In honor of the shortest month of the year which includes the loving-est day of the year, we’re holding our third 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 (aka flash CNF; aka micro memoir) of up to 250 words; there is no theme. (View previous year’s winners and runner-ups here.)
Our winner and two runners-up will be featured in a special We Love Short Shorts section of our May-June 2026 issue.
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 middle of April
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All other aspects of our standard submissions apply, such as your filename and document being free of your name; please review our full guidelines here.
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.
Flash CNF Contest Tips
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 third-annual contest for flash CNF!
