“I LIKE THIS PRIZE ESPECIALLY BECAUSE IT’S SO INTERNATIONAL. THE VOICES AREN’T COMING FROM A LIMITED CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE…THERE’S A BREADTH OF WIDER EXPERIENCES BY THE WRITERS. THEY’RE CONVEYING SOMETHING, AND I THINK CONVEYING SOMETHING WITH URGENCY.”

OTTESSA MOSHFEGH

The aim of the Desperate Literature Short Fiction Prize is both to celebrate the best of new short fiction and to give winners the most visibility possible for their writing. That’s why we’ve teamed up with fifteen different literary and artistic institutions to offer not only a cash prize and writing retreats but to ensure that all our shortlisters have the opportunity to be published in multiple print and online journals, have their work put in front of literary agents, and perform in multiple countries.

THIS YEAR WE HAVE CONTINUED OUR
2022 COLLABORATIONS WHILE
DOUBLING THE NUMBER OF SPONSORED ENTRIES AVAILABLE
AND ADDING NEW SPONSORSHIP PARTNERS

The Desperate Literature Short Fiction Prize adheres to CLMP’s Contest Code of Ethics

The Civitella Ranieri Foundation,
Italy

“Civitella was beyond anything I could have expected. The castle and the grounds are straight out of a fairy-tale, every window is an entrance to scenery that inspires. But what makes it such an amazing place to go are the people. From musicians, to composers, to sculptors, to poets to novelists all sharing ideas, and their work. It is a space free of judgement. While there you could write a thousand words, write five hundred words, write nothing at all, but you would still leave knowing more about how to create stories then you ever have before. Getting to the point, if you ever have the chance to go there, make it happen. I’m already plotting my next trip.”

– Paige Cowan-Hall, winner of the 2021 Desperate Literature Short Fiction Prize

The Georgia Writers’ House
& Tbilisi International Festival of Literature

‘Lightning spat over the Caucasus as my flight came in to land here late at night, lightning that became street-light reflected off a fast-moving river, that became lanterns in ancient gardens, candles over wine, and I couldn’t help thinking, couldn’t help knowing, for once in my life, that all the crackling stuff which usually ran around my head as I wrote was now rolling out in real life. This is the thing I remember from Tbilisi. Like something imagined had come to life, and we were all there imagining it together. I hope I can do it again one day; until then I can only write.’

– DBC Pierre, participant in the TIFL 2016

TESTIMONIALS:

On the 2022 shortlist:

‘Reading these stories made me feel glad for the future of short stories.’
—Anton Hur, 2022 Judge

‘In these rich and vibrant stories, the language surprises and delights. From surreal mouse proposals to the catharsis of visible grief, via the uncertainty of memory and perception, each of these stories creates a new, engrossing reality while shedding light on our own.’
—Natasha Brown, 2022 Judge

From 2019 winner, Francesca Reece

‘The Desperate Literature Prize changed everything for me. It gave me a platform to get my writing out there and to meet so many interesting, talented people. The prizes are just ridiculously good but the whole experience – the events in Madrid, Paris and London, getting published in Eleven Stories, all of it – was unforgettable.’

After winning the Desperate Literature Short Prize for Short Fiction, Francesca signed with Charlotte Seymour (then at Andrew Nurnberg Associates). Her first novel, Voyeur, was released with Tinder Press in 2021.

From 2018 winner, Ed Cottrell

‘It really is a fairytale literary prize, and I am immensely proud to be the inaugural winner.’

On the 2021 shortlist selection:

‘I loved reading the shortlist selection which realizes the Desperate Literature team’s ambition to reimagine and diversify contemporary writing. The stories represented are inquisitive, irreverential, critical, and fully committed to their respective creative projects. I’ve never been more hopeful for the future of fiction, and the Desperate Literature Prize plays no small part in this.’
—Isabel Waidner, 2021 Judge

On the 2020 shortlist selection:

‘I thoroughly enjoyed reading these submissions, which surprised me with their honest poise, their integrity, and their understated adherence to the values of literature. In the hands of some of these writers, the story form was brought to bear on the modern scene in new and astute ways.’
—Rachel Cusk, 2020 Judge

‘I was bowled over by the power, inquiry, and humour of these stories. They shine brightly in the mind after reading.’
—Niven Govinden, 2020 Judge

Click here to read quotes from other winners, literary agents, previous judges Claire-Louise Bennett and Eley Williams, and publishers. 

SHORTLIST JUDGES

The first round of the Desperate Literature Short Fiction Prize will be judged by the Desperate Literature team: Lara Alonso Conora, Terry Craven, Charlotte Delattre, Robert Greer, Vesna Maric, Kate McCully, Silver Sharma, and Emily Westmoreland. As soon as we have a shortlist, we’ll hand it over to our shortlist judges who will then pick the winner and runners-up.*

*For more information about how we select the shortlist, please see our eligibility & conditions page.

Tiffany Tsao is the author of The Majesties and the Oddfits series, as well as a translator of Indonesian fiction and poetry. Her translation of Norman Erikson Pasaribu’s Happy Stories, Mostly was longlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize and awarded the Republic of Consciousness Prize in 2022. She holds a Ph.D. in English literature from UC-Berkeley.

Photo credit: Leah Diprose

Mariana Enríquez  is one of the most spellbinding narrators in Latin American literature. Her story collection Los Peligros de Fumar en la Cama (2009) was shortlisted for the 2021 International Booker and was a finalist of the Kirkus Prize. She has been featured in countless anthologies and magazines, inlcuding The New Yorker, Freeman’s, McSweeney’s, Granta UK, Granta en Español, and Asymptote. Her novel Nuestra Parte de Noche won the Herralde Novel Prize in 2019, the Premio Celsius, the Premio Kelvin 505, and most notably, the Premio de la Crítica in 2019.

Photo credit: Nora Lezano

Ottessa Moshfegh is a fiction writer from New England. Eileen, her first novel, was shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Booker Prize, and won the PEN/Hemingway Award for debut fiction. My Year of Rest and Relaxation and Death in Her Hands, her second and third novels, were New York Times bestsellers. She is also the author of the short story collection Homesick for Another World and a novella, McGlue. Her most recent novel, Lapvona, was released in 2022. She lives in southern California.

Photo credit: Krystal Griffiths

OUR PARTNERS

Desperate Literature is grateful to our prize partner, The de Groot Foundation, for sponsoring our winner’s monetary prizes, their stay at Civitella, travel to the Writers’ House of Georgia, editing and more:

We would like to thank our residency providers Civitella Ranieri & The Writers’ House of Georgia:

And we couldn’t offer such wonderful opportunities for publishing without the amazing literary magazines and entities that also offer their support:

We are also incredibly grateful to be able to partner with Spread the Word, Cipher Press, and The Word to offer sponsored places to their communities: