Youth Short Story Contest
Sponsored by John Adams College.
Submissions open on October 15, 2026
Submissions close on December 15, 2026
There is no fee for entry. All entrants will receive 50% off admission to LTUE 45 in February 2027
Eligibility:
Any high school student, or student of high school age (18 years old and younger as of Feb 1, 2027) is eligible to enter the contest regardless of location or residency.
Genres:
- Literary Fiction
- Non-fiction (memoir, essay, etc.)
- Speculative (non-fantasy)
- Fantasy
- YA
- Adult
- Special Category: MG/Children’s
Story Parameters:
- Multiple submissions (maximum of 5) are allowed (and encouraged!)
- Maximum of 3500 words
- Must be submitted as a .pdf file attachment with title only. Don’t include personal information
Submitting Your Stories:
- Email submissions to: contests@ltue.net
- The Email must include:
- The attached pdf file.
- Your name,
- Your contact phone number,
- Your school’s name (if any),
- Your story title,
- The category or genre,
- and the word count.
Judging:
- All stories will be judged by at least two parties.
- Stories will be scored with a 1-10 point system in three categories:
- Craft & Style,
- Structure & Storytelling,
- and Resonance and Impact.
- Scores will be tabulated and ranked by January 30.
- Winners will be announced at LTUE 2027:
- Grand Prize/Overall winner gets $100,
- Second place Overall gets $50.
- Third place Overall gets $25.
- Each First place category winner gets $25.
- All winners–first through third in each category–will be published in the LTUE 2027 Youth Stories Anthology.
AI Policy
No artificial intelligence may be used in the crafting the story. To be specific: if AI generates any of the wording of the piece, even if the wording is framed as “suggestions for improvement,” the story will be disqualified.
AI may be used to generate story ideas. For example: “what if you had a dwarf with acne who couldn’t grow a beard?” However, this is strongly discouraged.
Using AI to correct punctuation, spelling, and grammar is not prohibited, although the contest organizers and LTUE want you to know that you really need to learn how to do that stuff yourself.
All entrants will be required to sign a disclosure statement stating that no AI was used in the composition of the story according to this policy.