2026 Fractured Lit Flash Fiction OPEN | Prize $3500 | Judged by Pamela Painter | Free for Writers from Historically Marginalized Groups

We're excited to once again host the Fractured Lit Flash Fiction OPEN from May 11 to July 12, 2026. 

No themes. No prompts. Just your wildest imaginations and your best, most engaging flash and microfiction! We want to showcase that story that took you minutes or hours or months to perfect. Portray those characters who will face their fears, who will act, who will get into trouble, and who will create tension on the page. Those are the characters we can’t stop wondering about. Play with format and structure, play with tropes and archetypes, and bring us something only you could create! Tell us the story we didn’t know we were yearning for!

We're thrilled to partner with Guest Judge Pamela Painter, who will choose one grand-prize winner and fifteen finalists from a shortlist of forty stories curated by our editors. The first-place winner will receive $2,000 and publication, while the fifteen finalists will receive $100 and publication. All entries will be considered for general publication.

Good luck and happy writing!

Pamela Painter is the award-winning author of five story collections, and co-author of the textbook What If? Her stories have appeared in over a hundred journals and in the recent anthologies Flash Fiction America, Best Microfictions 2025, Best Small Fictions 2025, the Wigleaf Top 50, 2025, and most recently The Pushcart Book of Twenty-First Century Poetry and Prose. Painter has four Pushcart Prizes, and her work has been staged by Word Theatre in New York and LA. Painter is on the board of Ploughshares, and is a Founding Donor of the Flash Fiction Archive, established in 2020, at the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas, Austin.  

Here’s what Pamela Painter looks for in a flash fiction story:

I’m looking for an irresistible beginning, a startling image or a dazzling curl of language, then a wild streak of movement or a slow pulse of the heart, all with underlying tension and urgency, and always an end that brings the special world of the story to the only possible finish. Surprise me, and most of all make me wish I had written your story. 

GUIDELINES:

• Your $20 reading fee allows up to two stories of 1,000 words or fewer each per entry—if submitting two stories, please put them both in a SINGLE document.
• Writers from historically marginalized groups may submit for free until we reach a cap of 25 submissions in this category. No additional fee waivers will be granted for this contest.
• We allow multiple submissions—each set of two flash/micro stories requires a separate submission accompanied by a reading fee.
• Please send flash and microfiction only—1,000 word count maximum per story.
• We only consider unpublished work for contests—we do not review reprints, including self-published work (even on blogs and social media). Reprints will be automatically disqualified.
• Simultaneous submissions are okay—please notify us and withdraw your entry if you find another home for your writing.
• All entries will also be considered for publication in Fractured Lit.
• Double-space your submission and use Times New Roman 12 (or larger if needed).
• Please include a brief cover letter with your publication history (if applicable). In the cover letter, please include content warnings as well, to safeguard our reading staff.
• We only read work in English, though some code-switching/meshing is warmly welcomed.
• We do not read anonymous submissions. However, shortlisted stories are sent anonymously to the judge.
• Work generated by AI will be automatically disqualified.

The deadline for entry is July 12, 2026. We will announce the shortlist within twelve to fourteen weeks of the contest's close. All writers will be notified when the results are final.

Some Submittable Hot Tips:

• Please be sure to whitelist/add this email address to your contacts, so notifications do not get filtered as spam/junk: notifications@email.submittable.com.
• If you realize you sent the wrong version of your piece: It happens. Please DO NOT withdraw the piece and resubmit. Submittable collects a nonrefundable fee each time. Please DO message us from within the submission to request that we open the entry for editing, which will allow you to fix everything from typos in your cover letter to uploading a new draft. The only time we will not allow a change is if the piece is already under review by a reader.

OPTIONAL EDITORIAL FEEDBACK:

You may choose to receive editorial feedback on your piece. We will provide a global letter discussing the strengths of the writing and the recommended focus for revision. Our aim is to make our comments actionable and encouraging. These letters are written by editors and staff readers of Fractured Lit. Should your story win, no feedback will be offered, and your fee will be refunded.