2025 Short Story Contest: SORE MUST BE THE STORM

Inkwells & Anvils is proud to announce its second annual anthology title & submission contest for short stories to be included.

Hope is the thing with feathers -

That perches in the soul -

And sings the tune without the words -

And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -

And sore must be the storm -

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm -

I’ve heard it in the chillest land -

And on the strangest Sea -

Yet - never - in Extremity,

It asked a crumb - of me.

(Emily Dickinson)

ANTHOLOGY THEME:

Embracing the Jubilee Year of Hope that we're journeying through, the theme for Inkwells and Anvils’ second-annual anthology is just that: hope. Not just any hope, no, but as we read in Spes non Confundit:

Hope that makes us rise above, hope that is the confidence we hold in God fulfilling his promises even as we are pilgrims here on earth, pilgrims of hope.

With that in mind, it is our pleasure to open our doors and encourage all tellers of tales to consider submitting a story for our anthology this summer. Full details on submissions and judging below!

SHORT STORY CONTEST SUBMISSION DETAILS:

• Entrants:

  • Must be members of I&A Discord Community

  • Must have level 4 or higher in Discord Community when they submit

  • Must meet and abide by all I&A rules within our community, as are detailed on our Discord Server

  • Must abide by the Inkwells & Anvils AI Policy

• Dates & Deadlines: 

  • Submission Form Opens: August 15th

  • Submission Form Closes: August 31st

  • Potential Winners Contacted: September 20th

    • We will reach out to authors whose stories have been selected and discuss with them any necessary revisions that they must agree to make by a given deadline in order for their story to be published in the anthology, before we formally announce the winners on October 1st. Contacted authors are under no obligation to accept if they disagree with or do not wish to make revisions.

  • Winners announced on: October 1st

  • ANTHOLOGY RELEASE DATE: Tentatively November 2nd 

• Submissions: 

  • Must include elements (described below) of hope, pilgrimage, and a storm.

  • Must fit within word count range: 3k minimum, 5k maximum

  • Must not include or have been aided by any generative AI usage; if we ever find out or are made aware that there was AI used in the generation of your story, you will be banned from future contests & your story may be pulled from future printings of the anthology.

  • Must be submitted through the official submission form & follow submission instructions given

  • Must keep to a PG13 or below rating:

    • mild swearing, gore, violence, etc., is permitted. Excessive adult content will disqualify you. 

  • Must not currently be in print somewhere else

• Required Elements: 

  • Hope: Use the following points to help you understand our overall theme of ‘hope’: 

    • Not necessarily ‘resolution’ or all problems gone, but a working towards wholeness, looking forward to wholeness. An anchor in a storm, a light at the end of a tunnel, etc.

    • CCC 1817: Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ's promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit.

    • CCC 1818: The virtue of hope responds to the aspiration to happiness which God has placed in the heart of every man; it takes up the hopes that inspire men’s activities and purifies them so as to order them to the Kingdom of Heaven; it keeps man from discouragement; it sustains him during times of abandonment; it opens up his heart in expectation of eternal beatitude. Buoyed by hope, he is preserved from selfishness and led to the happiness that flows from charity.

  • Pilgrimage: 

    • Journey of some kind, can be internal or external

    • Must be more than just a mention of the word “pilgrimage” (or synonyms)

    • Must have a clear goal/destination, can be a physical place or internal goal

    • Must be central to the story and/or part of the overall plot

    • Does not need to be to a faraway place

    • Can be more abstract than concrete, a metaphorical pilgrimage is permitted.

  • Storm: 

    • Concrete storm of any sort: rain storm, hail storm, snowstorm, lightning storm, space-storm, wind-storm, any sort of actual storm/stormy weather/etc.

    • No abstract storms, it can't be a metaphorical storm.

For all of the above elements, we encourage creativity & subtlety.

JUDGING:

Stories will be judged blindly & anonymously by our panel of judges: Ben, Little, Kelly, & Tyler. They will have no idea who wrote each story, allowing each story to be judged purely on its own merits with no bias based on names or relationship.

Within our own Discord Community, judges are not permitted to participate in anthology-related-story discussions to ensure that they do not even accidentally learn whose story is whose before the winners are chosen.

The following metrics are what stories will be judged on:

• Word Count:

  • We give a generous range that your story should fit within.

• Thematic Quality

  • How well does your story fit the theme of hope? Is it too on the nose? Is it not clear enough? 

• Presence of:

  • Storm: is there a storm in your story?

  • Pilgrimage: can we identify the pilgrimage in your story?

• Story Shape: does your story read like a short story? Is there clear motivation? Can we identify the plot? 

• Prose Quality: is your story easy to read? Compelling? Engaging?

• Characters: Do your characters have purpose? Does your MC have clear motivation or intention? Is your cast too broad?

• Grammar & Spelling: Are there major misunderstandings of grammar and/or spelling conventions? Is the story legible by the panel of judges?

  • It is expected that applicants will edit their stories as best they can prior to submission. 

    
    

A maximum of 15 stories from Quills will be included in this anthology, with additional stories coming from our judging & editing team.

There will be no minimum number of stories as we focus on quality and successful examples of storytelling in lieu of quantity.