The Missouri Review is inviting entries for the 29th annual Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prize. A total of US$15,000 will be awarded.
The Missouri Review was founded in 1978 and is based at the University of Missouri. Published quarterly, each issue contains approximately five new stories, three new poetry features, and two essays, all of which is selected from unsolicited submissions. New, emerging, and mid-career writers whose work has been published in the Missouri Review have been anthologised over 100 times in Best American Short Stories, Best American Essays, Best American Travel Writing, Best American Poetry, The O. Henry Prize Anthology and The Pushcart Prize.
The Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prize accepts entries in three categories – fiction, nonfiction and poetry – with a $5000 first prize on offer in each category. All three winners will also receive publication and an invitation to a reception and reading in their honour.
In 2018 the fiction prize was won by Amanda Baldeneaux for ‘Salt Land’, her first ever published story. This story, together with the winning nonfiction essay (Jo Anne Bennett’s ‘Jamilla’) and the winning poetry entry (sonnets by Diane Seuss) can be found in the Spring 2019 issue of the magazine.
PRIZES
3 x $5000, publication and an invitation to a reception and reading in their honour
(one first prize per category – fiction, nonfiction and poetry)
ENTRY FEE
The standard entry fee is $25. All entrants receive a one-year digital subscription to the Missouri Review and a paperback copy of A Faithful but Melancholy Account of Several Barbarities Lately Committed, a linked story collection published by the magazine’s new imprint, TMR Books (total value $38.95).
An ‘all access’ entry fee is also available. For $30, entrants also receive access to the last 10 years of digital issues the Missouri Review and the audio recordings of each digital issue.
WORD LIMITS
Fiction and Nonfiction: 8500 words
Poetry: Any number of poems up to 10 pages
ELIGIBILITY
The Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prize is open to writers worldwide. Previous winners of the Editors’ Prize and current University of Missouri students and faculty are ineligible.
DEADLINE
Tuesday 1 October 2019
MORE INFORMATION
For further information and to enter visit the Missouri Review website.
The Missouri Review also accepts general submissions year round. The payment rate is $40 per printed page. There is no reading fee, although online submissions attract a $3.50 service charge (no fee for mailed hard copies). Publication in The Missouri Review is highly competitive – the magazine attracts approximately 12,000 submissions per year. Simultaneous submissions are accepted and the standard response time is about 10-12 weeks.
Explore more writing contests and opportunities or see our guide to Short Story Contests in 2019.