The Vocal+ Fiction Awards
Enter our biggest Challenge yet: 25 winners, $125,000 in prizes, and Vocal's first ever book of short stories by our creators.
Prizes
- Total prizes:
- $125,000
- 25 winners receive:
- $5,000
25 Grand Prize winners will each receive $5,000, and be published in Vocal's first ever book, a collection of short stories by our creators.
1,000 runners up will be selected, and will each receive a free year of Vocal+ membership.
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Oct 13, 2021
Submissions closed
Dec 30, 2021 4:59 AM CUT
Results
Feb 25, 2022
Prizes
- Total prizes:
- $125,000
- 25 winners receive:
- $5,000
25 Grand Prize winners will each receive $5,000, and be published in Vocal's first ever book, a collection of short stories by our creators.
1,000 runners up will be selected, and will each receive a free year of Vocal+ membership.
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Oct 13, 2021
Submissions closed
Dec 30, 2021 4:59 AM CUT
Results
Feb 25, 2022
About this challenge
*Note from the Vocal Team: The Judges have spoken, and 1,025 Vocal+ Creators have been selected as finalists for The Vocal+ Fiction Awards! See if your story made the list here!
We've now had over 100,000 stories entered into Vocal Challenges, and we have given away over $500,000 directly to our creators through Challenges. And we're celebrating these milestones with our biggest Challenge to date.
For this Challenge, there is no prompt, genre or theme you must stick to, or requirement your story must meet. Submit your best piece of short fiction, between 600 and 4,000 words, in any style, genre, or topic of your choosing.
25 grand prize winners will be selected to receive $5,000 each, and have their stories published in Vocal's first ever book—a collection of short stories by Vocal creators, available for purchase, estimated for release in the spring of 2022. 1,000 runners up will be selected to receive a free year of Vocal+.
Learn more about this Challenge here.
*Note that due to high volume, submissions that have been entered into the Vocal+ Fiction Awards will not necessarily be moderated within the standard 24 hour timeframe. Please anticipate a 3-4 day wait period for all stories entered into the Challenge to be moderated. Thank you for your patience.
How to enter
Your story must be between 600 and 4,000 words and adhere to our Community Guidelines. Stories published on Vocal and entered into the contest up until December 29, 2021, at 11:59 PM EST will be entered for consideration. Official Rules for the Challenge can be found here.
The Vocal+ Fiction Awards are exclusive to Vocal+ members. To learn more and upgrade to Vocal+ visit https://shopping-feedback.today/vocal-plus%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E.%3C/p%3E%3Cp class="css-1923z11-Text">To be eligible to win the grand prize, second place, or third place prizes, you must be over the age of 13 and residing in a country where Stripe is available at the time of entry. A complete list of countries where Stripe is available can be found here—winners will need to have a Stripe account created and connected in order to receive the prizes. For this reason, entrants located outside of any of these countries will not be eligible to win.
Open challenges
Challenges you can enter now for a chance to win.
Instructions Included
Tell a story in the form of instructions, guidelines, or a how-to manual for something fictional or mundane.
$200 Grand Prize4 days leftNothing But Voices
Write a complete short story using only dialogue. No descriptions, no dialogue tags, and no internal thoughts. Just voices on the page.
$200 Grand Prize11 days leftPublic Announcement
Write a poem that takes the form of a public announcement, notice, or warning.
$200 Grand Prize16 days leftMismatch
Write a story that blends two contrasting genres, such as horror and romance, science fiction and western, or fantasy and noir.
$200 Grand Prize18 days leftCraft Over Catharsis
Write a story that prioritizes structure, technique, or form over emotional release.
$200 Grand Prize25 days leftInstructions for a Feeling
Write a poem that gives instructions for how to experience, create, or avoid a feeling.
$200 Grand Prize30 days leftRituals of Affection
Write a story about a recurring ritual tied to love, romance, or connection. Something about it is unusual, unsettling, or unexplained.
$200 Grand Prize32 days left
Challenge resources
The Ritual of Winter Challenge Winners
Welcome to the Winners Announcement for The Ritual of Winter challenge. This prompt focused on winter rituals and the meaning that settles into them over time. The top pieces stay grounded in ordinary acts and repeated routines, letting winter shape the work through pace, attention, and restraint.
By Vocal Curation Team3 days ago in Resources
FPS: The Last Flame Challenge Winners
Welcome to our first Winners Announcement of the year and to the final challenge in the Fall Poetry Series. The Last Flame invited writers to sit with endings, using fire as a central image to consider what remains when something burns out: ash, warmth, memory, silence, or the faint promise of what comes next. The strongest pieces treated endings as gradual rather than sudden, allowing them to flicker, dim, and linger.
By Vocal Curation Team4 days ago in Resources
FPS: Villanelle of Regret Challenge Winners
Some feelings don’t fade. They repeat. The Villanelle of Regret challenged poets to write into that return. To let regret, longing, and obsession build with each pass, rather than resolve. The strongest entries trusted repetition to carry the weight.
By Vocal Curation Teamabout a month ago in Resources
