Caketrain Journal and Press is proud to announce our 2008 Caketrain Chapbook Competition, the fourth installment of our annual creative writing contest. This year, in an effort to further expand the horizons of our book series, we have decided for the first time ever to look at chapbook manuscripts in the fiction genre (never fear, poets — your genre of choice is slated to make its triumphant return in 2009). We’re very excited about this new development and the fantastic work that is sure to emerge.

Each year, we bring a special guest into the selection process, a writer whose work we hold in very high regard, and this year is no exception: for 2008, we ourselves remain amazed by the news that Brian Evenson will serve as our final judge. Evenson is the Director of the Literary Arts Program at Brown University and the author of seven books of fiction, most recently The Open Curtain (a Time Out New York Best of 2006 selection) and The Wavering Knife (which won the IHG Award for best story collection). He has translated work by Chrstian Gailly, Jean Frémon and Jacques Jouet. He has received an O. Henry Prize as well as an NEA fellowship.

The winner of the competition receives a $250 cash prize and 25 copies of their chapbook. The chapbook will be published in a 200-copy run on sixty-pound, acid-free text stock bound with a full-color cover. We hear we’ve put together some gorgeous books so far — to see how they’ve turned out, please check out our previous winners, Elizabeth Skurnick’s Check-In (2005), Tom Whalen’s Dolls (2007), and Claire Hero’s afterpastures (2008).

Eligibility and Reading Fee (Print and Electronic Formats):

This competition is open to fiction manuscripts written in the English language — this can entail a single work (i.e. a novella) or a collection of shorter works. While previously-published stories or excerpts of stories may be included in the manuscript, the manuscript as a whole must be an unpublished work. Translations and previously self-published works are ineligible. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable; please note, however, that reading fees are non-refundable, and Caketrain is to be notified as soon as possible if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere. Manuscript revisions will not be considered during reading period. Please do not include cover artwork or photographs with your submission. Author must not have a close personal or professional relationship with Brian Evenson or any Caketrain Journal and Press staff member; if an author is unsure whether this policy applies to him or her, Caketrain will gladly address inquiries.

In a change from previous years, the reader may now choose between two reading fee amounts: either $15 for consideration only or $20 for consideration and a copy of the winning chapbook upon its release.

For more info, visit www.caketrain.org/competition08.html