Eligibility
The FC2 Ronald Sukenick Innovative Fiction Contest is open to writers of, from, or in the United States writing in English who have not previously published with FC2. Submissions may include a collection of short stories, one or more novellas, or a novel. There is no length requirement. Translations and previously published or self-published works are not eligible, although shorter works that have previously appeared in magazines or anthologies may be included in collections, provided that the collection as a whole is unpublished. To avoid conflict of interest, employees and Board members of FC2, as well as former or current students or close friends of the final judge, are not eligible to enter.
FC2 remains dedicated to recruiting new and diverse makers of the images of tomorrow and to forging an ever more representative and provocative collective to challenge and overwrite the brutal conventions of our insufficient now. We particularly encourage submissions from writers who dismantle assumed points of view and dominant narratives.
We encourage submissions from writers who are Black, Indigenous, people of color, disabled, LGBTQIA+-identifying, immigrant, or from communities otherwise underrepresented in United States literary publications. In an effort to remove barriers to access, we offer fee waivers to writers for whom the submission fee would represent a significant obstacle.
Prize
The Prize includes $3,000 and publication by FC2, an imprint of the University of Alabama Press. In the unlikely event that no suitable manuscript is found among entries in a given year, FC2 reserves the right not to award a prize.
Judge
Finalists for the Sukenick Contest will be chosen by the FC2 Editorial Board. The winning manuscript will be chosen from the finalists by our final judge. Selection criteria will be consistent with FC2’s mission to publish fiction considered by America’s largest publishers too challenging, innovative, or heterodox for the commercial milieu, including works of high quality and exceptional ambition whose styles, subject matter, or forms push the limits of American publishing and reshape our literary culture. For more information on FC2’s mission, history, aesthetic commitments, authors, events, and books, please visit our website.
The final judge for the 2026 contest will be Alvin Lu. Alvin Lu lives in San Francisco. He is the author of the novels Daydreamers, from Fiction Collective 2, and The Hell Screens. He is an MFA recipient from Brown University and winner of the John Williams Prize for Prose. Recently he was guest Prose Editor at the literary magazine Your Impossible Voice. Other writings have appeared in 3:AM Magazine, The Dodge, Denver Quarterly, Firmament, new_sinews, Rain Taxi, ZYZZYVA, and the Akashic Books anthology San Francisco Noir.
Guidelines
Submissions for the 2026 contest will be open 15 August 2025 – 1 November 2025.
- The manuscript must be unpublished. Shorter works that have previously appeared in magazines or anthologies may be included in collections, provided that the collection as a whole is unpublished.
- The manuscript must be anonymous. The author’s name or address must not appear anywhere on the manuscript. The title page should contain the title of the manuscript only.
- Please include a cover letter, including a brief biography and your name and contact information, in the space allotted on the submission form. This letter will not be shared with the screeners or judges.
- Optionally, we invite you to share a brief note discussing your identity, experience, and/or process with the contest screeners and judges. Since this statement will be shared, please do not include your name or other identifying details.
- Include a $25 submission fee. Submission of more than one manuscript is permissible if each manuscript is submitted separately and accompanied by a $25 submission fee. In an effort to remove barriers to access, we offer fee waivers to writers for whom the submission fee would represent a significant obstacle.
- Simultaneous submissions to other publishers are permitted, but FC2 must be notified immediately if the manuscript is accepted elsewhere.
Eligibility
The FC2 Ronald Sukenick Innovative Fiction Contest is open to writers of, from, or in the United States writing in English who have not previously published with FC2. Submissions may include a collection of short stories, one or more novellas, or a novel. There is no length requirement. Translations and previously published or self-published works are not eligible, although shorter works that have previously appeared in magazines or anthologies may be included in collections, provided that the collection as a whole is unpublished. To avoid conflict of interest, employees and Board members of FC2, as well as former or current students or close friends of the final judge, are not eligible to enter.
FC2 remains dedicated to recruiting new and diverse makers of the images of tomorrow and to forging an ever more representative and provocative collective to challenge and overwrite the brutal conventions of our insufficient now. We particularly encourage submissions from writers who dismantle assumed points of view and dominant narratives.
We encourage submissions from writers who are Black, Indigenous, people of color, disabled, LGBTQIA+-identifying, immigrant, or from communities otherwise underrepresented in United States literary publications. In an effort to remove barriers to access, we offer this fee-free submission form to writers for whom the submission fee would represent a significant obstacle. If you are in a position to afford the $25 submission fee, we ask that you use our paid submission form instead.
Prize
The Prize includes $3,000 and publication by FC2, an imprint of the University of Alabama Press. In the unlikely event that no suitable manuscript is found among entries in a given year, FC2 reserves the right not to award a prize.
Judge
Finalists for the Sukenick Contest will be chosen by the FC2 Editorial Board. The winning manuscript will be chosen from the finalists by our final judge. Selection criteria will be consistent with FC2’s mission to publish fiction considered by America’s largest publishers too challenging, innovative, or heterodox for the commercial milieu, including works of high quality and exceptional ambition whose styles, subject matter, or forms push the limits of American publishing and reshape our literary culture. For more information on FC2’s mission, history, aesthetic commitments, authors, events, and books, please visit our website.
The final judge for the 2026 contest will be Alvin Lu. Alvin Lu lives in San Francisco. He is the author of the novels Daydreamers, from Fiction Collective 2, and The Hell Screens. He is an MFA recipient from Brown University and winner of the John Williams Prize for Prose. Recently he was guest Prose Editor at the literary magazine Your Impossible Voice. Other writings have appeared in 3:AM Magazine, The Dodge, Denver Quarterly, Firmament, new_sinews, Rain Taxi, ZYZZYVA, and the Akashic Books anthology San Francisco Noir.
Guidelines
Submissions for the 2026 contest will be open 15 August 2025 – 1 November 2025.
- The manuscript must be unpublished. Shorter works that have previously appeared in magazines or anthologies may be included in collections, provided that the collection as a whole is unpublished.
- The manuscript must be anonymous. The author’s name or address must not appear anywhere on the manuscript. The title page should contain the title of the manuscript only.
- Please include a cover letter, including a brief biography and your name and contact information, in the space allotted on the submission form. This letter will not be shared with the screeners or judges.
- Optionally, we invite you to share a brief note discussing your identity, experience, and/or process with the contest screeners and judges. Since this statement will be shared, please do not include your name or other identifying details.
- No submission fee is due with this form. If you are in a position to afford the $25 submission fee, we ask that you use our paid submission form instead.
- Simultaneous submissions to other publishers are permitted, but FC2 must be notified immediately if the manuscript is accepted elsewhere.
Eligibility
The FC2 Catherine Doctorow Innovative Fiction Prize is open to writers of, from, or in the United States writing in English with at least three books published. Submissions may include a collection of short stories, one or more novellas, or a novel. There is no length requirement. Translations and previously published or self-published works are not eligible, although shorter works that have previously appeared in magazines or anthologies may be included in collections, provided that the collection as a whole is unpublished. To avoid conflict of interest, FC2 authors and employees of FC2, as well as former or current students or close friends of the final judge, are not eligible to enter.
FC2 remains dedicated to recruiting new and diverse makers of the images of tomorrow and to forging an ever more representative and provocative collective to challenge and overwrite the brutal conventions of our insufficient now. We particularly encourage submissions from writers who dismantle assumed points of view and dominant narratives.
We encourage submissions from writers who are Black, Indigenous, people of color, disabled, LGBTQIA+-identifying, immigrant, or from communities otherwise underrepresented in United States literary publications. In an effort to remove barriers to access, we offer fee waivers to writers for whom the submission fee would represent a significant obstacle.
Prize
The Prize includes $15,000 and publication by FC2, an imprint of the University of Alabama Press, with an Introduction by the final judge. In the unlikely event that no suitable manuscript is found among entries in a given year, FC2 reserves the right not to award a prize.
Judge
Finalists for the Doctorow Prize will be chosen by the FC2 Editorial Board. The winning manuscript will be chosen from the finalists by our final judge. Past judges include K-Ming Chang, Amina Cain, Matt Bell, Cristina Rivera Garza, Joyelle McSweeney, Renee Gladman, Shelley Jackson, Mary Caponegro, Rikki Ducornet, Percival Everett, Laird Hunt, Stephen Graham Jones, Ben Marcus, Carole Maso, Stacey Levine, and Sam Lipsyte. Selection criteria will be consistent with FC2’s mission to publish fiction considered by America’s largest publishers too challenging, innovative, or heterodox for the commercial milieu, including works of high quality and exceptional ambition whose styles, subject matter, or forms push the limits of American publishing and reshape our literary culture. For more information on FC2’s mission, history, and aesthetic commitments, please visit our website.
The final judge for the 2026 contest will be Kazim Ali. Kazim Ali was born in the United Kingdom and has lived transnationally in the United States, Canada, India, France, and the Middle East. His books, encompassing multiple genres, include the volumes of poetry Inquisition; Sky Ward, winner of the Ohioana Book Award in Poetry; The Far Mosque, winner of Alice James Books’ New England/New York Award; The Fortieth Day; and All One’s Blue; and the cross-genre texts Bright Felon and Wind Instrument. His novels include the recently published The Secret Room: A String Quartet, and among his books of essays are the hybrid memoir Silver Road: Essays, Maps & Calligraphies and Fasting for Ramadan: Notes from a Spiritual Practice. He is also an accomplished translator (of Marguerite Duras, Sohrab Sepehri, Ananda Devi, Mahmoud Chokrollahi and others) and an editor of several anthologies and books of criticism, as well as founder of the small press Nightboat Books. After a career in public policy and organizing, Ali taught at various colleges and universities, including Oberlin College, Davidson College, St. Mary’s College of California, and Naropa University. He is currently a Professor of Literature at the University of California, San Diego.
Guidelines
Submissions for the 2026 contest will be open 15 August 2025 – 1 November 2025.
- The manuscript must be unpublished. Shorter works that have previously appeared in magazines or anthologies may be included in collections, provided that the collection as a whole is unpublished.
- The manuscript must be anonymous. The author’s name or address must not appear anywhere on the manuscript. The title page should contain the title of the manuscript only.
- Please include a cover letter, including a brief biography, your name and contact information, and the ISBNs of three previously published books, in the space allotted on the submission form. This cover letter will not be shared with the screeners or judge.
- Optionally, we invite you to share a brief note discussing your identity, experience, and/or process with the contest screeners and judge. Since this statement will be shared, please do not include your name or other identifying details.
- Include a $25 submission fee. Submission of more than one manuscript is permissible if each manuscript is submitted separately and accompanied by a $25 submission fee. In an effort to remove barriers to access, we offer fee waivers to writers for whom the submission fee would represent a significant obstacle.
- Simultaneous submissions to other publishers are permitted, but FC2 must be notified immediately if the manuscript is accepted elsewhere.
Eligibility
The FC2 Catherine Doctorow Innovative Fiction Prize is open to writers of, from, or in the United States writing in English with at least three books published. Submissions may include a collection of short stories, one or more novellas, or a novel. There is no length requirement. Translations and previously published or self-published works are not eligible, although shorter works that have previously appeared in magazines or anthologies may be included in collections, provided that the collection as a whole is unpublished. To avoid conflict of interest, FC2 authors and employees of FC2, as well as former or current students or close friends of the final judge, are not eligible to enter.
FC2 remains dedicated to recruiting new and diverse makers of the images of tomorrow and to forging an ever more representative and provocative collective to challenge and overwrite the brutal conventions of our insufficient now. We particularly encourage submissions from writers who dismantle assumed points of view and dominant narratives.
We encourage submissions from writers who are Black, Indigenous, people of color, disabled, LGBTQIA+-identifying, immigrant, or from communities otherwise underrepresented in United States literary publications. In an effort to remove barriers to access, we offer this fee-free submission form to writers for whom the submission fee would represent a significant obstacle. If you are in a position to afford the $25 submission fee, we ask that you use our paid submission form instead.
Prize
The Prize includes $15,000 and publication by FC2, an imprint of the University of Alabama Press, with an Introduction by the final judge. In the unlikely event that no suitable manuscript is found among entries in a given year, FC2 reserves the right not to award a prize.
Judge
Finalists for the Doctorow Prize will be chosen by the FC2 Editorial Board. The winning manuscript will be chosen from the finalists by our final judge. Past judges include K-Ming Chang, Amina Cain, Matt Bell, Cristina Rivera Garza, Joyelle McSweeney, Renee Gladman, Shelley Jackson, Mary Caponegro, Rikki Ducornet, Percival Everett, Laird Hunt, Stephen Graham Jones, Ben Marcus, Carole Maso, Stacey Levine, and Sam Lipsyte. Selection criteria will be consistent with FC2’s mission to publish fiction considered by America’s largest publishers too challenging, innovative, or heterodox for the commercial milieu, including works of high quality and exceptional ambition whose styles, subject matter, or forms push the limits of American publishing and reshape our literary culture. For more information on FC2’s mission, history, and aesthetic commitments, please visit our website.
The final judge for the 2026 contest will be Kazim Ali. Kazim Ali was born in the United Kingdom and has lived transnationally in the United States, Canada, India, France, and the Middle East. His books, encompassing multiple genres, include the volumes of poetry Inquisition; Sky Ward, winner of the Ohioana Book Award in Poetry; The Far Mosque, winner of Alice James Books’ New England/New York Award; The Fortieth Day; and All One’s Blue; and the cross-genre texts Bright Felon and Wind Instrument. His novels include the recently published The Secret Room: A String Quartet, and among his books of essays are the hybrid memoir Silver Road: Essays, Maps & Calligraphies and Fasting for Ramadan: Notes from a Spiritual Practice. He is also an accomplished translator (of Marguerite Duras, Sohrab Sepehri, Ananda Devi, Mahmoud Chokrollahi and others) and an editor of several anthologies and books of criticism, as well as founder of the small press Nightboat Books. After a career in public policy and organizing, Ali taught at various colleges and universities, including Oberlin College, Davidson College, St. Mary’s College of California, and Naropa University. He is currently a Professor of Literature at the University of California, San Diego.
Guidelines
Submissions for the 2026 contest will be open 15 August 2025 – 1 November 2025.
- The manuscript must be unpublished. Shorter works that have previously appeared in magazines or anthologies may be included in collections, provided that the collection as a whole is unpublished.
- The manuscript must be anonymous. The author’s name or address must not appear anywhere on the manuscript. The title page should contain the title of the manuscript only.
- Please include a cover letter, including a brief biography, your name and contact information, and the ISBNs of three previously published books, in the space allotted on the submission form. This cover letter will not be shared with the screeners or judge.
- Optionally, we invite you to share a brief note discussing your identity, experience, and/or process with the contest screeners and judge. Since this statement will be shared, please do not include your name or other identifying details.
- No submission fee is due with this form. If you are in a position to afford the $25 submission fee, we ask that you use our paid submission form instead.
- Simultaneous submissions to other publishers are permitted, but FC2 must be notified immediately if the manuscript is accepted elsewhere.