The 2024 Voorheesville Short Story Contest
Theme: “But there’s a catch.”
In life, there’s almost always a catch. The beautiful new shoes cause blisters. Your promotion to the varsity team leaves you sitting ion the bench. The free upgrade to first class comes with a screaming kid for a neighbor. If something seems too good to be true, maybe it is!
We might call these drawbacks ‘the fly in the ointment’; the little things that spoil what would otherwise be wonderful. Write a story that leans into those frustrations, both big and small. Is there a workaround, or is this as good as it gets?
The 2024 Guidelines
What to Submit: an original short story of no more than 5,000 words.
Who Can Submit? all current eleventh and twelfth graders currently enrolled at Clayton A. Bouton High School.
This Year’s Theme: your story must, in some way, connect to the theme of But there’s a catch.
How to Submit: email your story to Mr. Stumbaugh at [email protected]. Stories must be submitted as an attachment in .rtf, .doc, .docx, .odt, or .txt format. Do not include the story in the body of your email!
All entries were due by April 8, 2024:
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The Process: all stories will be anonymously vetted by a panel of Clayton A. Bouton faculty 
and staff members. The top ten stories will be sent to our guest judge, Laurin Jefferson, where theywill be ranked. All stories that go on to the final round, regardless of contest outcome, will receive written critiques from the judges. The top five stories will earn cash prizes, and will be recognized at an awards ceremony at the end of the year.
Awards
1st Place- $500
2nd Place- $300
3rd Place- $100
4th Place- two $50 prizes
Check out our blog post for Tips on Writing Short Stories!
The Blackbird Review Writing Award is given to a student from the Clayton A.Bouton High School that has submitted a piece of fiction to The Blackbird Review during that school year. All published work is eligible for The Blackbird Review Writing Award and will be evaluated by a faculty panel of judges. The Blackbird Review Writing Award recipients will receive their awards at the appropriate awards night in June.
Deadlines for all entries is by the publication of the Spring edition of the magazine, usually in May.
The Blackbird Review Writing Award recipient will receive a $50.00 cash award.