Prizes

FC2 conducts two annual manuscript contests

Ronald Sukenick Innovative Fiction Contest

Eligibility

The FC2 Ronald Sukenick Innovative Fiction Contest is open to writers of, from, or in the US writing in English who have not previously published with FC2. Submissions may include a collection of short stories, one or more novellas, or a novel of any length. There is no length requirement. Works that have previously appeared in magazines or in anthologies may be included. Translations and previously published or self-published novels and collections are not eligible. To avoid conflict of interest, employees and Board members of FC2, as well as former or current students or close friends of the final judge, are not eligible to enter. FC2 remains dedicated to recruiting new and diverse makers of the images of tomorrow and to forging an ever more representative and provocative collective to challenge and overwrite the brutal conventions of our insufficient now. We particularly encourage submissions from writers who dismantle assumed points of view and dominant narratives.

Prize

The Prize includes $1,500 and publication by FC2, an imprint of the University of Alabama Press. In the unlikely event that no suitable manuscript is found among entries in a given year, FC2 reserves the right not to award a prize.

Judges

Finalists for the Sukenick Contest will be chosen by the FC2 Board of Directors. The winning manuscript will be chosen from the finalists by our final judge. Selection criteria will be consistent with FC2’s mission to publish fiction considered by America’s largest publishers too challenging, innovative, or heterodox for the commercial milieu, including works of high quality and exceptional ambition whose styles, subject matter, or forms push the limits of American publishing and reshape our literary culture. For more information on FC2’s mission, history, aesthetic commitments, authors, events, and books, please visit our About page.

The final judge for the 2023 contest will be Kiik Araki-Kawaguchi. Kiik Araki-Kawaguchi is the author of The Book of Kane and Margaret (FC2) and Disintegration Made Plain and Easy (1913 Press). He teaches at Western Washington University.

Guidelines

Entries for the 2023 contest are closed. Thanks to all who submitted! The winner will be announced in May 2023. Submissions for the 2024 contest will open in August 2023.

1. Submit a previously unpublished manuscript of any length through our online submissions manager. Electronic submissions only.
2. The manuscript must be anonymous. The author’s name or address must not appear anywhere on the manuscript. The title page should contain the title of the manuscript only. Pages should be numbered consecutively. Files should be uploaded as a MS Word document or PDF.
3. Please include a cover letter, including a brief biography and your name and contact information, in the space allotted on the submission form.
4. Include a $25 submission fee. Submission of more than one manuscript is permissible if each manuscript is submitted separately and accompanied by a $25 submission fee. Simultaneous submissions to other publishers are permitted, but FC2 must be notified immediately if the manuscript is accepted elsewhere.

Catherine Doctorow Innovative Fiction Prize

Eligibility

The FC2 Catherine Doctorow Innovative Fiction Prize is open to writers of, from, or in the US writing in English with at least three books of fiction published. Submissions may include a collection of short stories, one or more novellas, or a novel of any length. There is no length requirement. Works that have previously appeared in magazines or in anthologies may be included. Translations and previously published or self-published novels and collections are not eligible. To avoid conflict of interest, FC2 authors and employees of FC2, as well as former or current students or close friends of the final judge, are not eligible to enter.

FC2 remains dedicated to recruiting new and diverse makers of the images of tomorrow and to forging an ever more representative and provocative collective to challenge and overwrite the brutal conventions of our insufficient now. We particularly encourage submissions from writers who dismantle assumed points of view and dominant narratives.

Prize

The Prize includes $15,000 and publication by FC2, an imprint of the University of Alabama Press. In the unlikely event that no suitable manuscript is found among entries in a given year, FC2 reserves the right not to award a prize.

Judges

Finalists for the Doctorow Prize will be chosen by the FC2 Board of Directors. The winning manuscript will be chosen from the finalists by our final judge. Past judges include Renee Gladman, Shelley Jackson, Mary Caponegro, Rikki Ducornet, Percival Everett, Laird Hunt, Stephen Graham Jones, Ben Marcus, Carole Maso, Stacey Levine, and Sam Lipsyte. Selection criteria will be consistent with FC2’s mission to publish fiction considered by America’s largest publishers too challenging, innovative, or heterodox for the commercial milieu, including works of high quality and exceptional ambition whose styles, subject matter, or forms push the limits of American publishing and reshape our literary culture. For more information on FC2’s mission, history, and aesthetic commitments, please visit our About page.

The final judge for the 2023 contest will be Matt Bell. Matt Bell is the author most recently of the novel Appleseed (a New York Times Notable Book) and the craft book Refuse to Be Done, a guide to novel writing, rewriting, and revision. He is also the author of the novels Scrapper and In the House upon the Dirt Between the Lake and the Woods, as well as the short story collection A Tree or a Person or a Wall, a non-fiction book about the classic video game Baldur’s Gate II, and several other titles. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Esquire, Tin House, Fairy Tale Review, American Short Fiction, Orion, and many other publications. A native of Michigan, he teaches creative writing at Arizona State University.

Guidelines

Entries for the 2023 contest are closed. Thanks to all who submitted! The winner will be announced in May 2023. Submissions for the 2024 contest will open in August 2023.

1. Submit a previously unpublished manuscript of any length through our online submissions manager. Electronic submissions only.
2. The manuscript must be anonymous. The author’s name or address must not appear anywhere on the manuscript. The title page should contain the title of the manuscript only. Pages should be numbered consecutively. Files should be uploaded as a MS Word document or PDF.
3. Please include a cover letter, including a biography, your name and contact information, and a list of three previously published works of fiction with ISBNs and publishers, in the space allotted on the submission form.
4. Include a $25 submission fee. Submission of more than one manuscript is permissible if each manuscript is submitted separately and accompanied by a $25 submission fee. Simultaneous submissions to other publishers are permitted, but FC2 must be notified immediately if the manuscript is accepted elsewhere.