Under Purple Clouds
Write the first chapter of a magical realism story. We’ll give you the first sentence.
Prizes
- Grand Prize:
- $1,000
- Second Place:
- $250
- 10 Runners-Up:
- $25
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Feb 21, 2023
Submissions closed
Mar 10, 2023 4:59 AM CUT
Results
Mar 30, 2023
Prizes
- Grand Prize:
- $1,000
- Second Place:
- $250
- 10 Runners-Up:
- $25
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Feb 21, 2023
Submissions closed
Mar 10, 2023 4:59 AM CUT
Results
Mar 30, 2023
About this challenge
The Prompt
Write the first chapter of a magical realism story that starts with the following sentence:
Every night at midnight, the purple clouds came out to dance with the blushing sky.
In order for your submission to qualify, it must:
- Be between 600-5,000 words.
- Begin with the first sentence from the prompt.
What is magical realism?
Magical realism is a literary genre where the narrative takes place in the real world, with magical or supernatural elements integrated into the story as if they were natural occurrences.
In magical realism, the supernatural elements are presented as part of the normal, everyday world, and are not explained in the way that they would be in a traditional fantasy story.
The genre often challenges conventional notions of reality and truth.
The Prizes
- Grand Prize: $1,000
- Second Place: $250
- 10 Runners-Up: $25
How to enter
For your story to be eligible, it should be between 600 and 5,000 words, and adhere to our Community Guidelines. Stories published on Vocal and entered into the contest up until 11:59 PM ET on March 9th will be entered for consideration. Official Rules for the Challenge can be found here.
The Under Purple Clouds Challenge is 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 runners-up 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.
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Challenge resources
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Blending genres isn’t about stacking elements side by side. It’s about what happens when two sets of expectations refuse to cooperate. The strongest entries in the Mismatch Challenge understood that tension and leaned into it. Rather than smoothing the edges, these stories let their chosen genres complicate one another, creating friction that carried through voice, structure, and consequence.
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