Decadent Stories for Decadent Times Rachilde & Co. Books

Rachilde & Co. is an independent micro press that offers ephemera and decadent books—especially those written by women and LGBTQ+ authors—inspired by the nineteenth century and beyond.

The press’s namesake is Rachilde (1860–1953), “Queen of Decadence,” the prolific French author who was the most prominent woman of the late nineteenth-century Decadent Movement.

Decadent Story Anthology Fee: usd $20.00 Open

Closes on Tuesday, September 15, 2026 11:59 PM PDT (in 5 days, 3 hours).

Rome AD 39. Paris 1884. London 1890. Washington, DC 2026.

In different eras in history, forces coalesce to create decadent times. Those times have returned. Inspired by France’s nineteenth-century decadent literary movement, this writing contest is looking for the best decadent writing now.

Rachilde & Co. Books is seeking short stories for its anthology, Decadent Stories for Decadent Times. R&Co. welcomes stories with a good dash of artificiality, hedonism, transgression, and Schopenhauerian pessimism in the veins of Barbey d’Aurevilly, Huysmans, Lorrain, Mirbeau, Mauppassant, Rachilde, Villiers de l’isle Adam, and Vivien. Finalists of the contest will be reviewed by special guest-judge Dr. Eleanor Keane.

DATES
Submissions are open from June 15, 2026 to September 15, 2026.

PRIZES
15 finalists will be published in the anthology. 1 contest winner receives $300 (USD) + publication in the anthology + 1 complimentary paperback copy of the published anthology. 14 runners up will receive publication in the anthology + 1 complimentary paperback copy of the anthology.

WORD COUNT
Submissions should be between 1,000 to 7,500 words (we are not seeking poetry, flash fiction, scripts, novels, or novellas).

GENRE
Decadent fiction, as you interpret it. See Rachilde & Co.’s article “The Decadent Story” on Substack for more information about decadent fiction. Non-fiction essays about decadence will also be considered.

FORMATTING
Submit your story in 12-point Times New Roman font, double spaced, with 1-inch margins. Documents should be paginated.

COPYEDITING
By submitting a story, you agree to having your manuscript copyedited for typos and for style adherence to the Chicago Manual of Style.

PUBLICATION
The anthology will be published by R&Co. within 1 year of the contest’s close. Employees of Rachilde & Co. are disqualified from winning the contest.

HATE SPEECH
While decadent literature can be transgressive, no offensive or violent discourse targeting a group or an individual based on inherent characteristics (such as race, religion, or gender) will be tolerated.

ABOUT THE JUDGES
Guest Judge: Dr. Eleanor Keane is a member of the Decadence Research Centre at Goldsmiths, University of London, and the British Association of Decadence Studies (BADS) Executive Committee. Her research interests focus on the decadent fairy tale, literary decadence and the visual arts, and expressions of gender, decadence, and sexuality within the late nineteenth century. She holds a PhD in English and an MA in Literary Studies from Goldsmiths, and an MSc from City University, London.

Panelist: Francesca Penchant is a dark fiction book editor and publisher who teaches editing at the University of Washington in Seattle. Discovering Joris-Karl Huysmans's Là-Bas (1891) in a used bookshop in San Francisco in the 1990s consummated decadent literature's hold over her. She founded Rachilde & Co. Books, an independent press for which she designs books of decadent LGBTQ+ authors and themes from the nineteenth-century and beyond.

CLMP GUIDELINES
The Community of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP) believes that ethical contests serve our shared goal: to connect writers and readers by publishing exceptional writing. Intent to act ethically, clarity of guidelines, and transparency of process form the foundation of an ethical contest. To that end, we agree

to conduct our contests as ethically as possible and to address any unethical behavior on the part of our readers, judges, or editors;
to provide clear and specific contest guidelines—defining conflict of interest for all parties involved; and
to make the mechanics of our selection process available to the public.

This Code recognizes that different contest models produce different results, but that each model can be run ethically. We have adopted this Code to reinforce our integrity and dedication as a publishing community and to ensure that our contests contribute to a vibrant literary heritage.

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