Dappled Things is inviting submissions for The J. F. Powers Prize for Short Fiction. Submit your entries by November 30, 2023!

About Dappled Things

Dappled Things was born at the intersection of many paths. Like their writers and artists, their team is diverse, multitalented, innovative. Wholeheartedly Catholic, they welcome anyone of good will who wishes to walk alongside them on the way of beauty.

About the J. F. Powers Prize for Short Fiction

“One foot in this world and one in the next”: that’s how J. F. Powers described the Midwestern priests he wrote about in his fiction. Having one foot in another world can be awkward, and Powers’ characters are known not for their graceful mysticism, but for the humiliating and mordantly entertaining stumbles they make while trying to live their faith.

Dappled Things is looking for carefully crafted short stories with vivid characters who encounter grace in everyday settings—they want to see who, in the age we live in, might have one foot in this world and one in the next.

Prize Guidelines

  • Only one short fiction submission per author will be accepted.
  • Please do not submit any previously published work.
  • Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but please withdraw your work immediately if it is accepted elsewhere.
  • Please include in your contact information, including e-mail and mailing address, in your cover letter, as well as one or two lines with your biographical information as you would like it to appear if published.
  • The word limit is 8,000 words. Longer submissions will be returned unread.

Prizes

  • 1st place: $500 (Rs. 41k+) and publication in Dappled Things.
  • 2nd place: $250 (Rs. 20k+) and publication in Dappled Things.
  • Up to 8 honorable mentions: Publication and a year’s subscription to Dappled Things.

How to Submit?

To submit your entries, click here.

“I think it’s possible to write something, for me to write something, that even God might like. It’s possible for me to hit a note, to get in a mood, to write something that is worthy even of God’s attention. Not as a soul seeking salvation, but just as entertainment for God. This may be blasphemous to say, but I believe it. I don’t think God is there and we’re here, and there are no connections. I think there are connections, and I think art is certainly one.”

— J. F. Powers

Click here to read the official guidelines of the J. F. Powers Prize for Short Fiction by Dappled Things.

Image taken from here.