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Margarita Donnelly Prize for Prose Writing

Prize: $500 cash prize. Winner will be published in CALYX Journal Vol. 34:3, Summer/Fall 2024. Winner and up to two finalists will receive a one-volume subscription to CALYX Journal and publication on CALYX’s website.

Dates: July 1 – September 30, 2023, postmarked

Final Judge: Emily Withnall

Please submit up to 10,000 words of unpublished fiction or creative nonfiction. One piece of prose per submission. Simultaneous submissions are discouraged. The CALYX editorial collective reads all manuscripts first, then selects 5-10 finalists to send to the final judge.

For postal submissions:

Please send single submission, cover letter with name and contact information, and $20 reading fee (checks payable to CALYX, Inc.).

                  Send materials to:

CALYX, Inc.
Margarita Donnelly Prize
PO Box B
Corvallis, OR 97339

For online submissions:

Please upload one prose piece (10,000 word maximum) in a single .doc, .docx, .rtf, or .pdx file to our online submission manager.  Reading fee ($20 + $1 PayPal processing fee) is payable with Visa or Mastercard through our secure online payment portal. Do not include your name on the submissions—each will be read blind.

Emily Withnall is a writer and editor from New Mexico. She is the recipient of the AWP Kurt Brown Award for nonfiction, the John A. Anson Kittredge Grant, and The Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, and she has received fellowships from Under the Volcano, Fishtrap Summer Workshop, and The Women’s International Study Center. Emily’s work has been published in Al JazeeraThe Progressive MagazineHigh Country NewsTin HouseGay MagazineThe Kenyon ReviewThe RumpusOrion MagazineMs. MagazineIndiana ReviewRiver Teeth, and Fourth River, among other publications. Her work can be read at emilywithnall.com.

About the Contest

Margarita Donnelly was one of the four founders of CALYX, as well as its director, editor, manager, energy, and soul. Her incredible spirit and passion kept the journal running for nearly four decades. Now in its eighth year, the first contest in her honor highlights the love, talent, and skill she brought to the arts, especially in the world of prose.