The 2023 Voorheesville Short Story Contest
Theme: “A Roll of the Dice.”
Despite all our skill and effort, sometimes life simply comes down to luck. Whether you’re trying to win a game, land a job, or find a significant other, there’s no sure way to know how it’ll work out — or how good your luck will be. A twist of fate could send you catapulting into happiness, or your luck could sour in the blink of an eye. But if you can push through bad luck, you might just find you can change it. So you’ll want to get your rabbits’ feet and four leaf clovers ready. Are you feeling lucky?
The 2023 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 A Roll of the Dice.
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 March 19, 2023:
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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, where they will 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.