CRAFT Short Fiction Prize 2026

CRAFT 2026 Short Fiction Prize

Guest Judge: Jess Row

September 15, 2026 – November 15, 2026

$3,300 Awarded

The time of year may be different but the call is the same: CRAFT wants your best short fiction! The CRAFT Short Fiction Prize returns and is open for submissions from September 15 through November 15, 2026. We’re looking for the stories that excel at every level of craft: impeccable characterization, settings that feel lived in, voices that could belong to no one else, pitch-perfect pacing.

But don’t just take our word for it. Here’s what Guest Judge Jess Row is looking for in a short story:

State secrets, scandalous personal details about fascists in high office, instructions for building weapons (psychic and material), general seething at the state of the world, Raymond Carver in drag, frivolous gestures, direct address to the reader, recipes involving feet (of any kind), sentences that could get you arrested, Venmo account details for your bail fund.

The first-place winner will receive a $2,500 award and online publication. The second- and third-place finalists will receive $500 and $300, respectively, along with online publication. All winners will be accompanied by an introduction by Guest Judge Jess Row. Additionally, everyone who submits will receive a 10 percent discount off any single-session or multi-week class at StoryStudio! A discount code will be provided in your confirmation email.

GUIDELINES:

The CRAFT 2026 Short Fiction Prize opens on September 15 and closes on November 15, 2026.
The Prize is open to all fiction writers, emerging and experienced.
We seek short fiction only for this contest: 1,000 to 5,000 words in length. Please do not send flash prose or poetry to this contest.
We review literary fiction but are open to a variety of genres and styles—our only requirement is that you show excellence in your craft.
This contest requires a $20 entry fee per submission.
Writers from historically marginalized groups will be able to submit for free until we reach fifty free submissions.
We allow multiple and simultaneous submissions. Each submission must be accompanied by a separate reading fee. Writers, please notify us and withdraw your submission if your piece is accepted for publication elsewhere.
Submit previously unpublished work only—we do not review reprints or partial reprints (including work posted on blogs, personal websites, social media, et cetera). Reprints will be automatically disqualified.
International submissions are allowed. Please submit work primarily written in English, but some code-switching/meshing is warmly welcomed.
No translations, please.
Please double-space your submission and use Times New Roman 12.
Please include a brief cover letter with your publication history and any content warnings (if applicable).
We do not require anonymous submissions, but the guest judge will read the shortlist anonymized.
Please review our values before submitting.
All entries will also be considered for publication in CRAFT.
Unless you’ve already secured the necessary permissions, please do not include quoted song lyrics in your submitted work.
AI-generated or -assisted submissions will be automatically disqualified. This includes using LLMs (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or similar) to translate your work.
We are always happy to answer any questions. Email us: contact@craftliterary.com.

AWARDS:

The winner receives a $2,500 cash award.
Second- and third-place finalists receive $500 and $300, respectively.
The top three stories will be published in CRAFT, each with an introduction by the guest judge.
Each publication will also include an author’s note (craft essay) by the writer.

FINE PRINT:

Friends, family, and associates of the guest judge are not eligible for consideration for the award.
Our collaboration with editorial professionals in the judging of our contests and the awarding of our prizes does not imply an endorsement or recognition from their agencies, houses, presses, universities, et cetera.
Read our 2025 contest winners for examples of work chosen in the past.
The results will be announced in March and the finalists will be published in April 2027.

OUR GUEST JUDGE:

JESS ROW is the author of two novels (Your Face in Mine and The New Earth), two essay collections (White Flights and On Being Short), and three collections of short stories (The Train to Lo Wu, Nobody Ever Gets Lost, and Storyknife). His short fiction has appeared in The Best American Short Stories, O. Henry Prize, and Pushcart Prize anthologies, and he’s won a Guggenheim award, among others. He teaches writing at NYU and lives in Manhattan and Vermont.

OUR CONTEST PARTNER:

STORYSTUDIO CHICAGO is a nonprofit literary arts organization focused on building a writing community. We offer more than 200 online and in-person creative writing classes and events each year, which include everything from single-session classes focused on one aspect of craft to multi-session weekly classes to full year-long programs. We nurture writers of all ages and all skill levels and our programming covers all genres, from short stories and novels, to creative nonfiction like memoirs and essays, to poetry, screenwriting, satire, and just about anything you can imagine. For the CRAFT 2026 Short Fiction Prize, StoryStudio Chicago is offering a 10% discount code, which will be provided upon submission.

OPTIONAL EDITORIAL FEEDBACK:

You may choose to receive editorial feedback on your work. We will provide marginal notes, as well as a two-page global letter discussing the strengths of the writing and the recommended focus for revision. While editorial feedback is inherently subjective, our suggestions are always actionable and encouraging. We aim to have feedback completed within twelve weeks from the close of the contest. Work that we critique is not eligible for submission to future CRAFT contests, but can be revised and resubmitted in our general categories for further consideration.

Learn more about the editorial feedback team.