The Presence Award is back by popular demand to include short stories that highlight ghosts and/or spiritual entities imposing on the natural world. The organizer is looking for unique stories incorporating the cultures, traditions, and/or histories of BIPOC and underrepresented communities. Stories should lean towards psychological terror instead of excessive use of gore. ​

Short stories can be between 1000-5000 words. Top winners receive prizes up to $500 and publication within the Presence collection and the Kinsman Quarterly literary journal.

Those eligible should submit an original, unpublished work in English. Selected submissions may be featured in the Kinsman Quarterly, its social media sites, and printed promotions. Copyrights of the individual submissions remain with the authors. Kinsman Avenue Publishing, Inc owns the copyrights to the collection as a unit.

Simultaneous submissions are accepted, however submissions should be withdrawn if accepted elsewhere. To ensure that we are able to publish the unpublished work, winning contestants and finalists are asked to wait a full year after winning announcements before they republish the short stories themselves or with another organization.

We are keen to encourage quality, so suggest writers to check their stories before submitting using Prowritingaid. They have free and paid versions and are the best writing software we know to help improve grammar, readability and spelling check for repetition, ‘sticky’ sentences and suggest alternatives.