Note: We updated this post on June 11, 2018 to extended the deadline to July 31, 2018.
Hippocampus Magazine is giving away more than $1,200 in cash and prizes this November in our annual creative writing contest, the Remember in November Contest for Creative Nonfiction.
QUICK CONTEST OVERVIEW: (see below for full details)
- Memoir excerpts and personal essays up to 4,000 words accepted — there is no theme.
- Submission MUST be free of your name in headers/footers, title page, and file name.
- Deadline: July 31, 2018 (extended from 7/15)
- $12 entry fee
PRIZES:
- $1,000 grand prize (1) + free registration to HippoCamp 2019
- $150 runner-up (1)
- $40 finalist/honorable mention (3-4; regular contributor payment)
- $50 reader’s choice winner; added to contributor payment (doubles as the most memorable designation of the month)
ENTER NOW | LAST YEAR’S WINNERS | GENERAL CONTEST INFO/HISTORY
Now let’s get to some of those details.
CONTEST DEADLINE AND RULES
Submission Info
- Enter between April 1 and July 31, 2018
- Previously unpublished memoir excerpts and personal essays of up to 4,000 words are eligible; there is no theme
- A$12 entry fee (supports prizes; $10.63 goes to Hippocampus after Submittable fee)
- Entries must be submitted through Submittable in the 2018 Remember in November Contest for Creative Nonfiction category, and it must meet the submission requirements outlined on the submission page, most importantly that your full name is not listed on the title page, headers/footers or in file name. Please read submission guidelines carefully before submitting to us, or to any paid contest.
- If you presently have a story under consideration at Hippocampus and would like to enter it into the contest instead, you may withdraw your current submission through Submittable and resubmit under the 2018 Remember in November Contest for Creative Nonfiction category.
- All stories are considered for regular publication as well during this process.
- Participants may enter the contest as many times as they wish. Also, participants can win more than one prize as we have a blind reading process.
- Hippocampus staff members and their current students are not eligible to enter.
Selection Process
- The Hippocampus reader panel and founding editor will select five to six finalists from all submissions.
- Guest judge will select the winner from these finalist; the 2018 special guest judge is memoirist Krystal Sital
- Winner and all top finalist stories are published in the November 2018 issue.
- Timeline: We review contest submissions after the deadline in July, so please expect our contest turnaround time to be longer than our usual three months since we open for submissions in April. We will notify everyone of the status of their submission by the end of October.
Publication
- Winning and finalist stories will be published in the November 2018 issue of Hippocampus Magazine.
- All entries will automatically be considered for publication in other forthcoming issues; last year, we published more than a dozen stories that made our contest short list!
Prizes
- Prizes are in USD. Winners must provide mailing address or PayPal email address to receive prize. (A check or PayPal transfer are the only two methods of prize delivery.) Prizes will be awarded by Feb. 1, 2019.
- The Reader’s Choice Award winner and Reader Participation Award winners will be announced in the December 2018 issue. (During the month of November, the Most Memorable contest will double as The Remember in November Reader’s Choice prize—the readers of Hippocampus will also have a chance to make their case for which of the five finalists should win)
Good luck to all!
(page updated 10/13/2018 with guest judge announcement)
