Eye Contact is a college literary magazine. But don’t let the term “literary” turn you off — we also love to publish genre fiction and poetry! Stories of escape and adventure and love and fear and wonder. The kind of thing you love in Hollywood movies and prime-time TV shows and bestselling books. Only in a short, condensed format, readable in five minutes or less. And we want more of it.

Thus, in 2022 we launched the Eye Contact Award in Genre Flash Fiction!

Now, every term a new genre will be randomly paired with the magazine’s special theme (if any) for its upcoming issue, and the staff will select the best genre story 1000 words or less in length. 

OUR CURRENT THEME:  Silence 

OUR CURRENT GENRE:  Mystery

OUR CURRENT DEADLINE:  OPEN

Submit the best genre story that lands 1000 words or less by the deadline — and that also fits the theme — and you could not only be accepted into the magazine but win a cash prize (or gift card equivalent) of $250!

All submissions that meet the standard guidelines of the magazine will be considered for the prize – there is nothing extra necessary that you need to do (but please make sure you meet the lower word count requirement of 1K words max). All stories meeting the criteria for the award will be considered for publication and may receive special mention as runners-up. However, the submission itself does not guarantee publication; entries are blind-juried and anonymously judged by an all-student staff. Open to all writers! Good luck!

A record of all past prize-winners will appear at the bottom of this page.

This prize is sponsored by Seton Hill University and its unique MFA program in Writing Popular Fiction, where students earn a graduate diploma for writing a novel in fantasy, romance, mystery, science fiction, horror, and young adult genres. Visit http://fiction.setonhill.edu/

SHU undergraduates/alumni from all majors and fields can apply for the MFA and are eligible for a discount on tuition!

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WINNERS LIST:

Fall 2022 ("Decay"): Beck Scassellati for her CRIME story, "Dumb in Love"

Spring 2023 ("Growth"): Timothy Saenz for his SCIENCE FICTION story, "Cyberkarma"

Fall & Spring 2023-2024 Mega-Magazine: Kaity Blackman's HORROR submission, "Carrara" 

Fall 2024 ("Innocence"): Shannon Frost Greenstein's ROMANCE submission, "Dralion" 

Spring 2025 ("Experience"): Chris Sadhill's HISTORICAL FICTION submission, "When the Sun Goes Down"

Fall 2025 ("Experience"): Could it be you? Learn about how to submit here!