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CRAFT EcoLit Challenge 2024

CRAFT 2024 EcoLit Challenge

May 20 – 30, 2024

$750 Awarded

This challenge is now closed.
Thanks to all who shared their work!

Ecological literature, commonly called ecolit, addresses ecological and environmental matters. Writers may also hear the term cli-fi, or climate fiction, included in this genre. Here at CRAFT, for this 2024 EcoLit Challenge, we want to take a broad approach: We’re certainly interested in your cli-fi stories, but we are also eager to read about your relationships with the natural world, about how you function in your particular region, area, or environment amidst seasons of change. We welcome both meditation and movement, both personal and communal takes on the theme.

For this challenge, we’re happy to read fiction as well as nonfiction prose. Send no more than 750 words for the chance to win $750 and publication on our site. The winner will be chosen by our editorial team. Please carefully review the guidelines below, and good luck in the challenge!

GUIDELINES:

  • Submissions are open to all writers, emerging and experienced.
  • International submissions are allowed.
  • Please submit prose work primarily written in English, but some code-switching/meshing is warmly welcomed.
  • We seek flash prose only for this challenge: submit no more than 750 words in length.
  • Work may have been drafted prior to the challenge’s open, or within the ten-day window. Please revise and proofread carefully before submitting.
  • Submit polished prose only, please! We are not seeking lineated poetry, lists or listicles, or any accompanying artwork at this time.
  • Submitted pieces must be creative, first and foremost, but may be fiction or nonfiction.
  • We review literary prose but are open to a variety of genres and styles—our only requirement is that you show excellence in your craft.
  • Submit previously unpublished work only—we do NOT review reprints (or even partial reprints) for challenges (including work posted on blogs, personal websites, social media, etc.). Reprints will be automatically disqualified.
  • We allow simultaneous submissions—writers, please notify us and withdraw your submission if your ecolit piece is accepted for publication elsewhere.
  • We allow multiple submissions—please submit each piece as a separate submission accompanied by an entry fee.
  • This challenge requires a $15 entry fee per submission.
  • Please double-space your submission and use Times New Roman 12.
  • Include a brief cover letter with your publication history, if applicable, and any appropriate content warnings to help safeguard our reading staff.
  • We do not require anonymous submissions. The one grand-prize winner of the challenge will be chosen by the editorial staff. The winner will receive $750 and publication.
  • We hope to publish the winning piece in October 2024. Any piece already scheduled to be published before January 2025 should not be submitted at this time.
  • The winner will be asked to contribute an author’s note, or mini craft essay, that discusses their artistic choices in their piece. The note will be published with the winning work.
  • We do not discriminate on the basis of age, ancestry, disability, family status, gender identity or expression, national origin, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation, or for any other reason.
  • Additionally, we do not tolerate discrimination in the writing we consider for publication: work we find discriminatory on any of the bases stated here will be declined without complete review.
  • Any AI-generated work submitted to this challenge will be immediately disqualified.
  • Unless you’ve already secured the necessary permissions, please do not include quoted song lyrics in your submitted work.
  • Any work that does not adhere to these guidelines will be automatically disqualified.

OPTIONAL EDITORIAL FEEDBACK:

You may choose to receive editorial feedback on your submission directly through the challenge’s submission form. We’ll provide marginal notes and a one-page summative letter, focusing on the strengths of the submission as well as our recommendations for development. While editorial feedback is inherently subjective, our suggestions are always actionable and encouraging. We aim to have feedback completed within twelve weeks of the close of the challenge. Should your piece win, no feedback will be offered and your fee will be refunded. Work that we critique is not eligible for future CRAFT challenges or contests, but can be revised and resubmitted for consideration in our general categories.