Katherine Anne Porter Prize

Katherine Anne Porter PrizeDeadline: June 30, 2017 by 5pm
Entry Fee: $25
Prize: $1,000 & Publication
Website: http://untpress.unt.edu/contest

Katherine Anne Porter Guidelines:
The University of North Texas Press announces the 2018 Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction. The winner of this annual award will receive $1000 and publication by UNT Press. Entries will be judged by an eminent writer.

Dates for submission: Manuscripts may be submitted between 9:00 a.m. on May 1 and 5:00 p.m. on June 30. The winning manuscript will be announced in January 2018.

  • We only accept electronic submissions through Submittable.
  • Our online submissions manager is available here: Online Submissions
  • The $25 entry fee can be paid online via credit card or PayPal.

Entries can be a combination of short-shorts, short stories, and novellas, from 100 to 200 book pages in length (word count between 27,500 and 50,000). Material should be previously unpublished in book form. Once a winner is declared and contracted for publication, UNT Press will hold the rights to the stories in the winning collection. They may no longer be under consideration for serial publication elsewhere and must be withdrawn by the author from consideration.

Manuscript Guidelines:

  1. Please be sure manuscript pages are numbered.
  2. Please include a table of contents.
  3. Please use a standard, easy-to-read font such as Times New Roman in twelve-point size.
  4. Stories included in the submission may have appeared previously in magazines or anthologies but may not have been previously published in a book-length collection of the author’s own work.
  5. Authors may submit more than one manuscript to the competition for consideration as long as no material is duplicated between submissions. Each submission will require a separate entry fee.
  6. Manuscripts under consideration for this competition may be submitted elsewhere at the same time. Please withdraw your manuscript if it is accepted by another publisher and should no longer be considered for the Katherine Anne Porter Award competition. Withdrawal can be completed via the submissions manager website. Entry fees are not refundable.

Blind review: Manuscripts will be considered on the merits of the fiction and neither the initial reading committee members nor the final judge will be aware of the names or publication records of the authors. Please do not include your name on the pages of the manuscript—only in the form boxes of the electronic submission manager. The first page of the manuscript should include the title of the collection only.

Previous Winners

The Expense of a View by Polly Buckingham was our 2016 winner, judged by Chris Offutt

Last Words of the Holy Ghost by Matt Cashion was our 2015 winner, judged by Lee K. Abbott

The Year of Perfect Happiness by Becky Adnot-Haynes was our 2014 winner, judged by Matt Bell

In These Times the Home Is a Tired Place by Jessica Hollander was our 2013 winner, judged by Katherine Dunn.

Venus in the Afternoon by Tehila Lieberman was our 2012 winner, judged by Miroslav Penkov.

Out of Time by Geoff Schmidt was our 2011 winner, judged by Ben Marcus.

A Bright Soothing Noise by Peter Brown was our 2010 winner, judged by Josip Novakovich.

Irish Girl by Tim Johnston was our 2009 winner, judged by Janet Peery.

Last Known Position by James Mathews was our 2008 winner, judged by Tom Franklin.

Wonderful Girl by Aimee LaBrie was our 2007 winner, judged by Bill Roorbach.

Body Language by Kelly Magee was our 2006 winner, judged by Dan Chaon.

What Are You Afraid Of? by Michael Hyde, was our 2005 winner, judged by Sharon Oard Warner.

Let’s Do by Rebecca Meacham was our 2004 winner, judged by Jonis Agee. Let’s Do was selected for the Spring 2005 Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers Program.

Here Comes the Roar by Dave Shaw was our 2003 winner, judged by Marly Swick.

The Stuntman’s Daughter, a collection of stories by Alice Blanchard, was the 1996 winner of the Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction. Ms. Blanchard went on to sign a lucrative contract with Bantam for her first novel, Darkness Peering.