Our Stories Literary Journal : Generation XYZ Contest

An author ought to write for the youth of his own generation, the critics of the next, and the schoolmaster of ever afterwards.
F. Scott Fitzgerald

Do you remember where you were in 1986 when the Challenger exploded and the jokes that came tumlbling down of shampoos and what does this button do? Do you remember what it was like to live in a world where you were getting on the internet for the first time in college? Or maybe you have always lived in a world with the internet and iPods, digital photography, email? And do you all remember--every one of us from X, Y or Z--do you remember exactly where you were when those planes hit the towers on the 11th day of September in 2001?

At Our Stories, we do some unique things. We give feedback to every submission. We do individual one-on-one workshops. We host great interviews and publish some of the finest short stories on the web. This year we've decided to create a new contest: The Generation XYZ Contest. Running from August 1st until September 30th we seek short stories that speak for the the XYZ generations.

We want to publish an entire issue dedicated to culturally relevant writing that speaks for the past four decades. So, for example, what does it mean that there are two wars going on around us? To live more online than in real life? To love someone who is bipolar. To live with your parents because there just ain't jobs out there! Thematically we understand that this may be a little ambigous so we selected some stories we've published in the past that would more than fit the bill, check them out on the left. If you're still doubtful, email us and tell us a little bit about the story, we'll be happy to write you back and let you know what we think. We also have some articles on Wikipedia that provide a little bit of clarity if you're asking yourself about the XYZ generations.

However, all wikis, stories and everything else aside--define these generations as you see fit. Speak for your generation. Your writing should always be relevant to yourself first, the rest of the world second.

Only stories under 6,000 words will be considered.
Anyone can submit to the XYZ contest.
Our Stories does not discriminate based on age, race, sex, creed or class--we love good stories, period.
Mysteries, fantasies, science fiction are all welcome--just hit on a theme of these generations, ya know?
No novel excerpts will be reviewed.

The winner of the XYZ contest wins a hundred bucks publication. Runners's up receive refunds on their submissions and our praise. Everyone else, well if you decide you want feedback you'll get that. If you just want to pay the reading fee then you'll just get an email like all the other journals in the planet. The option is yours.

CANCELLED

Check out our What You Say page for comments from past submitters.

Submit using the PayPal links above, after payment is received you will be redirected to our submissions page.

*The contest winner in future years will receive $400. Because of the short period of submission this year we regret the lower award amount.