The 2007 Orchid: A Literary Review
SHORT FICTION CONTEST
www.orchidlit.org

1st Prize: $1100 + Publication in Issue #11 (Spring 2008)
Four Finalists: Notation + Possible Publication
2007 Final Judge
Stuart Dybek

Stuart Dybek is the author of three books of fiction: I Sailed With Magellan, The Coast of Chicago, and Childhood and Other Neighborhoods. Both I Sailed With Magellan and The Coast of Chicago were New York Times Notable Books, and The Coast of Chicago was a One Book One Chicago selection. Dybek has also published two collections of poetry: Streets in Their Own Ink and Brass Knuckles. His fiction, poetry, and nonfiction have appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s, The Atlantic, Poetry, Tin House, and many other magazines, and have been widely anthologized, including work in both Best American Fiction and Best American Poetry. Among Dybek’s numerous awards are a PEN/Malamud Prize “for distinguished achievement in the short story,” a Lannan Award, a Whiting Writers Award, an Award from the Academy of Arts and Letters, several O.Henry Prizes, and fellowships from the NEA and the Guggenheim Foundation.

Contest Guidelines

Postmark deadline: June 1, 2007 (see below for info on how to enter online). We require a $15 entry fee (check or money order, made out to Orchid: A Literary Review for each story up to 7,000 words; entry fees are non-refundable. The contest is open to international writers but the contest fee must be paid in US dollars only) Your submissions will not be returned; send an SASE for early results (July 15, 2007). The top twenty finalists will receive a copy of Orchid: A Literary Review No. 11 in which the winning entries will be published. Individuals who have worked for Orchid: A Literary Review (past or present) are excluded. Our judge’s decisions are final. Special Note #1 People are always asking if their name should appear on the manuscript. We don’t care. The contest is blind. The judge does not see the author’s name or contact info. It’s a question of who does the blinding. We black out or delete all author names and contact info before passing it on the judge. You can choose to put all of that info on a separate sheet but we really don’t care. It’s up to you. Special Note #2 Our guidelines page shows why simultaneous submissions are generally a good idea and we do accept simultaneous submissions for our contest. However, we have to ask: Why would you want to do that? Contests are somewhat different than regular submissions. Why have your story accepted somewhere for little or no money when you could have had publication and a thousand dollar prize? You kinda, gotta assume that if the story is good enough for publication it’s good enough for the prize or publication as a runner-up. Think about it.

Send entries to
Orchid: A Literary Review
Attn: 2007 Short Fiction Contest
P.O. Box 131457
Ann Arbor, MI 48113-1457