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Upcoming deadline:


Very Short Fiction Award. 1st place $1,500and publication in Issue 96. Deadline: 31st January.

(NOTE: The grace period for the Fiction Open has been extended to 12th January since there was a technical hangup last weekend, for which we apologize!)


Winners and finalists will be announced in the April bulletin, and contacted directly by 26th March. Second- and 3rd-places win $500/$300, respectively, or, if published, $700.
Open to all! Any story—up to 3,000 words—that has not previously been accepted for print publication is welcome. (Please, no more than three submissions per contest.)Writing Guidelines
Glimmer Train's 2015 Submission Calendar

My wife said something that was so wonderful. Toward the end of all this, when I finally did find the right way to write the story and I was very happy, I said, "Jessica, I'm just a quirky writer. I'm always going to write quirky books, and I guess that's just the way it's going to be." And she said, "Well, Mark, our quirks are all we have to offer."—Mark Salzman, The Man in the Empty Boat

Essays in this bulletin:

Stefani Nellen: This was a topic that fascinated me back then, and it still does: mental illness, "craziness"—different ways of perceiving and being in the world. I had wanted to be a voice for those who couldn't express themselves, or who were dismissed as lunatics. (read more)
William Luvaas: Then there was a horrible accident my wife and I had on the New York State Thruway, driving home from New York City at one a.m. A driver fell asleep at the wheel and rear-ended us at ninety miles an hour, sending our van careening like a pool ball. (read more)
Eva Lomski: Of all the writing styles I encountered, fiction was the most taxing, not because the writing "rules" (such as show, don't tell and use the active voice) were so hard to understand (or ignore judiciously), but because it required a deeper level of introspection and empathy. (read more)



Results of the October Very Short Fiction Contest

Winners and finalists have been notified, the Top 25 list is posted, and here are the Honorable Mentions. Our thanks to all of you for letting us read your stories!
1st place goes to Eva Lomski for "The Things We Build." Publishes in Issue #96.
2nd place goes to Francisco Delgado for "International Politics."
3rd place goes to Chris Santiago for "Flyover Country."