The George Garrett Fiction Prize

About

Winner Receives: $2,000 + Publication

2026 Judge: 

Established in 1998, The George Garrett Fiction Prize highlights one book a year for excellence in a short story collection or novel. Starting 2024, the Prize comes with a $2,000 advance, a standard royalty contract, and 10 copies of the published book.

Recent judges include Fernando A. Gomez, Kaveh Akbar, Manuel Muñoz, Vi Khi Nao, Selah Saterstrom, Joe Wilkins, and John McNally.

Starting 2026, submissions open each year on April 1 and close on June 30.

This contest honors award-winning author George Garrett (1929-2008).

Submission Guidelines

General Guidelines

• Submissions are open April 1 - June 30.
• Submissions are accepted through Submittable only.
• A fee of $28 must be paid at the time of submission.
• Open to anyone writing in English. Translations are not eligible.
• Stories or excerpts may have been published individually in magazines or anthologies, but the collection as a whole must be unpublished.
• Simultaneous submissions are acceptable. Please notify TRP immediately by withdrawing the manuscript via Submittable if the manuscript is accepted elsewhere.
• Current and former students and faculty of Sam Houston State University are not eligible.
• Family and current or former students* of the final judge or TRP staff are not eligible.
• Current and former TRP authors are not eligible.
• Submitters must be 18+ years of age.
• Winner receives a $2,000 advance, a standard royalty contract, and 10 copies of the published book.

*Writers who studied with TRP staff or the final judge for a semester-length period are not eligible. Writers who studied with TRP staff or the final judge for two-week residencies, single workshops, or other instances less than a semester in length are eligible, provided the work submitted is previously unseen by TRP staff or the final judge.

Manuscript Guidelines

• Manuscripts may be novels or short story collections with a total word count of between 40,000 and 80,000 words.
• Please include a table of contents, title page, and page numbers.
• Please double-space and use a 12pt. font.
• Do not include an acknowledgments page.
• Submissions are anonymous. Please remove any identifying information from the manuscript.
• Submit as a .pdf, .docx, or .doc file format.
• No revisions will be accepted once the manuscript is uploaded.

AI Content Policy

TRP does not accept submissions that include text, images, data, or any other content generated by artificial intelligence (AI) tools, including but not limited to large language models. Submitted work must be original and previously unpublished in any form. AI-generated manuscripts are not eligible.