The Waves: Introducing May Writing Contest

ORCA’s high school literary magazine The Waves is beginning a brand new competition for flash fiction writers with Powell’s gift card prizes for the top three winners. 

Each submission will be judged by a panel of three ORCA teachers and three ORCA students, The Waves staff included. The panel will individually rate on a 1-5 scale in the following areas: characterization, plot, theme, setting and atmosphere, mechanics, writing quality, and passion.

Participants must adhere to the set guidelines for submissions. Font size must be 12 and Arial or Times New Roman, double-space. The maximum length is four pages—about 1,000 words. Content must be school-appropriate and follow the prompt somehow and some way.

May 2026’s prompt is: “The forest is eerily quiet…”

Students will have from May first to the 27th to submit their piece. The form to submit is here.

This contest is open only to ninth through 12th grade students.

To learn more about The Waves and the contest, visit their site here.