The 29th annual Parsec Short Story Contest opens on January 1st and closes on March 31st.
There is never a fee to enter the Parsec Short Story contest thanks to the donations from our members and supporters . . . people like you! Thank you for your support!
If you would like to help support the annual contest, please make a donation here.
Your donation ensures the continuation of this writing contest.
VIEW PREVIOUS WINNERS HERE
The 2025 Contest theme is “ROOTS”
Roots. The point of origin, the source of life. Buried in earth and history, they are links to the unseen. Roots can crack stone and carry messages; they can bind us to solid ground or trip us up and send us sprawling. The 2025 Parsec Short Story Contest welcomes science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories that include all types of roots: family legends, genetic inheritance, plant-like aliens, root directories, symbiotic mycorrhizal systems . . . you get the idea.
Convey the theme through setting, plot, characters, dialogue; the only limit is your imagination. The theme must be integral to the story in some way and not just mentioned in passing.
Please note: We do not accept stories written by AI! We trust you to honor this request. Any submissions known to be created using AI will be automatically disqualified. (Use of spell check and voice-to-text dictation tools are unobjectionable.)
We welcome submissions from young writers for our Youth Story Prize! Teen writers age 19 or younger and currently attending high school may submit to either the main short story contest or to the youth story prize, but not both.
Dates and Deadlines: Contest opens on January 1st and closes on March 31st at 11:59:59pm EST.
Winners will be notified in July. All winners will be announced during the Confluence Conference.
Word count for all entries: No minimum, no more than 3500 words.
Requirements: Stories will be judged on writing quality and effective use of the contest theme.
Number: A maximum of one submission per person is allowed.
Eligibility: The contest is open to non-professional writers who have not met the eligibility requirements for SFWA Full Membership. Writers meeting the SFWA Associate level of membership are eligible to submit to the contest.
Previous first-place winners and current year contest coordinators, readers and judges are ineligible to enter.
Publication status: Submitted stories must be original, previously unpublished, and unsold to any other market.
Manuscript submissions should be in modern or classic proper manuscript format; double-spaced, and either Courier or Times New Roman font.
Acceptable MS formats include .doc, .docx, and .rtf.
Submitting to the contest implies consent for printing in the Confluence program book. The first place story will be printed in the Confluence program book. All rights revert to the author upon publication.
Coordinators and first readers screen the entries and the ten best submissions are then read by the judges. Decisions of the judges and coordinators are final.
Still have questions? Please see our FAQ’s page before contacting the contest coordinator.
How to Submit:
Electronic submissions will be accepted through Submittable January 1st – March 31st.
If this is your first time using Submittable, you will need to create a FREE account with them. Instructions for this will appear after you hit the submit link. It’s easy and quick.
Prizes:
First-place receives $200 and publication in the Confluence program book.*
Second-place receives $100
Third-place receives $50
Youth Story Prize receives $50
The Youth Story category is for ages up to 19 years IF you are still enrolled in and attending high school at the time of submission.
Coordinator:
M. Christine Benner Dixon is both a scholar and an artist, a grammarian and a poet. She loves the deep dive of serious research and literary criticism just as much as she loves worldbuilding for a speculative futuristic story.
After fifteen years teaching in various classrooms, she launched out as an independent writer and editor. Her work outside of education has ranged from web design for small businesses, editing projects for individuals, story consultation for media companies, and communication support for nonprofits. It is a great joy to her that she has been able to spend her life in the company of words.
She is based in Pittsburgh, PA, where she lives with her husband, books, and her gardens.
Judges:
SJ Powell is a speculative writer based in Pittsburgh, PA. Encompassing science-fiction, fantasy, and horror, their fiction investigates the cultivation of personhood in the dark by fugitives from humanity. Their stories sow unruly conceptions of being, materality, and affinity. How can fiction help us enter the greater-than-human world? They are a suburban naturalist and a bird lover.
Barbara A. Barnett is an avid rejection letter collector—or, what is more popularly known as a writer. Her short fiction, which ranges from dark to wacky to whimsical, has appeared in publications such as Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, Intergalactic Medicine Show, Fantasy Magazine, Daily Science Fiction, and Flash Fiction Online.
Eric Leif Davin Ph.D., is a prize-winning historian, journalist, and fiction writer. As a specialist in labor history and popular culture he is the author of “Crucible of Freedom: Workers’ Democracy in the Industrial Heartland” (Lexington Books, 2010) and “Radicals in Power: The New Left Experience in Office” (Lexington Books, 2012). He is also the author of “Pioneers of Wonder: Conversations with the Founders of Science Fiction” (Prometheus Books, 1999) and “Partners in Wonder: Women and the Birth of Science Fiction, 1926-1960” ( Lexington Books, 2006).
Open submission period: Jan 1st – March 31st annually
Contact the contest coordinator with questions.
Do NOT use this form for submissions!
Thank you to our 2025 contest sponsors:
Your donation made this contest possible!