The Knoxville Writers Guild is accepting submissions the month of September 2024 for the annual short fiction contest for Adult writers. Submissions must be received electronically by 11:59 p.m. on October 7th. Please direct questions regarding the contest to knoxvillewritersguild.org/contact and choose Contest Questions.

General Contest Guidelines

Please read the guidelines carefully.

Who can submit?

· Anyone EXCEPT KWG Board members and Contest Committee members. A first-prize winner may not enter for the following one-year period.

Is there a limit on submissions?

· No, but see Submission Fees below.

What is a submission?

· An unpublished work of fiction 5000 words or less. Submission of previously published works will result in disqualification from the contest and forfeiting the submission fee. Designate on the submission whether it is for Adult or Youth Writers. Youth Writers are those in grades 7-12 in Knox and surrounding counties.

How do I submit my work?

Submissions are now closed! Thank you to all participants.

· All submissions must be posted by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on October 7th, 2024, through the online submission process. Entries received via email or through the postal service will not be processed.

a. The title of your attachment should match the title of your submission.

b. Each submission must be entered separately as an individual submission with the applicable fee.

c. You will receive an automated email confirmation that the committee has received your submission. Please send a follow-up inquiry if you do not receive an email confirmation for receipt of your submission.

· Specifications: Black text, double-spaced, white background, 12-point Times New Roman.

· Do not include your name, pen name, or any other identifying information on the submissions themselves. If you do, your submission will be rejected, and you will forfeit your submission fee.

What are the submission fees?

· For members, the first submission is free, but thereafter the fee is $10 per submission.

· For nonmembers, $15 per submission. If you’d like to become a KWG member, you may join at knoxvillewritersguild.org for only $30/year ($15 for students).

· Submit your electronic payment via the online submission process. Checks or cash are not allowed.

Prizes

· First Place Prize, $300. Second Place Prize, $100 in each category. Prizes may not be awarded if an insufficient number of eligible submissions are received.

· Winners will be notified by phone and/or email.

· The First Place winner in each category will be invited to read a selection from the winning submission at the November 2024 meeting of the Knoxville Writers Guild, when the winners will be announced. Prize checks will be mailed to the address connected to the submission unless otherwise notified. The meeting will be in-person at Addison’s Book Store in Knoxville.

· The Knoxville Writers Guild will publish the first and second place submissions on its website for two months unless the prize winner requests otherwise.

Judge—Dr. Michael Cody

Department of Literature and Language

East Tennessee State University

MICHAEL AMOS CODY was born in Sumter, South Carolina, and grew up in the village of Walnut, jewel of Madison County, North Carolina, not far from the ruins of Runion, a place he has reimagined for stories appearing in Tampa Review, Yemassee, The Chaffin Journal, Still: The Journal, and other publications. He spent his formative twenties living and working as a songwriter in Nashville, Tennessee, where his songs were recorded by Glen Campbell, Gary Morris, and others, including himself. He is the author of Charles Brockden Brown and the LiteraryMagazine: Cultural Journalism in the Early American Republic (McFarland, 2004) and the novel Gabriel’s Songbook (Pisgah Press, 2017). He is co-editor of The Literary Magazine and Other Writings, 1803-1807, volume three of The Collected Writings of Charles Brockden Brown (Bucknell UP, 2019). His collection of short stories, A Twilight Reel, was published in May 2021 by Pisgah Press and won the Short Story / Anthology category in the Feathered Quill Book Awards 2022. His new novel, Streets of Nashville, is scheduled for publication in April 2025 by Madville Publishing. Cody lives with his wife Leesa in Jonesborough, Tennessee, and teaches American literature before 1900, Native American literature, and mythology in the Department of Literature & Language at East Tennessee State University.

Equal Opportunity: The Knoxville Writers Guild does not discriminate against any person because of race, age, gender, handicap, or country of national origin.