We Love Short Shorts Contest for Flash Creative Nonfiction 2025 – Open for Subs Feb. 1-28

image of book with pages folded in, to make a heart. says "we love short shorts contest"

In honor of the shortest month of the year which includes the loving-est day of the year, we’re holding our second annual We Love Short Shorts Contest for Flash Creative Nonfiction!

Throughout the month of February, we’re inviting flash nonfiction writers to submit short essays (micro memoir) of up to 250 words; there is no theme. (View last year’s winner and runner-up here.)

Our winner and two runners-up will be featured in a special We Love Short Shorts section of our March/April 2025 issue. Note that the three finalist essays will be added during the second month of this bimonthly edition.

Here’s a full look at the details:

  • Submission Period: Feb. 1–28
  • Word Limit: 250 (not including title)
  • No theme!
  • Submission Fee: $5
  • First Prize: $250, publication + opportunity to serve as opening reader for a future Stories on Sunday event
  • Two Runners Up: $100 each + publication
  • One entry per person
  • Entries read by members of our flash team; winners selected by our flash editors
  • Decisions will be sent to all entrants by the second week of March

Note: If you have a current submission under consideration at Hippocampus Magazine, you may still enter this contest.

Any entries not chosen for a prize are still automatically considered for a future regular Hippocampus Magazine issue. We published two of these honorable mention essays last year. As with all essays we accept, Hippocampus asks for one-time rights.

A few extra tips from our editorial team on what makes a great flash essay:

  • The narrative brings us somewhere / illuminates a change or insight.
  • Though short, the piece delivers meaning, not just a moment.
  • Your words show us something true about being alive in a uniquely you way.
  • The writing lands just on this side of prose vs. poetry (though we do love poetic language).

If you love writing short shorts as much as we love reading them, get those micro essays ready! We wish everyone love and luck in our first-ever contest for flash CNF!

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