In Chicago, we love summer! CWA is celebrating our favorite season with our first-ever

Summer Flash Contest

Submit your very best work, in any genre – fiction or nonfiction – in 500 words or less. There is no restriction on style or theme.

Submissions will be open from June 1 until midnight on June 30, 2021.

We will award cash prizes of:

$250 for 1st place

$125 for 2nd place

$75 for 3rd place

and the three winners will be published in our Write City Magazine.

Entry fee: $5.00, payable through PayPal only.

This contest is open exclusively to our dues-paying members. You may join CWA here.

One entry per member.

Winners will be announced on August 1, 2021.

Guidelines:

1. Entries must be emailed as a Word document or PDF attachment with the subject heading “CWA Summer Flash Contest” to: info@chicagowrites.org.

2. Entries must connect with a $5.00 entry fee, payable only through PayPal.

3. The deadline for entries is June 30, 2021. Entries received after midnight Central Time on that date will be disqualified. No exceptions.

4. In the body of the email, please include your full name and verify that your CWA membership is paid. The author’s name should not appear anywhere in your entry. PLEASE double check this before submitting. This includes your headers and footers.

5. All entries must be the original work of the author. No previously published work will be considered.

6. Submissions must be double-spaced, using 12-point Times New Roman font with one-inch margins.

7. Word limit: 500. If your submission is more than 500 words, it will be disqualified.

8. Proof your work before submitting. Show us your best!

Judging will be based on the quality of the writing. Generally, we are looking for entries presented with a unique voice, clarity, structure, and elements of exceptional writing. We don’t want to see grammar/mechanical errors.

Judges will also be looking at your presentation; did you follow the rules, submit in the correct format, with the manuscript at the appropriate length?

We look forward to reading your work!

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