Skip to main content

Contest Submissions

Submissions for contests require a small submission fee ($5), and each contest will have a paid winner and runner-up, unless otherwise specified. All general guidelines for submissions apply to contest submissions. Guidelines specific to each contest will be explained on this page.

To read the work from winners in previous contests, visit our Contests page:

Read Our Contest Winners

Current Contest:
Great Expectations: Christmas Morning

This contest opens December 4th 11:59 and closes January 7th at 11:59

 

Imagine opening a gift from a loved one; what were your expectations? Were they met or did they fall flat? Have there been other times or experiences in your life when you were extremely surprised or bitterly disappointed? We are looking for submissions from across all our featured genres: fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and visual art! Even if you want to submit a song we would love to hear it!

First Place Prize: $50
Second Place Prize: $25

The Dos

  • Submission fee: $5 for each submission, and only one piece per submission.
  • Submission length: Between 500 and 3000 words for prose, between three lines and two pages for poetry, up to three photos for art, up to three songs for music
  • Genre: All genres (fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, art, music)
  • Format: Please submit works as a DOC, DOCX, or PDF file for writing. Visual arts submissions must be scanned at 300 DPI or higher and saved as a .jpeg or .tiff image. In the case of a musical submission, please upload as an .mp3 file. Include the title of your piece in the “Submission Title” field on Submittable.
  • Language: Literary submissions must be written in English and may not exceed specified word limits.
  • Who can submit: Anyone!

The Don’ts

  • Don’t include your name in any of the attachments.
  • Don’t submit previously published work. Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but please let us know if your piece has been accepted somewhere else.
  • Current Inscape staff members may not enter or be considered for publication.
  • We do not accept pieces that invoke the name of deity as an expletive. We also ask that you refrain from submitting anything depicting gratuitous sexual, violent, or otherwise morally objectionable content.
  • The use of artificial intelligence to create submissions for Inscape Journal or Inscape contests is prohibited.

 

Any submission that does not follow these guidelines will not be considered. Visit our contests page and get a feel for what we publish.