Applications call for the 29th annual Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest. Entries for short stories, essays, or other works of prose. There are no restrictions on style or theme. Each entry should be your own original work. Candidates may submit the same work simultaneously to this contest and to others, and you may submit works that have been published or won prizes elsewhere. (However, please do not submit work that has previously received recognition at Winning Writers.)

For this contest, a story is any short work of fiction, and an essay is any short work of nonfiction. Candidates can submit published or unpublished work. This contest accepts multiple entries (submit them one at a time). Please omit your name from your entries. The entry should have 12-point type or larger and should not have fancy, hard-to-read fonts. Furthermore, double-spacing is recommended.

Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest has the following prizes

• STORY: First Prize, $3,000
• ESSAY: First Prize, $3,000
• The top two winners will also receive two-year gift certificates from our co-sponsor, Duotrope (a $100 value)
• 10 Honorable Mentions will receive $200 each (any category)
• Top 12 entries published online

Due to US government restrictions, candidates from the following countries are unable to participate: Syria, Iran, North Korea, or Crimea. Authors from all other countries are eligible. The poem you submit should be in English. If you have written a work in another language, you may submit an English translation (made by you). Inspired gibberish is also accepted.

Entries are judged anonymously. Applicants should omit their name and all identifying information from the entry. Also, should not include a cover letter. In addition to that, participants should omit any publishing credits from the entry.