SmokeLong Quarterly

The competition is closed! Watch for the long list coming soon!

This fall we are hosting our first annual prize for comedy in flash. We want to feel your razor-sharp wit, share your sideways view of the world, hear your irresistibly bizarre voice. We want to laugh out loud and snort our coffee through our noses. Yes, we want this. All at the same time. Make us smile.

While there is no specific theme for this competition, your work should interpret the idea of comedy in some (in)appropriate way. Comedy can be dark or slapstick, burlesque or deadpan, a parody or even a mockumentary. It’s up to you. Give us your satire, your surrealism, or your absurdism. Or all four.

Guidelines:

Word Limit: 782 Words (not including the title, no minimum length requirement)

Open to anyone 18 years of age and/or older in the world who is not actively on staff at SmokeLong Quarterly.

Open to fiction, non-fiction, and anything in between. No poetry please.

Open to works previously unpublished as well as those previously published as long as the author has retained copyright. Narratives previously published by SmokeLong Quarterly are not eligible.

Open to narratives in any language as long as accompanied by an English translation. Judging will be based on English translation. Prize will be split evenly between author and translator.

All entries are read blind. Please remove all identifying information from the document(s). In the case of previously published work, please do NOT indicate where the piece was published. Please also retitle the piece(s) so that they are not searchable by title online. All of this information should be in the cover letter, which the judges will not see until acceptance or rejection.

Formatted in a legible, dark 12pt font. No invisible ink please.

Prize money paid through Paypal.

Competition entry period: August 1 — November 15

Judging:

The SmokeLong staff will judge this competition. As always at SmokeLong, if two editors have passed on your work you will receive an immediate reply. You will not have to wait until the end of the competition to hear from us in this case. If, however, your work has been nudged up to the senior editors for comment, we will need longer. If your work has been in progress for more than 2 weeks, this is an encouraging sign. This means we’re discussing your work, maybe even cleaning coffee off our computer monitors.

Prizes:

Prize Fund: At least $1600

Each of the (at least) four narratives selected to win The SmokeLong Comedy Prize will receive $400 and publication in our December issue 2021.

A shortlist will be announced prior to publication of the December issue.

Entry fees:

August 1-October 31

1 entry — $7

2 entries — $12

Up to 5 entries – $22

November 1-November 16

1 entry — $8

2 entries — $14

Up to 5 entries — $26

For writers who are financially unable to pay an entry fee, please watch our social media channels for our free-entry day.