This is awarded annually for the best short story, novel excerpt, poem, one-act play, graphic story, or work of literary nonfiction published by a new or emerging writer in Narrative.

The prize is announced each September and is given to the best work published each year in Narrative by a new or emerging writer, as judged by the magazine’s editors. In some years, the prize may be divided between winners, when more than one work merits the award.

Word Count Guidelines:

SHORT SHORT STORY manuscripts must be at least 500 and no more than 2,000 words in length.

MANUSCRIPTS OF 2,000 to 15,000 WORDS can include short stories, essays, one-act plays, and other complete short works of nonfiction, and excerpts from longer works of fiction and nonfiction.

NOVELLAS and other long works that are less than book length may run between 15,000 and 40,000 words. For works of this length, please submit the first 15,000 words with a synopsis. (Based on our reading of the first 15,000 words, we will ask to see the complete manuscript if we think the work is suitable for Narrative.)

SERIALIZATION OF BOOK-LENGTH WORKS. For consideration for serialization, please send the first chapter and a one-page synopsis of the book. (Based on our reading of the first chapter and synopsis, we will ask to see the complete book manuscript if we think the book is suitable for serialization in Narrative. For further information on our program of serializations, please click here.)

POETRY submissions may contain up to five poems. The poems should be contained in a single file. Your submission should give a strong sense of your style and range. We accept submissions of all poetic forms and genres but do not accept translations.

ONE-ACT PLAYS: We are particularly interested in finding dramas whose impact can be experienced as much on the page as in production. We are open to plays that have been previously published but are out of print, to plays that have been produced, and to ones that have never been produced or published. Length can run up to 15,000 words.

NARRATIVE OUTLOUD AUDIO PROSE submissions may be fiction or nonfiction but should take a storytelling form. Audio prose submissions must be in MP3 format and may be up to ten minutes long. Files must be no bigger than 50mb.

NARRATIVE OUTLOUD AUDIO POETRY submissions must be in MP3 format and may be up to ten minutes long. Files must be no bigger than 50mb.

NARRATIVE OUTLOUD VIDEO submissions may be short films and documentaries of up to 15 minutes. Submissions must be in .mp4 or .mov format. Files must be no bigger than 50mb.

READERS’ NARRATIVES may run up to 1,500 words.

For more information, visit https://www.narrativemagazine.com/great-stories/narrative-prize,