2025 Anthony Grooms Short Fiction Prize

Contests
Written By The Headlight Review
A photograph of Anthony Grooms, smiling. An African American man , bald with a short salt and pepper beard.

Anthony Grooms

The Headlight Review proudly presents our third annual
Anthony Grooms Short Fiction Prize!

Award

A first prize of $750 will be awarded to the winning writer, along with 20 copies of their winning chapbook, published by The Headlight Review Press.

The chapbook will be perfect-bound and feature a four-color cover.

Submissions will open on June 1st and will run through August 31.

Manuscript Guidelines

  • Manuscripts are not to exceed 12,500 words. The content may include a single story, multiple stories, multiple flash stories or a stand-alone novel excerpt. Any submission that exceeds this word count will not be considered.

  • Stories may have been previously published individually. However, none of these stories are to have been published in a previous collection. Further, a novel excerpt cannot have been part of a previously published novel.

  • All manuscripts are anonymously submitted. First-round judging will be conducted by staff from The Headlight Review. Finalists will be revealed by October 15 and will be judged by the esteemed author James Cherry.

  • The 2025 Anthony Grooms Short Fiction Prize winner will be announced by December 1 with publication scheduled for spring 2026.

Entry fee: $18

Contest Judge: James E. Cherry

A photograph of James E. Cheery standing behind a podium in a patterned blue shirt. An African American man with short hair wearing black framed glasses.

This year’s judge, James E Cherry

James E. Cherry is the author of four collections of poetry, two novels and a collection of short fiction. His novel, Edge of the Wind, was reissued in 2022 from Stephen F. Austin State University Press and his latest collection of verse, Between Chance and Mercy was published by Aquarius Press/Willow Books in 2024. He has been nominated for an NAACP Image Award, a Lillian Smith Book Award and is the recipient of fellowships from the Martha Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing and Kimbilio for Black Fiction. Cherry has an MFA in creative writing from the University of Texas at El Paso and is Board Chairman of the Griot Collective of West Tennessee, a poetry workshop. He resides in Tennessee. Visit jamesEcherry.com for more.

Schedule

  • Kickoff: June 1st, 2025

  • Submit By: August 31st, 2025 at 11:59pm EST

  • Finalists Announced: October 15th, 2025

  • Winner Announced: December 1st, 2025

Click here to submit!

The Headlight Review
Next

The Poetry Chapbook Prize 2024-25