Win Cash Prizes for Your Short Stories!

Pangyrus invites you to submit to a Fiction Contest! The contest winner will be awarded a cash prize of $1,000 and publication. Second and third place winners receive $250 and publication.

We are thrilled to have novelist Marjan Kamali as our guest judge. Marjan is the author of three novels including The Lion Women of Tehran (2024). You can read more about Marjan’s work on her website: https://www.marjankamali.com/

Submissions open April 1 and close on April 30, 2025 at midnight. The submission fee is $20.

All submissions should be made through Submittable here.

Guidelines. The guidelines and requirements are as follows:

1. Pangyrus seeks short stories with a word length of no more than 7,000 words. We’re looking for your best fiction with writing that sings and a story that transports us. There are no rules, no boundaries for this contest. Write on any topic, any theme, and from any point of view.

2. There are no citizenship requirements or limitations. Online submissions are accepted from around the world.

3. Short stories must be in English, although it is perfectly acceptable to include some text in other languages.

4. Short stories must be original. Absolutely no stories generated by AI will be accepted.

5. Short stories must be previously unpublished. We do not accept work that has already appeared in a publicly available outlet.

6. Simultaneous submissions to other contests and multiple submissions to this contest are perfectly acceptable. You DO need to notify us if your story is taken elsewhere.

7. All submissions must be at least 12 point type, double spaced, and in a standard and readable font such as Times New Roman.

8. If you are submitting a short story that includes photographs or other graphic images please request additional guidelines by sending an email to pangyrus@gmail.com.

9. Revisions are not allowed to a short story after it has been submitted to the contest.

10. “Family members” or “close friends” of the judge and editors are NOT ELIGIBLE. Email us if you need clarification on any of these terms!

11. If the contest entry fee of $20 represents a hardship, please email us at pangyrus@gmail.com. Our donors have generously offered to help.

12. The judge’s verdict is final. No correspondence will be entered into.

13. Entry is taken to be acceptance of these rules.

14. The prizes will be awarded upon publication of the fiction collection.

15. Pangyrus holds publishing rights for one year after publication, after which publishing rights revert to the author. (Please acknowledge Pangyrus in any subsequent publications.)

Errors in Your Submission. If our staff find a serious error in your entry (your submission file won’t open, is locked so we cannot remove identifying info, is unreadable, or is missing pages, or your credit card info is incorrect or your payment is missing, etc.) we will contact you to obtain a correction at no cost to you, so your error will not disqualify you.

Thank you! We look forward to reading your work.

We are looking for high-quality nonfiction writing that connects exciting ideas, tells a compelling story, and offers a fresh perspective. Whether it's memoir, a critical essay, a review, or a piece on the craft of writing, we look for personal work that teaches us something new and sends us in a new direction.

We favor two kinds of submissions: short, focused essays between 600 and 1500 words, and longer, more reported features of up to 7,500 words. Please send only one selection at a time.
 

The following are specific categories for Pangyrus. If you submit in one of these categories, please use the dropdown menu to let us know which:

Zest! (Food Writing)
We want writing that’s not only in good taste, we want writing that tastes good. Wow us with memories of that perfect dish — or the perfect disaster. Tell the story of a region, a history, a family, a love, a war, through meals shared and soufflés ruined. 

In Sickness and In Health (Health)
Give us perspective on the way we live now, drawing on anything from personal narrative to reporting to the science (and art) of public health. Be political, be personal, be whatever you need to be to stay authentic to your lived experiences and observations. This is a time we need shared voices. 

Field Notes (Science and Environment)
We’re looking for innovative perspectives from researchers, professors, engineers, clinicians, and onlookers who can shine a light on science in the modern world. Our goal is to bring your voice and recent findings from the bench to our readers’ living rooms. Give us an unexpected and expansive view into the forces and faces shaping the world we live in now — and into the resistance to them. At the moment, we are especially interested in women in science, environment and ecology, and in science affected by today’s political climate. 

Schooled (Education)
We’re looking for stories and perspectives from all levels of education, personal stories from teachers, students, and parents. Take us deeper into theory, practice and policy. Tell us about life in and out of the classroom and on (and off) campus in the pandemic, about transformative moments, and about the state of democracy as reflected in our schools.

 
The Sounding Board (Politics)
We're looking for essays that probe the politics of the moment or the politics of the past. National or international, local or worldwide — give us your take on why these issues matter, what forces shape and define this problem, and where we go from here. 

Generations (Family)
Whether it's our birth family, our given family, our chosen family, family is the heart and often heartache in our lives. We want to read about these most significant connections and the tangled emotions that go along with them. Word limit: 7,500. 

We are interested in showing the range of poetry that exists in the contemporary moment. First and foremost, we publish poetry in a wide range of styles and voices that has us see the world in a new way. 

Please send a maximum of 3 poems contained within a single document. Because our volume of submissions is high, we ask that you submit only once per reading period. Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please let us know immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.

Please proofread your work.

We are committed to paying all published authors. We pay $30 for each accepted piece, payment upon publication via PayPal. 

We look forward to reading your work!

We are looking for well-crafted, thought-provoking fiction: stories that are original, passionate, and surprising, with strong narratives and an implicit understanding of human interaction and nature. The tastes of our editorial team are far-ranging and eclectic. We welcome any work that displays the gift of storytelling, that pulls our readers into the narrative and holds them there until the end. New and diverse voices are also a keen interest of ours.

Please proofread your work, which means no typos, grammatical errors, or incorrect uses of language. Make sure you double-space the text and include page numbers.

Consider carefully the point of view in your story and how it and the structure help the reader discover the heart of your tale. Above all, consider the reader.

Word count: Submissions should be one short story at a maximum of 7,500 words or three micro or flash fiction pieces. No previously published work. Because our submission volume is high, we ask that you send only one submission per reading period. We will respond as soon as we can. Simultaneous submissions are expected, but please withdraw your story promptly if it is accepted elsewhere.

We are committed to paying all published authors. We pay $30 for each accepted piece, payment upon publication via PayPal. 

We look forward to reading your work!

Zest!, our food writing section, invites submissions for A Table to Hold the World, a forthcoming book celebrating both the immigrant and native roots of American cuisine. Structured as a menu, the collection will serve up food stories in every form—fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and visual art. Feel free to submit for one, or all! Limit 3 submissions. The call closes on May 15, 2025. Publication expected in early 2026.

Openers:

• Amuse bouche: (700 words max): Bite-sized pieces—flash fiction, essays, poetry, or art—that capture a food, its preparation, its culture. Make us crave more.
• In the Soup: (1200 words max). Trouble us with stories of kitchen disasters and anxiety over appetizers. What’s the worst cooking mistake you've ever made? Bad-luck potlucks, cultural no-nos, toxic toasts. Make us laugh, cry, and cringe.

Mains: (7000 words max) 

Tell us stories—fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or graphic arts—centered on inheritance, troubled or otherwise. Dish on the dishes that define you or your characters. Give us conflict and culture: the flavor of a homeland, a diaspora, a displacement, an arrival. Set the table and invite us in.

Afters: (1200 words max). 

Food is comfort, food is love. Tug at our heartstrings. Sentimental stories, sugary vignettes. The pound cake after church. Auntie’s roti. Forbidden ice cream. Sweet, fleeting, unforgettable. 

Please proofread your work.

Authors of accepted work will receive a payment of $30 for Openers and Afters. Authors will receive $50 for Mains. See our General Submissions Guidelines for more details about contract and payment.

We look forward to reading your work!

This category is only for submissions that have been authorized by an editor, or are Comics/Visual Art, or are being submitted under our Get An Author Discovered Program.

For prose the word limit is 3,500. For poetry, please submit no more than three poems. Please submit fewer than 10 images for Comics/Visual Art.