CYNTHIA REEVES NAMED JUDGE
OF THE INAUGURAL FLEUR-DE-LIS NOVELLA PRIZE
Cynthia Reeves
SUBMISSIONS OPEN OCTOBER 1 - DECEMBER 31, 2026
THE FLEUR-DE-LIS NOVELLA PRIZE
is is a triennial contest seeking work that makes the most of the novella form by balancing scope and scale, maintaining the intensity of short fiction while exceeding the duration of a short story. We welcome all stylistic approaches and aim to publish original narratives for an adult audience that surprise, challenge, and dazzle readers.
is is a triennial contest seeking work that makes the most of the novella form by balancing scope and scale, maintaining the intensity of short fiction while exceeding the duration of a short story. We welcome all stylistic approaches and aim to publish original narratives for an adult audience that surprise, challenge, and dazzle readers.
JUDGE CYNTHIA REEVES
is the author of the novella Badlands, awarded Miami University Press’s Novella Prize. Her novel-in-stories Falling Through the New World won Gold Wake Press’s Spring 2023 Fiction Prize and was a Foreword INDIES finalist for Book of the Year in Literary Fiction. The New York Times called her award-winning Arctic novel The Last Whaler “an engrossing historical novel [that] celebrates . . . an icy landscape filled with enchantment and danger.” A Hawthornden and VCCA Fellow, she’s also received residencies to Arctic as Mirror, ArtsIceland, OU Gallery, Atelier, the Arctic Circle Expedition, Vermont Studio Center, and the Spitsbergen Artists Residency. She taught the novella as a lecturer at Bryn Mawr and Rosemont Colleges, and earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Warren Wilson College.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
is the author of the novella Badlands, awarded Miami University Press’s Novella Prize. Her novel-in-stories Falling Through the New World won Gold Wake Press’s Spring 2023 Fiction Prize and was a Foreword INDIES finalist for Book of the Year in Literary Fiction. The New York Times called her award-winning Arctic novel The Last Whaler “an engrossing historical novel [that] celebrates . . . an icy landscape filled with enchantment and danger.” A Hawthornden and VCCA Fellow, she’s also received residencies to Arctic as Mirror, ArtsIceland, OU Gallery, Atelier, the Arctic Circle Expedition, Vermont Studio Center, and the Spitsbergen Artists Residency. She taught the novella as a lecturer at Bryn Mawr and Rosemont Colleges, and earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Warren Wilson College.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
• Winner receives $1,000 and book publication through Fleur-de-Lis Press in fall 2027 plus 20 author copies and national distribution online.
• All shortlisted manuscripts that remain unpublished will be considered for publication by Fleur-de-Lis Press in 2027 and 2028.
• This prize invites writers living in the United States who have not yet published a novella to submit manuscripts of 20,000 – 40,000 words.
• Submitting writers may have published books in other prose forms, including novels and short story collections, so long as they have not yet published a novella.
• $28 reading fee includes a 1-year print subscription to The Louisville Review.
• All styles of fiction for an adult audience are welcome in this inclusive contest committed to celebrating the diversity, value, and myriad potentials of the novella form.• TLR editorial team screens submissions for anonymity and adherence to contest guidelines.
• Judge reads all submissions blind and selects shortlist and winner.
• Fee waivers are available upon request. For assistance email editor@louisvillereview.org
• Simultaneous submissions of manuscripts under consideration by other publishers are eligible; please notify us as soon as possible if your manuscript is accepted by another press.
• Excerpts may have been published individually in magazines or anthologies, but the complete manuscript must be unpublished.
• Submissions accepted through Submittable only.
• We do not accept submissions containing any content generated by artificial intelligence (AI) tools. AI-generated or augmented manuscripts are ineligible.
