december Call for Submissions & 2024 Curt Johnson Prose Awards(Deadline May 1)
“december invites submissions of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction (essays, memoirs, biography, literary journalism, social or cultural commentary or analysis), and visual art (print or digital). december magazine was founded in Iowa City in 1958 by a group of poets, writers, and artists who declared, “We are humanists…far more concerned with people than dogmatic critical or aesthetic attitudes.” december was a pioneer in the “little” magazine and small press movement, publishing cutting-edge fiction, poetry, non-fiction, and art.
december has a distinguished legacy of publishing the early work of little-known writers and artists, many of whom became major literary figures, including Donald Barthelme, Marvin Bell, Stephen Berg, Rita Mae Brown, Raymond Carver, Stephen Dunn, Donald Hall, Michael Harper, Donald Justice, Ted Kooser, Philip Levine, Joyce Carol Oates, Marge Piercy, William Stafford, C.K. Williams, Charles Wright, and James Wright.”
We are pleased to announce our 2024 Curt Johnson Prose Awards will be judged by Leslie Jamison (Nonfiction) and Tlotlo Tsamasse (Fiction) click here for more information on our judges. Prizes are $1,500 and publication in our Fall/Winter 2022 issue for First Place (fiction and nonfiction); $500 and publication in our Fall/Winter 2022 issue for honorable mention (fiction and nonfiction). All finalists will be listed in the awards issue.
Curt Johnson Prose Award Guidelines as follows:
Our submission period is OPEN
SEE CURRENT AND PAST WINNERS HERE
Guidelines:
Maximum of 8,000 words for fiction and non-fiction. Name and address on cover letter only. $20 entry fee includes copy of Awards issue.
AUTHOR NAME OR OTHER IDENTIFYING INFORMATION SHOULD NOT APPEAR IN YOUR TITLE OR ANYWHERE ON YOUR UPLOADED OR HARD COPY DOCUMENT.
december accepts submissions online through Submittable.
We do not accept simultaneous submissions, but we generally provide a response within eight weeks. Contest submissions generally take longer because of the review process.
december also accepts submissions through the U.S. mail. If submitting by mail, please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) with sufficient postage, your $20.00 entry fee (check or cash), and indicate if you would like your manuscript returned. Multiple entries accepted with additional $20.00 entry fee per submission.
december assumes no responsibility for delayed, lost, or damaged manuscripts.