SmokeLong Quarterly

SmokeLong began offering workshops in person in 2019. We toured the UK–London, Norwich, Birmingham, and Manchester (which is definitely NOT in the Midlands)–and we had the best time. Then COVID came, and we simultaneously moved online–not actually because of COVID, but COVID contributed to our decision ultimately to offer workshops exclusively online. Since 2019, over 700 people have participated in our workshops, and many of you have shared on social media that your work has subsequently been published. Well, this slays us and we want to up the stakes, sweeten the pot, slap a cherry on it.

Please note that the entry period for 2024 is closed. We will reopen for entries on January 1, 2025 and read until December 31, 2025 for the next award. Please keep track of your publications!

Have you taken part in a SmokeLong workshop? A SmokeLong webinar? If you have and you have published a narrative that began with SmokeLong, you are eligible to win The SmokeLong Workshop Prize. Here are the guidelines:

• Your narrative–fiction or nonfiction or anywhere in between–must have begun in a SmokeLong workshop (from 2019 to the present) and be published by November 1, 2024. You’ll be required to indicate the workshop, the workshop leader, and the writing task when you submit.
• Your narrative must of course be 1000 words or fewer.
• You must be 18 years of age or older.
• You may enter all narratives that qualify, but you must enter each separately as an acceptable file on Submittable. Please do NOT send us links to publications.
• Due to the nature of this competition, we won’t be able to assure that entries are blind. Your work might have already won a prize, for example. With this in mind, however, we do ask that you remove your name from the story document itself. We will transfer the top 50 entries to our guest judge.
• Staff members of SmokeLong and fellows are not eligible.
• Deadline: November 10, 2024.
• We’ll announce our long list for this award on December 16 with the publication of Issue 86!

The Judging:

Your entry or entries will be judged initially by the SmokeLong editors. The top 50 will be handed over to our special guest judge (TBA).

The Prizes: 

First prize: $500
Second prize: $100
Third prize: $50

Competition Fees:

What competition fees? This one’s on us.

The 2023 competition is in the bag, and the long list for the 2024 competition will be announced on December 16! Read the 2023 finalists’ work HERE. Congratulations to all the finalists as well as Nathan Xie (third place), Mario Aliberto III (second place), and Claudia Monpere (first place).