I
Toward the Sun
by Aeryn Rudel
II
The Bottomless Well
by Alex Sobel
III
Summer Hand
by Jacquelyn Kraut
IV
Following Walls
by Chris Panatier
V
Any Other Way
by Alex Sobel
VI
Through a Hole in the Floor
by David Klose
VII
The Absorber
by Emily Livingstone
VIII
Island
by Jamie Cooper
IX
Frequent Flyer
by Maura Yzmore
X
Anglers on Cannon Ridge
by Jiksun Cheung
End of the road…
Flash Odyssey is now closed.
Check back for results at noon PST
on Monday, August 24th.
Slackers rejoice!
Procrastinator Special keeps late entries
open until August 15th.
“There is a time for many words,
and there is also a time for sleep.”
– Odyssey
Submit to Flash Odyssey
Why, yes, a “concise epic voyage” does sound contradictory, but that just makes Flash Odyssey a contest befitting these baffling, paradoxical times. Even more so considering that many of us have scrapped travel plans for 2020 (hell, we’ve been milking the same tank of gas since March); what better way to snap out of hibernating and escape our mutual isolation than through stories that take us places.
Travel lies at the crux of Flash Odyssey. Simply put, your entry must include movement from one place to another, some sort of literal or figurative journey (but, please, not this kind). Take us down roads less traveled or make new and surprising discoveries while navigating a well-worn path. Go all Kerouac with it, you beatnik, or take us to a Steinbeckian dust bowl. Send us tumbling down rabbit holes or barreling down lost highways. Lead an army of swashbucklers across the high seas or fly solo over a cuckoo’s nest. Go all literary or full-on genre with it. Or better yet, hit that sweet spot somewhere in the middle. Our dream destination will always be vivid imagery and compelling language.
Whatever avenue you choose, just remember that (at least for our purposes) a journey of singular vision ends at a thousand words.
The top three entries will win cold, hard cash (USD).
$300 for Flash Odyssey winner
$150 for 2nd place
$75 for 3rd place
We also give mad respect
to 4th-10th place,
publishing them in our Flash Odyssey mega-issue
and in a future print anthology, with contributor copy included.
Submit to Flash Odyssey
Follow these guidelines, and you could have some extra coin in your pocket, and some bragging rights as the Flash Odyssey winner.
– All submissions must absolutely be under 1,000 words, and we tend to look more kindly on 750 or fewer because…ROADKILL SQUIRREL!
– All contest submissions will be read blind, so we won’t be playing favorites. Sorry, Mom!
– Please paste your submission into the corresponding field. Do not list your name anywhere in your entry or we’ll assume that you don’t know how to read.
– Costs $6 to enter during our Early Bird period and $8 after that $10 to enter during Procrastinator’s Special. (Sorry, no refunds.)
– We reserve the right to extend deadlines if necessary (and you can expect our usual week-ish Procrastinator Special—with corresponding increase in submission fee for you slackers).
– Submissions must be previously unpublished work, and you will retain copyright (duh). By entering this contest you give us permission to publish your work—if selected for our Top 10—both online and in a future print anthology.
– No limit on how many entries you can submit, but you must submit them one at a time. Don’t just mash them all in there.
– Early-Bird deadline is July 6th, 2020. Contest soft deadline is end of day (11:59 pm PST) on Monday, August 10th, 2020. Procrastinator Special final deadline is end of day (11:59 pm PST) on Saturday, August 15th. Winners announced on Monday, August 24th, 2020, and we’ll unleash the Flash Odyssey mega-issue shortly thereafter.
– And, most importantly, this is a FLASH ODYSSEY contest, so your story must include travel or a journey of some kind. But again, this can be in any form imaginable.
So that means you can go all…
or all…
or all…
or all…
or even all…
[Coconuts grow louder]
Submit to Flash Odyssey
The Molotov Cocktail 