PARSEC—Pittsburgh’s “premiere organization to promote awareness of the richness of speculative fiction as literature, art, and music; further general education in the sciences and arts, support contribution, both scientific and artistic, to society, and to espouse the enjoyment of speculative fiction as literature, art and music with others”—is holding its annual science fiction and fantasy short story contest. The contest is open to non-professional writers (those who have not made enough professional sales to qualify for SFWA membership). The winner will be “the best story which uses the contest theme as a key element”, and will earn its author $200 and publication in the Confluence 2010 program book. Second and third prize winners will receive $100 and $50, respectively.
Original, unpublished, unsold science fiction, fantasy, or horror stories are eligible, but must be no longer than 3,500 words. Deadline is 15 April 2010. Submissions will be screened by the contest coordinators, and the best submissions will be forwarded to the panel of three judges for determination of the winners. The judges this year are authors Paul Melko, John Scalzi, and Karina Sumner-Smith.
This year’s theme is “The Color of Silence”. They say of the theme, “Use this as a metaphor, literally, or anything in between for your genre story. As this is a themed contest, your interpretation of the theme element must be integral to the story. Only an incidental mention of the theme will count against you. Please remember, though, that Confluence attracts many families, and the story will be printed in the program book. A certain restraint and subtlety is called for.”
For full submission details, see this page.