Applications call for the 2021 Nelligan Prize for Short Fiction. There are no theme restrictions, but stories must be at least 10 pages (or 2500 words) but no more than 50 pages (12,500 words). All manuscripts must be typed and double-spaced. The contest opens on December 1, 2020.

Criteria 

• $2,000 will be awarded for the winning short story, which will be published in the fall/winter 2021 issue of Colorado Review.
• This year’s final judge is T. Geronimo Johnson; friends and students (current & former) of the judge are not eligible to compete, nor are Colorado State University employees, students, or alumni.
• The entry fee is $15 per story; there is no limit on the number of entries you may submit.
• Stories must be previously unpublished.
• There are no theme restrictions, but stories must be at least 10 pages (or 2500 words) but no more than 50 pages (12,500 words).
• All manuscripts must be typed and double-spaced.
• The contest opens on December 1, 2020.
• The deadline is the postmark of March 14, 2021 (note that we observe a five-day grace period for both paper and online submissions).
• The winner will be announced by mid-June 2021.
• All submissions will be considered for publication.
• Open to all US and non-US residents.

To Submit Online

• Your name, address, phone number, and e-mail address should be entered in the cover letter field, separate from your story. Be sure your name is not anywhere in the story itself (for example, in the header, footer, or the name of the document file).
• The fee to enter online is $17 ($2 goes to the good people at Submittable; in most cases, it will be less expensive to enter online than by mail, but we have no preference regarding how you enter).
• Between December 1, 2020, and March 19, 2021,  click here: nelliganprize.submittable.com/Subm

To submit via regular mail

• Include two cover sheets: on the first, print your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, and the story title; on the second, print only the story title. Your name should not appear anywhere else on the manuscript.
• Enclose a check for $15 for each story. Checks should be made out to Colorado Review.
• You may submit multiple stories in the same envelope, and the check may be made out for the total.
• Provide SASE for contest results.
• Manuscripts will not be returned. Please do not enclose extra postage for the return of the manuscript.
• Entries for the 2021 Nelligan Prize for Short Fiction must be clearly addressed to:
  Nelligan Prize
  Colorado Review
  9105 Campus Delivery
  Colorado State University
  Fort Collins, CO 80523-9105