CONTEST INFORMATION:
The 2027 Essay Contest—judged by Melissa Febos—opens on January 1, 2027, at 9 am CST. The winner will receive $1000; second place $500; third place $250. The winner and finalists will be announced on our Facebook page, Instagram, and our website. All entries will be considered for publication in Issue 12, to be published in Fall 2027. Staff, faculty, and former or current students of the University of Nebraska at Omaha may not apply.
Submissions for this contest are capped at 100.
GUIDELINES:
Submit up to 4000 words of creative nonfiction on any topic and in any style.
A reading fee of $20(U.S.) for each submission (multiple submissions are NOT accepted).
Submissions will be read blind, so remove your name and any other identifying information from the manuscript and/or file name.
Name the file as follows: Title of Essay, 2027 Essay Contest
Once the 100-submission cap has been reached, the contest will close. We will announce this on our website under "Events."
ABOUT THE JUDGE:
Melissa Febos is the author of five books, including the national bestselling essay collection, GIRLHOOD, which has been translated into ten languages and won the National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism. Her craft book, BODY WORK (2022), was also a national bestseller and an LA Times Bestseller. A new memoir, The Dry Season, was published by Alfred. A. Knopf in June 2025.
The recipient of fellowships and awards from the Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, the National Endowment for the Arts, the British Library, MacDowell, the Bogliasco Foundation, the Black Mountain Institute, LAMBDA Literary, the American Library in Paris, and others, Melissa's work has appeared in publications including The Paris Review, The New Yorker, The Best American Essays, The Best American Food and Travel Writing, Granta, The Believer, The New York Times Magazine, The Guardian, Elle, and Vogue.
She holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College and is the Roy J. Carver Professor at the University of Iowa, where she teaches in the Nonfiction Writing Program. She lives in Iowa City with her wife, the poet Donika Kelly.
