Fractured Lit Ghost, Fable, and Fairy Tales Prize | $3500 | Judged by Melissa Llanes Brownlee | Free for Writers from Historically Marginalized Groups

We invite writers to submit to the Fractured Lit Ghost, Fable, and Fractured Fairy Tales Prize from February 16, 2026, to April 19, 2026. 

Fractured Lit is looking for stories of ghosts, fables, and fractured fairy tales in 1,000 words or fewer. Whichever tradition you choose, make sure you find a new way to approach it, to twist and discombobulate it, to push us away from the mundane and into the strange or uncanny. Transport us from the here and now to a new land of discovery, where specific characters take on unique challenges inspired by these tropes. This contest produces some of the most imaginative submissions each year, and we look forward to reading your creations!

Guest Judge Melissa Llanes Brownlee will choose three prize winners from a shortlist. We’re excited to offer the winner of this prize $3,000 and publication, while the second- and third-place winners will receive publication and $300 and $200, respectively. All entries will be considered for publication.

Melissa Llanes Brownlee (she/her), a native Hawaiian writer living in Japan, has work published and forthcoming in Prairie Schooner, Redivider, and Moon City Review. Read Hard Skin (2022), Kahi and Lua (2022), and check out her new collection, Bitter over Sweet (2025) from Santa Fe Writers Project. She tweets @lumchanmfa and talks story at melissallanesbrownlee.com.

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

Bring me home with you. Show me your ghosts: in your mother’s broken tea set, your father’s worn wallet, your sister’s half-eaten candy necklace. Or better yet, teach me the fables and fairy tales of your childhood, the ones that warn me to never stray from the path, that advise me to listen to my elders, that preach to me never trust a stranger. Send me into the dark with only a winking flashlight, a fluttering torch, a dying smartphone. Give me fear. Give me love. Keep me reading, and rereading, your labyrinth of sentences, of images, flashy lengths of strings to find my way.

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.
• We allow multiple submissions—each set of two flash stories should be a separate submission accompanied by a reading fee.
• Writers from historically marginalized groups will be able to submit for free until we reach our cap of 25 free submissions. No additional fee waivers will be granted.
• Please send flash fiction 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 guest judge.
• AI-generated or -assisted submissions will be automatically disqualified.

The deadline for contest entry is April 19, 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 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 submission. We will provide a two-page 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.