Don't Miss This: Fiction and Nonfiction Contest Announcements from Dappled Things

Earlier this month, Denise Montgomery , from Catholic Writers of St. Louis, forwarded an e-mail with some exciting contest announcements from Dappled Things, a quarterly of ideas, art, & faith. 

It's taken me a while to pass this information along, but it's worth reading and sharing!

Here's what I like about these contests:

The contest prizes are generous. 

The processing fee for fiction is only $2.

There's no processing for nonfiction entries.

So, here's the scoop:

Last year, Dappled Things debuted the J.F. Powers Prize for Short Fiction. The contest drew about 400 entries, from which a winner and nine honorable mentions were selected by a panel of independent judges. 

This year the magazine is introducing a nonfiction category, the Jacques Maritain Prize for Nonfiction.

Here’s what you need to know if you are interested in making a submission to either prize:

What are the prize amounts?

For the J. F. Powers Prize for short fiction: 
1st place: $500
2nd place: $250

8 honorable mentions: publication in the journal and a one-year subscription.

What is the deadline for the fiction prize?

You can submit your story until November 28, 2014.

For the JacquesMaritain Prize for Nonfiction, the prizes are:

1st place: $500
2nd place: $300
3rd place: $200

What is the deadline for the nonfiction prize?

Since all nonfiction submissions will be eligible for the prize (selected from among all the essays published in Dappled Things during a given year), then submissions for the prize are accepted year-round. To participate in the current prize, your piece should appear at the latest in the Mary, Queen of Angels 2015 edition, which means you would have to make a submission by June 2015. The issues could all be filled before then, however, so don’t delay. The editors publish about two to three essays per issue, and all published essays will be finalists for the prize. The earlier you submit, the likelier the chances your essay will appear among a given year’s finalists.

What kind of submissions are you looking for?
For the J.F. Powers Prize for Short Fiction, please review the submission guidelines. If you have a story to submit that doesn't fit those guidelines, please consider making a submission under the general fiction category.

With regards to the Jacques Maritain Prize for Nonfiction, the editors are not limiting submissions to a particular theme (this being in keeping with Maritain’s own broad interests), other than what would fit within the context of a Catholic cultural and literary journal. In other words, please follow the nonfiction submission guidelines and look at the nonfiction pieces that appear in previous issues. 

When will winners be announced?
Winners of the J.F. Powers Prize for Short Fiction will be announced in February 2015. Winners of the Jacques Maritain Prize for Nonfiction will be announced in December 2015 (with the finalists being announced as each issue is published, starting with the Christmas 2014 edition).

Is there a reading fee?
No. 

However, given the costs imposed on us by the huge number of entries last the winner will be year, we are instituting a nominal $2 processing fee for the fiction prize to help us run it as efficiently as possible. Think of it as the equivalent of paying for postage if submissions were being accepted through the mail. 

There will be no processing fee for the nonfiction prize this year.

Make your submissions soon! 

Further information will be posted on the Contests page as well as Submittable.