Kurt Vonnegut Speculative Fiction Prize

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A project of North American Review (see other related projects).

About

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The Kurt Vonnegut Prize is an annual fiction competition intended to recognize the finest speculative fiction, which can include, but is not limited to, work influenced by the postmodern science-fiction of Kurt Vonnegut. We love Vonnegut’s dark humor, but please avoid mere imitation. We welcome all forms of previously unpublished fiction—one story per submission. We are enthusiastic about all work painted with speculative fiction’s broad brush: fairy tale, magical realism, fabulism, the fantastic, horror, Afro-futurism, science fiction hard and soft, and everything in between.

Fees Notice: This project charges fees (or requires purchases) for all submissions. The fee is USD $23.

Country of Publication

United States

Publication Medium & Contest Frequency

Print Publication

Awarded 1 x per year.

Fiction Temp Closed

Dates:

Will be open to submissions from 01 August 2025 12:00 AM CDT (in 130 days) through 01 November 2025. 0

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience.

Genres:

Genre	Subgenres
General General	Subgenre: Magic Realism.
Fantasy Fantasy	Open to all/most Subgenres, including: Fabulism.
Horror Horror	Open to all/most Subgenres.
Science Fiction Science Fiction	Open to all/most Subgenres, including: Hard Science Fiction, Soft Science Fiction.

Lengths:

Short Story

No specific word count limits known (our definition: 1000 to 7500 words).

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Humorous, Literary, Mainstream.

Topics:

Open to all/most Topics, including: Folklore/Mythology (Fairy tales).

Winner's Prize:

Professional payment (5 or more US cents per word) Professional payment. Details: USD $1,000 prize.

Submissions:

Method: Submittable submission manager.
Reprints: Unknown.
Simultaneous submissions: Unknown.
Multiple entries: Unknown.
Media: Text.

Always check guidelines for details and restrictions. If you aren't familiar with these terms, see our glossary.

Kurt Vonnegut Speculative Fiction Prize Submission Statistics — Free Preview!

The statistics in this section are compiled from submission reports sent to us through our submission tracker. They are not provided by the publication's editors/staff or by Duotrope's admins. Information in this section is updated a few times per day. Learn more about the statistics.

Accuracy	We have received 20 reports from 20 different members within the past 12 months. The more responses reported, the more accurate the information.
Days Reported	43 min \| 111.1 mean avg \| 117.5 median \| 190 max days (36.4 std dev)
Responses	95.00 %
Acceptances	0.00 % No publication has a 0% acceptance rate. This data is based on submission reports sent to Duotrope, and we have not received reports of any acceptances yet.
Rejections	95.00 % (111.8 avg. days per rejection) \| 0.0 % personal, 68.4 % form, 31.6 % unspecified
Non-Responses	5.00 %
Lost/Returned	-
Never Responded	-
Withdrawals	5.00 % (43.0 avg. days per withdrawal)

Other Information

The most common submission fee paid: USD $23.00.
Most submissions are acknowledged on the same day.
Most recent response reported was received on 26 Feb 2025.
Responses have been received for submissions sent as recently as 02 Nov 2024.

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Dates

Last Updated: 11 Mar 2025
Last Audited: 28 Jan 2025. (We audit each active listing twice a year. Learn more at link.)
Date Added: 02 Aug 2018

Before Submitting

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Always read the full guidelines provided by the publisher.
Try to read at least one previous publication to get a better idea of what the editor would like to see.
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Be professional, patient, and persistent.