, but don’t need to be present to win.

Eligibility

Open to short stories of any style or genre, previously unpublished in English
A story is considered previously published if it’s appeared anywhere publicly, including a blog or social media post. Stories privately circulated (for example, in a school or university literary magazine) are still eligible.
We welcome stories translated into English, as long as any prior publication was only in a non-English language.
Preferred length is under 4,000 words, although it is acceptable to go slightly beyond that number if need be. We’re more interested in storytelling than numbers.
We do not accept stories created or translated using artificial intelligence (AI).

Key Dates

January 1, 2027: Contest Opens
March 1, 2027: Intermediate deadline (writers are encouraged to submit by this point)
March 31, 2027, 11:59 PM CDT: Final deadline (absolute; no entries accepted after this point)
May 2027: Winners notified
June 2027: Winners publicly announced at the conference

How to Submit

Email your story as an attachment to Dr. Maurice A. Lee mauricel@retired.uca.edu
Your cover email must include
- Your name
- The title of your story
- Your email address
- Translator’s name (if applicable)
No additional information is needed in the cover email; please don’t paste your story into the body of the email.

Formatting Requirements

Attach your story in .doc or .docx format
Use the story title (not your name) as the file name
All stories must be typed in English
Submissions are judged blind; do not include your name or any identifying information anywhere on the manuscript itself, including a separate title page
Simply type the title, centered, above the body of the story

Entry Fee

$30 per story, non-refundable, payable through the online payment form on our registration page. You can pay the entry fee without registering for the conference; just select the appropriate entry option.