Phyllis Grant Zellmer Prize for Fiction
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The contest is open from January 15, 2025 - March 15, 2025. Entry fee is $15 for each individual short story (one story per entry), with no limit per writer, and includes a copy of our spring 2024 print edition.




Eligibility 

  • This contest is open only to emerging writers only who have not yet published a book with a print run over 1,500.
  • Only previously unpublished stories will be accepted.
  • Stories that have won and/or placed in any other writing contest are ineligible. 
  • Unlimited entries allowed. One story per submission. 
  • Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but previously accepted or work published in West Trade Review is ineligible.
  • Please withdraw your submission and notify West Trade Review if it is accepted elsewhere.
  • No one editorially or financially affiliated with West Trade Review can enter the contest.



Guidelines 

  • All entries must be submitted by 11:59pm EST on March 15, 2025. Submissions open January 15, 2025.
  • Entry fee is $15 for each individual story (one story per entry), with no limit per author, and includes a copy of our spring 2024 print edition. 
  • Submission is one original short story.
  • The author’s name must not appear on the manuscript or in the file name.
  • Please submit one story per entry in a single Microsoft Word file and list the title of your story as the submission title.
  • Please use a standard font, either Times New Roman or Arial in 12 point font size.
  • Do not include a cover page. Include your title with your story.
  • Please do not include professional resumes or biographies with your entry. Entries are judged anonymously; the judge will only consider story quality.
  • Please take the judge of the contest into consideration. If you know her personally, or have ever attended classes or workshops she has instructed, please use manuscripts that she would not have seen before.
  • Revisions or edits will not be accepted once submitted for judging. 

​Entries that do no meet guidelines or eligibility requirements will not be considered.

$1000 and publication in West Trade Review will be awarded to the winning story.  Other entries of merit may be considered for publication. The winning story will be announced on our website and social media platforms mid-April 2025 and then published in the 2026 spring print issue of West Trade Review.


Submit your entry here:

 https://westtradereview.submittable.com/submit/248520/phyllis-grant-zellmer-prize-for-fiction-15-entry-fee-1000-prize-2023-cont
























Contest Judge:  Lucy Ives
Lucy Ives is the author of Life Is Everywhere: A Novel and, most recently, An Image of My Name Enters America: Essays, both published by Graywolf Press. Her writing has appeared in ApertureArtforumHarper'sThe Paris Review, and Vogue. She teaches at Brown University.
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© 2024 Iron Oak Editions
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© 2024 Iron Oak Editions
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