Student Writing Contest

Arisia again this year is calling for original science fiction or fantasy works of fiction for its annual Student Writing Contest.

Basic Rules

  • Entries are free. Writers retain all rights to their works — we only wish to encourage, celebrate, and recognize talented young writers throughout the Northeastern US.
  • Entries must be original works of fiction by high school students, or young adults between the ages of 13 and 18, who have never been enrolled in college, and are currently residing in the New England area (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT).
  • Entries must be 1000 to 3000 words long.
  • The theme for this year's contest is "persistence". Writers may draw inspiration from this or any sci-fi or fantasy themes they wish.
  • Please, no fan fiction; all entries must use original characters and settings.

Entry Guidelines

  1. Fill out the entry form below.
  2. Submissions must be made in doc or pdf format, sent to @email.
  3. Titles on the form and the submission must match.
  4. Both your entry form and story must be received by December 1st.

For more information, please e-mail us at @email.

Winners will be contacted via email on or before January 1.

Prizes will be awarded to exceptional stories, including cash prizes that total $1,000, and free memberships to attend the Arisia convention. The school attended by our first-prize winner will receive a matching prize, up to $250. Prizes will be awarded at our annual Arisia convention on Sunday evening during the Arisia Masquerade.

The contest is sponsored by Arisia, Inc., a 501(c)3 non-profit, volunteer-run organization whose purpose is to promote science fiction and fantasy. The Arisia convention, held in Boston MA each year over MLK day weekend, is a celebration of all things sci-fi, fantasy, and related.

Prizes will include cash, memberships to future Arisia conventions, and the option to have the story published on the Arisia website corp.arisia.org, provided the author and their guardian give consent. Authors retain their copyright, and we will remove the stories at any time requested.

Please keep your story appropriate to show to other high school students (so, approximately PG-13 is a safe bet). We are looking for original prose stories, so please no fan-fiction or poetry. It should go without saying, but please make sure all stories submitted are your original work. Please do not submit anything that has already been professionally published.

Collaborations are permitted provided all collaborators meet the entry qualifications — no adults, and no writers from outside the New England area. In the event of a collaboration winning, all prizes will be split as evenly as possible among the winners.

Past Arisia Student Writing Contest winners can be seen and read here.

For a look at Arisia's past winners of the Student Writing Contest, check out the archive on our corporate site. And for more about our contest, email @email