Whitefish Review, a literary journal based in Whitefish, Montana, has launched its first annual Montana Prize for Fiction. The winner will receive $1,000 and publication in the Winter 2012/2013 issue of Whitefish Review. Acclaimed author Rick Bass will judge.
The theme for the issue, which is also currently open to general submissions, is “Beneath the Surface.” The editors seek submissions that “use art to mine for something beneath the surface, to search for something deeper than is apparent to the naked eye.”
Emerging writers are particularly encouraged to submit. “We're especially excited about finding new talent,” says founding editor Brian Schott. “We're proud to have published literary legends like Bill Kittredge, but finding that spark of fresh talent and publishing younger and previously unpublished authors is what gets us really excited. We have a huge volunteer staff of readers and weigh the merits of each submission very carefully. When we wake up the next day thinking about a piece we have read, that is a good indicator. It should surprise us. It should challenge us. Take a risk!”
Using the online submission manager, submit a short story of up to 5,000 words, along with a brief biography and a $15 entry fee, by October 15.
Fiction and nonfiction writer Rick Bass, author most recently of the novel Nashville Chrome (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010), will judge the contest. The author of over twenty books of fiction and nonfiction, Bass received the 1995 James Jones Literary Society First Novel Fellowship, and has been a finalist for the Story Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. His work has appeared in the Pushcart and O. Henry anthologies, Best American Short Stories, and numerous literary magazines. Bass will also serve as the guest editor of the Winter issue, and will contribute a new essay to its pages.
Established in 2007, Whitefish Review publishes original poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction, as well as art, photography, and interviews, with a focus on mountain culture. General submissions for the Winter issue run annually from August 15 to October 15; submissions for the Spring issue run from January 15 to March 15. There is no entry fee for general submissions.
For more information about Whitefish Review, and for complete submission guidelines, visit the website.