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We are excited to announce the new theme for the CWIA 2024 Anthology: Beneath the Lubbock Sky: An Anthology of Short Stories and Illustrations. 

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Submissions open April 2, 2024 | Submissions Close July 31, 2024

 

Theme:

We want your fiction stories of birth, rebirth, change, transformation, growth, death, reunions, love, romance, mystery, thrillers, science fiction, fantasy, the paranormal, history, multigeneration, literary fiction, foods and foodways, legends and legacies. Stories (past, present and future) that explore Lubbock, our lived experiences, and adaptations to changes under the Lubbock sky.

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Ideas to spark story concepts:

The Lubbock lights, barn raising, ranch houses, cotton mills, grain elevators, oil wells, the staked plains—Llano Estacado, the sun, the skyline, places of worship, haboobs—dust storms, tornados, drought, extreme heat, floods, snow. 

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Friday night lights, the theatre, square dancing, festivals, concerts, arts, school, school teachers, ranchers, early pioneer figures, the “Hub City” people of diverse nationalities, and/or apparitions.

 

Contest Rules/Statements: 

Cash Prizes

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Entry Fee:

Members $20

Non-Members: $30 or free entry with new membership

 

Word Count for stories:

4000 – 5000 words

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For Illustrations:

1 – 5 pages of illustrations along with up to 500 words about the images.

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Open to all genres of literary fiction and genre fiction.

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Want to help?  We are looking for readers to help rank stories for our judges. Email us to volunteer. 

Rules for Submission​

  • Editor may correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation without prior notice to the author

  • Editor may (at their discretion) request corrections, changes, and resubmissions by the author for quality/consistency/content purposes, if time allows

  • Author retains all rights to their work

  • Please include a 2-3 sentence bio for the author section

  • Story/work MUST be set in Lubbock, Texas (whether past, present or future). This is a place-inspired fiction anthology.

  • Story should be fiction and can be written in any genre: literary fiction, historical fiction, mystery, romance, thriller, sci-fi, fantasy, cli-fi, speculative fiction, retelling of legends and more. 

  • Nonfiction, memoirs, essays, articles, children's fiction, cookbooks or poetry will not be accepted.

  • The theme is open, as long as the story is set in Lubbock, Texas  (whether past, present or future). Some themes to consider, but not limited to, include: reunions, births, rebirths, death, life, adventure, transformations, friendship, love, romance, displacement, reclamation, discovery, revenge, escape, the landscape, the weather, tornados, haboobs - dust storms, droughts, floods, apparitions, foods and foodways, arts, sports, ranch houses, schools, oil wells and drilling, farming, hub city, places of worship, festivals, ranchers, teachers, multigenerational, and more. 

  •  Title of story CANNOT be the same as the title of the anthology.

  •  Story MUST be new, never before published work.

  •  Formatting: 1” margins • Times New Roman, 12 pt. • Double-Spaced, with no lines added before or after paragraphs • Page Number on bottom center • File format for story: Word or .doc . File format for illustrations: JPEG, PNG, TIFF.

  • Author name, bio, and contact information on COVER PAGE ONLY as well as title of story/work. No personal identifying information should appear on any page of the main story/work, excepting the title of the story/work.

  • Editor has right to correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation without prior notice to author.  Editor may (at their discretion) request corrections, changes, and resubmissions by author for quality/consistency/content purposes, if time allows.

  • Author retains all rights to their work. 

  • No AI assisted or AI generated story/ illustration will be accepted.

  •  20 winners will be notified in fall 2024. 

  • This contest is open to writers in English from all over the world, whether or not they are citizens of the United States.

  • Judges' decision are final.​

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