Marguerite McGlinn Prize for Fiction

Marguerite McGlinnThis annual national short fiction contest features a first place $2,000 cash award, and includes an invitation to an awards dinner on the campus of Rosemont College on Friday, October 11, 2013. New for 2013: a second place cash prize of $500 and third place cash prize of $250. The winning stories will appear in the Fall 2013 print and online issue of Philadelphia Stories. The Marguerite McGlinn Prize for Fiction is made possible by the generous support of the McGlinn, Hansma, and Dry families.

Contest Submission Guidelines:

• Submission period: Submissions accepted January 1- June 1, 2013. 
• Previously unpublished works of fiction up to 8,000 words.
• Multiple submissions will be accepted for the contest only. Simultaneous submissions are also accepted, however, we must be notified immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.
• Only authors currently residing in the United States are eligible.
• Submissions will only be accepted via the website.
• There is a $10 reading fee for each story submitted.
• All entrants will receive a complimentary one-year membership to Philadelphia Stories.
• Winners will be announced by October 1, 2013.
  
  CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE 2013 CONTEST. 

Michael MartoneAbout the 2013 Judge: Michael Martone is the award-winning author of Four for a Quarter, Not Normal, Illinois: Peculiar Fiction from the Flyover, and much more. Martone has won two Fellowships from the NEA and a grant from the Ingram Merrill Foundation. His stories and essays have appeared and been cited in the Pushcart Prize, The Best American Stories and The Best American Essays anthologies. He is currently a Professor at the University of Alabama where he has been teaching since 1996. 

Past Winners

Adam Schwartz2012 Winner of the Marguerite McGlinn Prize for Fiction: The winner for the fourth annual Marguerite McGlinn National Prize for Fiction is Adam Schwartz’s "The Rest of the World." Board members reviewed more than 400 stories for this year's contest. Nine finalists were reviewed by celebrated author and 2012 judge, Kevin McIlvoy. He was impressed with the quality of all nine finalists, but finally selected Schwartz’s "The Rest of the World" as the winner. McIlvoy desribes the piece as an "unflinching story, written with remarkable sensitivity and skill, [that] pours darkness into your heart at the very moments it pours in piercing light." Read about the 2012 winner HERE.

2011 Winner of the Marguerite McGlinn Prize for Fiction: B.G. Firmani. After board members narrowed down 300 story submissions to nine finalists, renowned author and 2011 judge Steve Almond chose New York City resident B.G. Firmani’s story, “To the Garden.” Read the full announcement of the 2011 winner HERE. Click HERE to see a slideshow of the awards  ceremony held on the campus of Rosemont College. Click HERE to hear Ms. Firmani read from her winning story at the awards ceremony.

Allison Alsup2010 Winner of the Marguerite McGlinn Prize for Fiction: Allison Alsup received the $2000 prize for her story, “East of the Sierra”, which was chosen by contest judge Ru Freeman as the winner. The story was published in the Winter 2010/2011 issue of Philadelphia Stories. Click HERE to hear Ms. Alsup read from her winning story at the awards ceremony held on the campus of Rosemont College, or visit  WFTE.org to listen to the podcast.

Katherine Hill2009 Winner of the Marguerite McGlinn Prize for Fiction: Katherine Hill received the $1,000 prize for her story, The Work Boyfriend, which was chosen by contest judge Elise Juska as the winner. Her winning story was published in the winter 2009/2010 issue of Philadelphia Stories. Click HERE to hear Ms. Hill read at our 2010 Marguerite McGlinn National Prize awards celebration.

About Marguerite McGlinn
Marguerite McGlinn was the essay editor of Philadelphia Stories from 2004-2008. Her travel stories appeared in the New York Times, the Sun-Sentinel, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Los Angeles Times. She edited The Trivium: The LiberalArts of Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric (Paul Dry Books, 2002). Three of her short stories won places in “Writing Aloud,” a program of dramatic readings that matches contemporary fiction with professional actors. She was an adjunct instructor at Saint Joseph University in Philadelphia, and her story “The Sphinx” appeared in the Fall 2007 issue of Philadelphia Stories and the second volume of the Best of Philadelphia Stories (2009).