Previous Contests

 

Note: Submissions to all contests on this page have closed.

2022 Prose Chapbook Contest

Winner: Dacia Price, This is for the Naming

Finalists: Joanna Acevedo, “They Were Beautiful Years, Too”

Lynette Benton, “What’s Race Got to Do With It?”

Tracy Ann Johnson, “Sometimes It’s Good to Cry – Four Short Stories”

Kelsey Marlett, “Carolina Crawling”

 

We are looking for smart, daring manuscripts that overtake us, break us, and rebuild us with beautiful language. We welcome all forms of prose manuscripts: fiction, CNF, or hybrid. Hit us with one powerful story or delight us with a series of flash. Blur genres or stay true to form. Surprise us. Challenge us. Manuscripts with more than one piece should feel cohesive and coherent.

Prize Details

• The winner will receive $600 USD and 20 copies of their chapbook.
• Chapbooks will be published through Chestnut Review via a print-on-demand provider. The winner earns 30% royalties, distributed annually on all copies sold.
• The winning chapbook will be advertised in Chestnut Review and on social media and will be featured for sale on Amazon.com and via our website.
• The winning author will be interviewed in a feature in the Summer 2023 issue of Chestnut Review.
• Mutually agreeable cover art will be arranged between the author and Chestnut Review.

Timeline

• Submissions will be open from July 1, 2022, to September 1, 2022.
• The winner will be announced in February 2023 for publication in summer 2023. All submitters will be notified before this time, as well as finalists.
• Selected finalists may also be offered publication at our usual rate of pay ($120) plus author copies and royalties; however, the publication date and timeline may differ from the above.

Manuscript Details

• Chapbooks may be on any theme or subject although Chestnut Review reserves the right not to publish material it deems abusive or offensive.
• Chapbooks should be original and unpublished. Up to 50% of the chapbook may consist of previously published pieces. Please credit this work on an acknowledgments page.
• Length: Between 5000-12000 words total.
• You may include a dedication and/or acknowledgements page. These do not count toward total word count.
• Include page numbers and Table of Contents.
• Times New Roman 12 point font, .docx format. Double-spaced (unless you are specifically using special formatting).
• Please start each new piece on a different page. 
• No images of any kind can be accepted as part of the manuscript.
• Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but please notify us if the chapbook is accepted elsewhere.
• This contest is not read anonymously. You may include a cover letter if you wish.
• Neither past nor present staff of Chestnut Review nor their family members are eligible to participate in this contest.
• Entries via Submittable only.

Feedback Options

• You will receive all feedback upon notification of your submission decision.
• Paid Feedback: A Chestnut Review editor will comment on your chapbook using our standard feedback model in which 2-4 strengths and 2-4 suggestions for the chapbook are given to the author. Individual pieces may be highlighted, but this will address the chapbook and writing as a whole.
• Editorial Feedback: You will receive a full document markup with suggested line and developmental edits, as well as 1-2 paragraphs about the overall project.

 

2022 Stubborn Writers Contest

Chestnut Review is thrilled to announce our 2022 stubborn writers contest! 

Types of Entries

• Fiction: one piece of 1,000-3,000 words, or up to 3 flash, each less than 1000 words.
• Poetry: up to 3 poems.

Judges

Poetry

Rita Mookerjee is the Ida B. Wells-Barnett Postdoctoral Fellow at DePaul University. She holds a PhD in Literature from Florida State University. In 2020, she was a Fulbright fellow in Jamaica. She is the co-founder of Honey Literary, Inc. and a Poetry Editor at Split Lip Magazine. False Offering, her debut full-length collection, is forthcoming in 2023 from Jackleg Press. Her poetry is featured in Juked, Hobart Pulp, New Orleans Review, The Offing, and Baltimore Review.

 

 

Prose

Tara Isabel Zambrano is a writer of color and the author of Death, Desire And Other Destinations, a full-length flash collection by OKAY Donkey Press. Her work has won the first prize in The Southampton Review Short Short Fiction Contest 2019, a second prize in Bath Flash Award 2020, been a Finalist in Bat City Review 2018 Short Prose Contest and Mid-American Review Fineline 2018 Contest. Her flash fiction has been published in The Best Small Fictions 2019, The Best Micro Fiction 2019, 2020 Anthology. She lives in Texas and is the Fiction Editor for Waxwing Literary Journal.

 

Contest Rules

1. Submissions open April 1, 2022, and close on May 15, 2022. Winners will be announced in October and the winning pieces will appear in the January 2023 issue of Chestnut Review. All submissions will receive a response in Submittable and we will notify submitters whose works appear on the longlist and shortlist about their status as well as with a final decision within a reasonable period; however, this will go beyond our normal 30-day response time. All communications will be handled through Submittable, so please make sure you can receive our messages.
2. We offer 1-2 sentences of feedback on every submission packet, which may concentrate on the work overall or on how a certain piece struck readers. You may opt out of this feedback in Submittable. For those of you who often submit to Chestnut Review, this is different than our normal paid feedback submissions, which you still may request on contest pieces.
3. Submission fee is $15. All fees are nonrefundable. Authors for whom the submission fee is a barrier are invited to email the managing editor directly (maria@chestnutreview.com) to request financial assistance.
4. All submitted work must be the sole creation of the submitter and may not have been previously published in any medium.
5. Chestnut Review retains publication rights of winning pieces as for any accepted piece of work in the magazine; all other rights remain with the author.
6. Simultaneous and multiple submissions are permitted, as long as they adhere to these guidelines and any accepted work is immediately withdrawn via Submittable message.
7. We reserve the right to offer publication to submissions from among the finalists in addition to those of the prize winners. Such offers will be for usual payment ($120 per piece), regardless of genre, and may be for any future issue of Chestnut Review.
8. Any entrant in any category who has a social or professional relationship with the judge of that category is ineligible to submit.
9. We are open to entrants from all over the world; however, international payments will be processed via PayPal.
10. Entrants who contact the judge regarding their entry before the contest or prior to the announcement of winners will be immediately disqualified without refund.
11. The judges will award 1^st prize in each category and select finalists from a longlist. The decisions of the judges are final. Judges will not provide critiques of submissions.
12. All prize winners’ pieces will be featured in the January 2023 issue of Chestnut Review; prize payment is in lieu of usual publication payment.
13. For this contest, we will only be accepting works of fiction, either short stories or flash, or poetry. Autofiction is welcome, but your works will be read and considered as fiction by our staff and judges.

Method of Entry

1. Entries will only be accepted through our Submittable account (link below).
2. All entry documents must be free of any identifying information, including file names.
3. All submitted work should be in one file.
4. Documents should be in Times New Roman or another standard font, 12 point. FICTION should be double-spaced and pages should be numbered, with word count indicated before each piece and new pieces on a new page with clear titles. POETRY should be single-spaced, one poem to a page, with new pieces beginning on a new page with clear titles.

2022 Poetry Chapbook Contest

Note: Submissions for the Poetry Chapbook contest have closed. 

Winner: Seif-Eldeine Och, Voices from a Forgotten Letter

Finalist: Esperanza Cintrón, Boulders (available here)

 

Chestnut Review is thrilled to announce our 2022 poetry chapbook contest! (See Andrew Krivak’s Ghosts of the Monadnock Wolves, our 2021 winner, here).

Manuscripts will pass through a multi-stage reading process, and authors may receive responses to their submission at any time between January and June 2022. All manuscripts will be read by the editors of Chestnut Review, who will select one winner.

Timeline

• Submissions open from 1 November 2021 until 31 December 2021 via our regular Submittable page.
• A winner will be announced, along with finalists, in June 2022.
• The winning chapbook will be published in paperback in fall 2022.

Guidelines

• Poetry only (no images or other media).
• Length: 25-30 pages of poetry.
• Times New Roman, 12-point font is preferred. 
• Poems may have been published individually, but never as a collection. At least 50% of the poems must be unpublished at time of manuscript submission.
• Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please let us know immediately if the collection has been accepted elsewhere via Submittable.
• Multiple submissions are permitted. Each submission must be accompanied by the submission fee.
• Submit works written in English only. Translations are not accepted.
• Please submit your manuscript in a .doc or .docx format.
• Submissions are blind, so do not include any identifying information in the manuscript.
• Include a title page with the manuscript title only and a table of contents. No acknowledgments pages, please.
• Submission fee is $15.

Awards

• The winner will receive $1000 USD and 20 copies of their chapbook in hard-copy.
• The winning chapbook will be advertised in Chestnut Review and featured for sale on Amazon.com and via our website.
• The winning author will be interviewed in a feature in the October 2022 issue of Chestnut Review.

Miscellaneous

• We reserve the right to feature poems from the winning chapbook, at our discretion, in future issues of Chestnut Review without further compensation, and submission of a manuscript indicates your acceptance of these terms.
• Chestnut Review will produce a finished print-on-demand chapbook for sale and 20 copies to the author by 1 November 2022. In the unlikely event this deadline is not met, all rights return to the author, who retains the prize money without penalty or obligation.
• Chestnut Review does not provide e-book versions of the text. We will deliver the Adobe Indesign file for your book on request if you wish to use it as the basis of an e-publication. We cannot provide any technical assistance in preparing such publication.
• Past winners of the poetry chapbook contest are ineligible to participate.

 

 

2021 Prose Chapbook Contest

We are looking for smart, daring manuscripts that overtake us, break us, and rebuild us with beautiful language. We welcome all forms of prose manuscripts: fiction, CNF, or hybrid. Hit us with one powerful story, or delight us with a series of flash. Blur genres or stay true to form. Surprise us. Challenge us. Manuscripts with more than one piece should feel cohesive and coherent.

Prize Details

• The winner will receive $600 USD and 20 copies of their chapbook in hard-copy.
• Chapbooks will be published through Chestnut Review via a print-on-demand provider. The winner earns 30% royalties, distributed annually on all copies sold.
• The winning chapbook will be advertised in Chestnut Review and on social media, and will be featured for sale on Amazon.com and via our website.
• The winning author will be interviewed in a feature in the Summer 2022 issue of Chestnut Review.
• Mutually agreeable cover art is to be selected from either Chestnut Review’s rights-free source or an image the winner has rights to and provides.

Timeline

• Submissions will be open from June 1, 2021 to July 31, 2021. 
• The winner will be announced in February 2022 for publication in summer 2022.

Manuscript Details

• Chapbooks may be on any theme or subject although Chestnut Review reserves the right not to publish material it deems abusive or offensive.
• Chapbooks should be original and unpublished. Individual pieces may be previously published as long as all previously published material does not make up more than 50% of the whole chapbook. Please note previously published work on an acknowledgments page.
• Length. Between 5000-8000 words total.
• You may include a dedication and/or acknowledgements page. These do not count toward total word count.
• Include page numbers and Table of Contents.
• Times New Roman 12 point font, .docx format. Double-spaced (unless you are specifically using special formatting).
• Please start each new piece on a different page. 
• No images of any kind can be accepted as part of the manuscript.
• Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but please notify us if the chapbook is accepted elsewhere.
• This contest is not read blind. You may include a cover letter if you wish.
• Neither past nor present staff of Chestnut Review nor their family members are eligible to participate in this contest.
• Entries via Submittable only.

2021 Stubborn Writers Contest
March 1-April 30, 2021

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Category: Flash Fiction (<1000 words). Judge: Cathy Ulrich
            First Prize: $500, Second Prize: $250, Third Prize: $125

Category: Poetry (<60 lines). Judge: Dorothy Chan
            First Prize: $500, Second Prize: $250, Third Prize: $125

Category: Short Fiction (1000-5000 words). Judge: Cathy Ulrich
            First Prize: $500, Second Prize: $250, Third Prize: $125

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Dorothy Chan is the author of Revenge of the Asian Woman (Diode Editions, 2019), Attack of the Fifty-Foot Centerfold (Spork Press, 2018), and the chapbook Chinatown Sonnets (New Delta Review, 2017). She was a 2020 and 2014 finalist for the Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship, a 2020 finalist for the Lambda Literary Award in Bisexual Poetry for Revenge of the Asian Woman, and a 2019 recipient of the Philip Freund Prize in Creative Writing from Cornell University. Her work has appeared in POETRY, The American Poetry Review, Academy of American Poets, and elsewhere. She is an Assistant Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Poetry Editor of Hobart, Book Reviews Co-Editor of Pleiades, and Founding Editor and Editor in Chief of Honey Literary. Visit her website at dorothypoetry.com. 

 

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Contest Rules

1. Submissions open March 1, 2021 and close on April 30, 2021. Winners will be announced in October and the winning pieces will appear in the January 2022 issue of Chestnut Review.
2. Submission fee is $20. All fees are nonrefundable. Authors for whom the submission fee is a barrier are invited to email the editor-in-chief directly to request special consideration.
3. All submitted work must be the sole creation of the submitter and may not have been previously published in any medium.
4. Chestnut Review retains publication rights of winning pieces as for any accepted piece of work in the magazine; all other rights remain with the author.
5. Simultaneous and multiple submissions are permitted, as long as they adhere to these guidelines.
6. We reserve the right to offer publication to submissions in addition to those of the prize winners. Such offers will be for usual payment ($100 per piece), regardless of genre, and may be for any future issue of Chestnut Review.
7. Open to U.S. writers only. Winners will be required to submit a Social Security number for tax purposes to receive cash prizes.
8. Any entrant in any category who has a social or professional relationship with the judge of that category is ineligible to submit.
9. Entrants who contact the judge regarding their entry before the contest or prior to the announcement of winners will be immediately disqualified without refund.
10. The judges will award three prizes (1st, 2nd, 3rd) in each category. The decisions of the judges are final. Judges will not provide critiques of submissions.
11. All prize winners’ pieces will be featured in the January 2022 issue of Chestnut Review; prize payment is in lieu of usual publication payment.

Types of Entries

• Short Fiction: one piece of 1,000-5,000 words.
• Flash Fiction: 1-4 pieces, each less than 1000 words.
• Poetry: up to 5 poems, each <60 lines in length.

Methods of Entry

1. Entries will only be accepted through our Submittable account (link below).
2. This is a blind contest, and all entry documents must be free of any identifying information, including file names. Pieces with identifying information will be disqualified and not read by judges, and no refund will be given to the submitter. Please note that there is no title or bio field for this contest on Submittable.
3. All submitted work should be in one file.
4. Documents should be in Times New Roman or another standard font, 12 point. PROSE should be double-spaced and pages should be numbered, with word count indicated before each piece. POETRY should be single-spaced, one poem to a page, and with any continuation to the next page clearly indicated.

 

 

 

 

2021 CHESTNUT REVIEW Poetry Chapbook Contest

(Sponsored by Duotrope)

CHESTNUT REVIEW is thrilled to announce our 2021 poetry chapbook contest! (See our 2020 winner’s chapbook here).

Manuscripts will pass through a multi-stage reading process and authors may receive responses to their submission at any time between January and June, 2021. All manuscripts will be read by the editors of CHESTNUT REVIEW, who will select one winner.

Timeline

• Submissions open from 1 November 2020 until 31 December 2020 via our regular Submittable page (link below).
• A winner will be announced, along with finalists, in June 2021.
• The winning chapbook will be published in paperback in fall 2021.

Guidelines

• Poetry only (no images or other media)
• Length: 25-30 pages of poetry
• Times New Roman, 12-point font is preferred. 
• Poems may have been published individually, but never as a collection. At least 50% of the poems must be unpublished at time of manuscript submission.
• Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please let us know immediately if the collection has been accepted elsewhere via Submittable.
• Multiple submissions are permitted. Each submission must be accompanied by the submission fee.
• Submit works written in English only. Translations are not accepted.
• Please submit your manuscript in a .doc or .docx format.
• Submissions are blind, so do not include any identifying information in the manuscript.
• Include a title page with the manuscript title only and a table of contents. No acknowledgments pages, please.
• Submission fee is $15.

Awards

• The winner will receive $600 USD and 20 copies of their chapbook in hard-copy.
• The winner will also receive a 2-year Duotrope Gift Certificate ($100 value).
• The winning chapbook will be advertised in the CHESTNUT REVIEW and featured for sale on Amazon.com and via our website.
• The winning author will be interviewed in a feature in the October 2021 issue of CHESTNUT REVIEW.

Miscellaneous

• We reserve the right to feature poems from the winning chapbook, at our discretion, in future issues of CHESTNUT REVIEW without further compensation, and submission of a manuscript indicates your acceptance of these terms.
• CHESTNUT REVIEW will produce a finished print-on-demand chapbook for sale and 20 copies to the author by 1 November 2021. In the unlikely event this deadline is not met, all rights return to the author, who retains the prize money without penalty or obligation.
• CHESTNUT REVIEW does not provide e-book versions of the text. We will deliver the Adobe Indesign file for your book on request if you wish to use it as the basis of an e-publication. We cannot provide any technical assistance in preparing such publication.

 

 

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