Annual Short-Format Writing Challenge
This year (2026) marks the first of our annual short-format writing challenges, built around a shared theme.
The year is divided into three events, each with a small set of closely related prompts. Writers choose one prompt per event and submit an anonymous story of 1,000–5,000 words. You’re welcome to take part in one event or all three — there’s no expectation to commit to the full year.
Each event stands on its own, but together they form a loose arc. At the end of the year, we will collect the submitted stories into an annual anthology (don't worry there will be time for editing and review built in).
We’re interested in strong writing, interesting choices, and stories that engage with the prompt in whatever way suits them — literally, metaphorically, seriously, or playfully. All genres are welcome.
Event One: Rain
Rain is small-scale and immediate. It arrives whether it’s wanted or not, interrupts plans, seeps into places it shouldn’t, and changes the shape of things slowly or all at once.
This event focuses on moments of interruption, exposure, and accumulation — the kind of change that begins quietly, but doesn’t stop once it’s started.
“Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass... It's about learning to dance in the rain.”
― Vivian Greene
March 2026
Event Two: River
Rivers move. They pull things along, set directions, create boundaries, and make it difficult to stand still for long.
This event is about movement and momentum: following a path, resisting the current, crossing a line, or watching something drift out of reach.
"...mountains & rivers know the secret. Pay no attention to boundaries.”
― Brian Andreas,
June 2026
Event Three: Ocean
The ocean is scale and pressure. It’s distance, depth, and the point where control becomes negotiation — or disappears entirely.
This event looks outward: vastness, separation, depth, and what happens when a character is forced to reckon with something larger than themselves.
“What would an ocean be without a monster lurking in the dark? It would be like sleep without dreams.”
― Werner Herzog