Applications are open to Raymond Carver Short Story Contest 2021. Now in its 21st year, the Raymond Carver Short Story Contest is one of the most renowned fiction contests in the world. Featuring prominent guest judges and offering $3000 across five prizes, the contest delivers exciting new fiction from writers all over the world.

The contest opens each year from April 1 – May 15 and prizewinners are published in the annual fall issue in October. Winning stories will be read by three literary agents:

• Nat Sobel from Sobel-Weber Associates
• Erin Harris from Folio Literary Management
• Viola Hayden from Curtis Brown UK.

Prizes

The Raymond Carver Short Story Contest has the following prizes

• 1st prize: $2000
• 2nd prize: 500
• 3rd prize: $250
• Editor’s Choice: two $125

Criteria

• Winners announced August 1 and published in the fall issue online and in print.
• Honorable mentions and semi-finalists will be listed online for up to 6 months.
• All work submitted will also be considered for non-contest publication.
• Entry Fee: $17.
• One short story per entry. No limit to the number of entries.
• The story must be previously unpublished (including online).
• 10,000 maximum word count.
• The Carve Magazine accepts entries from anywhere in the world, but the story must be in English.
• No genre fiction (romance, horror, sci-fi); literary fiction only.
• Winners of the past two Raymond Carver and Prose & Poetry contests are ineligible.