2026 We Love Short Shorts Flash CNF Contest

In honor of the shortest month of the year which includes the loving-est day of the year, we’re holding our third annual We Love Short Shorts Contest for Flash Creative Nonfiction!

Throughout the month of February, we’re inviting flash nonfiction writers to submit short essays (aka flash CNF; aka micro memoir) of up to 250 words; there is no theme. (View previous year's winners and runner-ups here.)

Our winner and two runners-up will be featured in a special We Love Short Shorts section of our May-June 2026 issue.

    Here’s a full look at the details:  

• Word Limit: 250 (does not include title)
• No theme!
• Submission Fee: $5
• First Prize: $250, publication + opportunity to serve as opening reader for a future Stories on Sunday event
• Two Runners Up: $100 each + publication
• Submission Period: Feb. 1–28 
• One entry per person
• Entries read by members of our flash team; winners selected by our flash editors
• Decisions will be sent to all entrants in mid- to late April
• All other aspects of our standard submissions apply, such as your filename and document being free of your name; please review our full guidelines here. 

Any entries not chosen for a prize are still automatically considered for a future regular Hippocampus Magazine issue. We published two of these honorable mention essays last year. As with all accepted essays, we ask for one-time rights only.  

Note: If you have a current submission under consideration at Hippocampus Magazine, you may still enter this contest.