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The Academy for Teachers created its Stories Out of School flash fiction contest to inspire honest, unsentimental stories about teachers and the rich and complex world of schools.
The winning story comes with a $1000 prize and publication in the print edition of A Public Space. Runners-up receive a subscription to A Public Space, our partner in the contest.
This year’s judge is Jonathan Lethem, the author of eleven novels, including The Fortress of Solitude, Chronic City, The Feral Detective, and Motherless Brooklyn, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award and last year became a major motion picture starring Ed Norton.
You can read past winners of the contest here.
Submission Guidelines
- The story’s protagonist, or its narrator, must be a K-12 teacher.
- Stories must be between 6 and 749 words and previously unpublished.
- You need not be a teacher to submit, but you do need to be over the age of eighteen.
- Use 12-point Arial font and double space.
- One submission per writer.
- All submissions must be PDFs.
- Sentimentality is discouraged and education jargon is forbidden.
Deadline for submissions: Tuesday, September 1, 2020.
Make your submission here.
Winners will be announced in January 2021.