Established in 2005, the Calvino Prize in Fabulist Fiction has been recognizing and awarding some of the best experimental writing in the mode of Italo Calvino for nearly 20 years. The first-place prize package includes $2,000 and publication in Miracle Monocle, and, if the final judge selects a runner-up, that writer receives $500 and (new this year) the option for publication in Miracle Monocle. Winners have included emerging and established writers, including 2016 winner Ryan Ridge, author of New Bad News (2020); 2018 winner Amy Parker, author of Beasts and Children (2016); and 2022 winner Emily Temple, author of The Lightness (2020). This year’s final judge is Elizabeth Crane, and past judges include Joyce Carol Oates, Matt Bell, Aimee Bender, and Brian Evenson.
Past winners:
2015: winner: Nick Greer, “Glass City”
2016 winner: Ryan Ridge, “ECHO PARK”
2017 winner: Eliezra Schaffzin,"Cingo, Cingere, Cinxi, Cinctum"
2018 winner: Amy Parker, “Pica Ceremony (for feeding the hungry ghosts)”
2019 winner: Margie Sarsfield, “Behavioral Sink”
2020 winner: Leanne Ogasawara, “Bare Bones”
2021 winner: Steve Wilson, “Ted”
2022 winner: Emily Temple, “Out, Out”
2023 winner: Young Rader, "A Bit of Green Apple, a Bit of Rotten Meat"
Final Judge: Jenny Boully
Guidelines:
1) Submit up to 25 industry standard (double-spaced, 12-point font, pages numbered) pages of a novel, novella, short story, or short collection. Entries which use a smaller font or are single-spaced in order to make a longer work appear to be only 25 pages will be trimmed to approximately 25 industry standard pages. Work previously published is eligible and simultaneous submissions are accepted. An excerpt from a larger work is allowed; however, remember that the selection will be judged on its own merit and so should be able to stand on its own.
2) Your name must not appear anywhere in the manuscript attachment. Instead, please include one title page listing only the title of the manuscript. Entries containing the author's name or identifying information will be disqualified.
3) Please do not send publication history of the author.
4) Submit anytime between July 1 and October 15, 2025.
5) The entry fee is USD 25, and all proceeds go to fund the award.
6) Results will be posted to the University of Louisville's website in January 2026. Finalists and winners will be notified via email.
7) Previous first place winners may not enter for three years after winning. Second place winners and finalists have no restrictions.
8) Faculty and employees of the University of Louisville may not enter the contest. University of Louisville alumni, current students, and former employees must wait a minimum of three years from their date of separation to be eligible for the Prize.
9) The judges reserve the right to withhold the award if no entry is deemed worthy.
10) Winner will receive $2000 (USD) and the winning story will be published in Miracle Monocle, the University of Louisville's award-winning online literary journal. A runner-up, if named by the Final Judge, will receive $500 (USD) and the option to publish.
11) For questions, email Kristi Maxwell at kristi.maxwell@louisville.edu.