Current Contests

Gulf Coast - A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts

Announcing the 2012 Gulf Coast Prizes

in Poetry, Fiction, and Nonfiction!

The 2012 Gulf Coast Contests, awarding publication and $1,500 each in Poetry, Fiction, and Nonfiction, are now open. Honorable mentions in each category will receive a $250 prize.

The Postmark/Online Entry deadline is March 15th, 2012. Winners and Honorable Mentions will be announced in May.

2012 judges to be announced soon. Please check back for updates.

Guidelines:

To enter online (preferred), visit the online submissions manager and be sure to choose "CONTEST: Fiction," "CONTEST: Poetry," or "CONTEST: Nonfiction/Lyric Essay" as your genre.

Upload one previously unpublished story or essay (25 double-spaced pages max) or up to five previously unpublished poems (10 pages max). Do not include a cover letter, your name, or contact info of any kind in your uploaded document; please put this information in the "comments" field.

Once you've clicked "submit," you will be redirected to PayPal to authorize your $23 online reading fee, which also gets you a one-year subscription. You won't need a PayPal account, only a credit card. Multiple submissions are acceptable, but you must pay the fee for each entry. We'll contact you if there are any problems with your payment; please do not email us to confirm whether payment was received.

To enter by mail, send one previously unpublished story or essay (25 double-spaced pages max) or up to five previously unpublished poems (10 pages max) to the address below. Indicate your genre on the outer envelope. Your name and address should appear on the cover letter only. Include a SASE for results. Your $20 postal reading fee, payable to "Gulf Coast," will include a one-year subscription. Manuscripts will not be returned.

Send Postal Entries to:
Gulf Coast Prize in [Genre]
Department of English
University of Houston
Houston, TX 77204-3013

Check out last year's winners in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction... or read "online exclusive" interviews with Brian Van Reet (fiction winner) and Arianne Zwartjes (nonfiction winner).

Donald Barthelme

Announcing the winner and runners-up for the 2011 Barthelme Prize for
Short Prose, as judged by Sarah Manguso:

Winner: "Grand Canyon II" by Erica Olsen of Dolores, CO
Runners-up: "Why I Became a Fireman" by Paul Zaic of Dumfries, VA; and
"Master Bedroom" by Sonja Vitow of Brighton, MA

Our congratulations and appreciation go out to all winners. Look for
these three pieces in Gulf Coast 24.2, due out Spring 2012.

Information on the next Barthelme Prize will be posted on the website
in Summer 2012.