Speculative Philosophical Fiction Contest
Congratulations to the Winners!
Winner – If Only by Joe Baumann
Runner Up – Saving Jennifer by Shell St. James
Runner Up – So Simple by Jennifer R. Povey
NOTE: I am not running this contest in 2022. I want to thank our donor and all of the writers who submitted stories to this contest last year.
A new contest will be coming to Theme of Absence this year. The theme of this contest is Philosophical, Metaphysical, or Epistemological fiction. Keep reading for the details.
The contest is sponsored by a donor who wishes to remain anonymous. It will open March 1, 2021 and remain open for submissions until March 31, 2021. The winning story and runners-up will be published on August 1, 2021.
Entry and submission guidelines:
Only original, unpublished flash fiction is eligible for this contest. The story must revolve around some metaphysical or epistemological issue, like the nature of time or knowledge of the external world. The maximum word count for this contest is 1,000.
A story that has at any point been made publicly available in print or online (including personal blogs) is considered previously published and will not be eligible. We are also not accepting multiple submissions, meaning submit only one story for the contest.
The payment for the winning entry is $500.00, payable through PayPal. The top two runners-up will receive $50.00 each.
I won’t seek any rights, other than the non-exclusive right to archive the story here as long as the site is live. Bear in mind that a large percent of publications will not accept pieces that have been previously published in print or online, so after your work is published at Theme of Absence, it can only be marketed elsewhere as a reprint. All copyright is retained by the author.
If you agree with these terms, please submit your story in the following way:
Email your story to submissions@themeofabsence.com. In the subject, include the words PHILOSOPHICAL SUBMISSION, the story title and word count (example: PHILOSOPICAL SUBMISSION: Rappelling Into Plato’s Cave, 500 words). Paste the story in the body of the email with no tabs or indents and a space between paragraphs. Include an author bio written in the third person with any links you’d like to share.
