| The
2008 Robert Olen Butler Fiction Prize
Del Sol Press announces the Robert Olen Butler Fiction
Prize for the best short story, either published (in a periodical) or
unpublished, 2000-8000 words. We invite contest submissions from both
emerging and established writers. In keeping with the philosophy of Web
del Sol, we are only interested in the very best fiction, regardless of
source or type.
Our judge for the this year of the competition will be Pulitzer winning
author Robert Olen Butler.
The top ten finalist stories will be published in book form in Spring/Summer
2008. Finalists will be invited to submit book-length manuscripts for
consideration by Del Sol Press.
Winner
Receives
A $1,200 honorarium, paid in February 2008, publication
in a Spring/Summer 2008 Del Sol Press anthology, and 20 copies of the anthology
that features their story.
Eligibility
- Writers who are at least 18 years of age and who live inside or outside
the United States.
- Translations are not eligible; stories must be in English.
- Simultaneous submissions are acceptable (as long as you
let us know immediately if the manuscript is accepted for publication
elsewhere, in which case it must be withdrawn unless it will be published
before April 2008).
- Multiple submissions are fine; include a separate reading
fee with each.
- Employees, volunteers and board members of Web del Sol, or their partners
or spouses, or their immediate families, or immediate family of the
judge are not eligible.
Competition
Guidelines
- Deadline (postmark): November 1, 2007.
- Stories must be between 2000 and 8000 words.
- $16.00 contest fee for the first story (includes a copy of the anthology
when it is published if you send a 8x10" first-class SASE with $5.00 postage); $5.00 for each additional story (doesn't
include another copy of the book). Please make checks out to Web
Del Sol.
- Include two cover pages: one with your contact information (phone,
email, address, where the story has been published if it has been previously
published), and one with the title of your submission (minus your name).
Your name should not appear on the manuscript itself. Manuscripts are
read anonymously.
- Type or word-process on standard white paper, on one side of the page
only.
- Paginate consecutively.
- Staple or paper clip/binder clip, or put it in a separate folder with
your name on the outside of the folder.
- We will consider unpublished stories as well as stories that have
appeared in periodicals (not if they have appeared as part of a
story collection, however), provided that the author can obtain reprint
rights.
- Include a stamped, self-addressed postcard for notification of receipt
of manuscript if you want notification.
- Please keep a copy of your entry. Manuscripts not selected for publication
will be recycled.
Postmark no later than 11/01/07:
Del Sol Press Fiction Contest
326 LOH, Dept of Writing, GVSU
One Campus Drive
Allendale, MI 49401
- Queries to Nicole Corley, contest coordinator. Email: delsolnicole
[at] hotmail.com (replace [at] with @).
2006
ROB Fiction Prize Results
Del Sol Press is pleased to announce Valerie
Hurley as the winner of the 2006 Robert Olen Butler Prize. Robert
Olen Butler selected her story, “Jasmine, Washing the Hair of Pearsa,”
as this year’s best, among a crowd of other great stories.
[Download Press Release]
Hurley will receive an honorarium of $1,200 and publication
in The 2006 Robert Olen Butler Prize Stories anthology, along
with the other 2006 finalists. The deadline for the next (2007) competition
is November 01, 2007. Details will be posted here soon.
The Robert Olen Butler Prize is awarded annually by Del
Sol Press for the best short story, unpublished or published, submitted
to the contest. The winning stories demonstrate the broad range of the
contemporary literary short story and offer a snapshot of some of the
best writing by established and emerging literary talents.
This Year’s Winner and Finalists:
Valerie Hurley—“Jasmine, Washing the Hair of Pearsa”
(2006 Winner)
Jacob M. Appel—“Enoch Arden’s One Night Stands”
Stephenie Brown—“The Wheel Wright”
Lauren Cobb—“No Place”
Greg Hrbek—“Bereavement”
LaTanya McQueen—“Once”
Jamie Pearlberg—“A Wedding Tale”
Matthew Pitt—“The Mean”
Scott Winokur—“Hideous Thing”
Mark Wisniewski—“Prisoners of War”
VALERIE HURLEY'S fiction and essays have been published
in The Iowa Review, The Massachusetts Review, New Letters, Indiana
Review, Boston Review, The Missouri Review, and other magazines
and anthologies. Four of her essays have been awarded “Most
Notable” status in Best American Essays. Her first
novel, St. Ursula’s Girls Against the Atomic Bomb,
was published by MacAdam/Cage in 2003 and by Plume Books (in paperback)
in 2004. She has enjoyed residencies at the MacDowell Colony, the
Millay Colony, and the Vermont Studio Center. She lives in northern
Vermont with her husband, John Kern, and feels very fortunate to
be represented by literary agent Betsy Lerner of Dunow, Carlson
& Lerner. |
The
2006 Robert Olen Butler Fiction Prize
Del Sol Press announces the Robert Olen Butler Fiction
Prize for the best short story, either published (in a periodical) or
unpublished, 2000-8000 words. We invite contest submissions from both
emerging and established writers. In keeping with the philosophy of Web
del Sol, we are only interested in the very best fiction, regardless of
source or type.
Our judge for the this year of the competition will be Pulitzer winning
author Robert Olen Butler.
The top ten finalist stories will be published in book form in Spring
2007. Finalists will be invited to submit book-length manuscripts for
consideration by Del Sol Press.
Winner
Receives
A $1,200 honorarium, paid in February 2007, publication
in a Spring 2007 Del Sol Press anthology, and 20 copies of the anthology
that features their story.
Eligibility
- Writers who are at least 18 years of age and who live inside or outside
the United States.
- Translations are not eligible; stories must be in English.
- Simultaneous submissions are acceptable (as long as you
let us know immediately if the manuscript is accepted for publication
elsewhere, in which case it must be withdrawn unless it will be published
before February 2007).
- Multiple submissions are fine; include a separate reading
fee with each.
- Employees, volunteers and board members of Web del Sol, or their partners
or spouses, or their immediate families, or immediate family of the
judge are not eligible.
Competition
Guidelines
- Deadline (postmark): November 1, 2006.
- Stories must be between 2000 and 8000 words.
- $16.00 contest fee for the first story (includes a copy of the anthology
when it is published if you send a 8x10" SASE with $5.00 to cover
printing and postage); $5.00 for each additional story (doesn't
include another copy of the book). Please make checks out to Web
Del Sol.
- Include two cover pages: one with your contact information (phone,
email, address, where the story has been published if it has been previously
published), and one with the title of your submission (minus your name).
Your name should not appear on the manuscript itself. Manuscripts are
read anonymously.
- Type or word-process on standard white paper, on one side of the page
only.
- Paginate consecutively.
- Staple or paper clip/binder clip, or put it in a separate folder with
your name on the outside of the folder.
- We will consider unpublished stories as well as stories that have
appeared in periodicals (not if they have appeared as part of a
story collection, however), provided that the author can obtain reprint
rights.
- Include a stamped, self-addressed postcard for notification of receipt
of manuscript if you want notification.
- Please keep a copy of your entry. Manuscripts not selected for publication
will be recycled.
Postmark no later than 11/01/06:
Del Sol Press Fiction Contest
326 LOH, Dept of Writing, GVSU
One Campus Drive
Allendale, MI 49401
- Queries to Jacob Powers, contest coordinator. Email: jacobppowers
[at] webdelsol.com (replace [at] with @).
2005
ROB Fiction Prize Results
Matthew J. Sullivan
is the winner of the 2005 Robert Olen Butler Prize from the Del Sol Press.
The judge, Robert Olen Butler, has selected his story, "Unfound,"
as the year's best, amidst a crowd of other great stories.
Congratulations to Mr.
Sullivan. He will receive $1200.00 and 20 copies of the anthology in which
his story will appear, along with the other 2005 finalists, slated to
be released in April 2006.
Matthew J.
Sullivan received his M.F.A. from the University of Idaho
and B.A. from the University of San Francisco. He has been a resident
at the Yaddo Colony, and his work has been published in The
Florida Review, The Chattahoochee Review, Painted Bride Quarterly,
580-Split, The Evansville Review, Fugue, and The Bloomsbury Review.
He teaches writing at Big Bend Community College in central Washington,
and is currently at work on a literary mystery set in a rural zoology
museum. |
Our readers selected
the following ten stories as finalists in 2005:
- Cheryl Alu, "Girl"
- Jacob M. Appel, "Shell Game with
Organs"
- Kerry Dolan, "Falling Off the George
Washington Bridge"
- Alicia Gifford, "Gorgeous World"
- Alison Lee Kinney, "Term"
- Phil LaMarche, "In the Tradition
of My Family"
- Cris Mazza, "Our Time Is Up"
- Jeff Parker, "The Taste of Penny"
- Bill Pettitt, "This Is Not About
Me"
- Peter Paul Smith, "Kleebe"
- Alia Yunis, "A Nearly Blonde Christmas"
The finalist stories will
also be published in the anthology, and the authors are invited to send
full-length manuscripts for publication consideration.
We read all subitted stories
several times with care, and picked out what to our readers were the best
of the bunch, arriving at our finalist list. Robert Olen Butler made the
selection of the winner.
Entrants who submitted
to the 2005 prize and send a SASE for notification, will be receiving
an official letter soon (because postage went up, we need to get extra
stamps to stick on all envelopes before sending). Those who enclosed a
book-sized SASE with enough postage will receive their complimentary copy
of the anthology in April when it comes out.
We would like to thank
all of you who entrusted us with your work this year. It was a pleasure,
and next year will see a new judge, new readers, and hopefully more of
your good work.
Readers in 2005, for the
record (thanks especially to them) were: Megan Campbell, Matthew Dube,
Jennifer Gravley, Chris Haven, and Sean Aden Lovelace.
The 2006 Prize Deadline
and guidelines will be posted soon.
2004
Prize Results
E. R. Catalano
is the winner of the 2004 ROB Prize from the Del Sol Press. The
judge, Robert Olen Butler, picked her story, "News of My
Father," and had this to say about it:
"'News from My Father'
is a clear winner. The author has a fine--and all too rare--grasp of the
essential characteristic of outstanding literary fiction, the need for
manifest yearning in the central character. The narrative voice is clean
and fluent and the story never loses sight of the human truths beneath
the surface."
Congratulations to Ms.
Catalano. She will receive $1000.00 and 20 copies of the anthology in
which her story will appear, slated to be released in April 2005.
E.
R. Catalano grew up in Astoria, Queens, where this story
is set. "News from My Father" is loosely based on a family
story about the author’s great-grandmother. She received an
MFA from Emerson College in 1997. Her play, Sestina, has
received several staged readings and a production at Heller Theatre
in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She lives with her husband, also a writer, in
Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. This is her first published story. |
Our readers selected
the following ten stories as finalists in 2004:
"Omicron Ceti III"
by Thomas P. Balazs
"Sundress" by Ariana-Sophia Kartsonis
"Invunche y voladora" by Roy Kesey
"Malika" by Gloria DeVidas Kirchheimer
"My Polish Widower" by Karen Kovacik
"Jazz" by Dylan Landis
"Not People, Not This" by Kelly Magee
"Miss Spam Maps of Vegas" by Lynn Veach Sadler
"Who is the Hardware" by Marianne Taylor
"My Last Days as Me" by Charles Yu
The finalist stories will
also be published in the anthology, and the authors are invited to send
full-length manuscripts for publication consideration.
These selections were very
difficult: we read all the stories with pleasure and found much to admire
and enjoy. We loved the finalist stories (and the winner), but our readers
picked out another twenty stories that were very worthy, near-finalists.
We made our final selections based on which ones, simply, we liked the
best.
Entrants who submitted
to the 2004 prize and send a SASE for notification, will be receiving
an official letter soon. Those who enclosed a book-sized SASE with enough
postage will receive their complementary copy of the anthology in April
when it comes out.
We would like to thank
all of you who entrusted us with your work this year. It was a pleasure,
and next year will see a new judge, new readers, and hopefully more of
your good work.
Readers in 2004, for the
record (thanks especially to them) were: Megan Campbell, Matthew Dube,
Chris Haven, and Anthony Neil Smith.
• Del Sol Press books are distributed
nationwide by Ingram and available from Barnes & Noble and Amazon, among
other fine retailers. Our titles can be found here.
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