Throughout history doomsayers predicting the end of the world have always been met with howls of derisive laughter. Rightly so, because most of them were buffoons whose predictions were based on weird and implausible sources. So far they have all been completely wrong. But, alas, those days are behind us. Contemporary warnings of impending doom, the rapidly approaching end of our overdeveloped and unsustainable world, are based on reality and science, on cold, hard facts, matters of projection rather than prediction. And we are already seeing the end beginning. The signs are everywhere: environmentally and socially (check our fact sheet for details). We are going down, and most of us know, perhaps not consciously, not clearly spelled out, but we know, deep inside, that we are going down, in spite of all the comforting lies told by those who are profiting from our downfall and want us to go meekly.

This contest is meant to raise people’s awareness of what is happening to our (natural) world right now and what this may mean for the near future. We are looking for short stories dealing with the many existential issues facing us. No nonsense, no wild, impossible fantasies but strong, intelligent stories, based on realistic speculation, cautionary tales, plausible and thought-provoking.

Being a non-profit organizationwe don’t have lots of money to throw around. Nevertheless we offer US$1,000 for the winner, US$300 for the runner-up and US$100 for number 3. There may also be some hideous trophies of gilded plastic and a little fame, but most of all the satisfaction of making a contribution to the welfare of our planet and all its inhabitants.

The rules are as follows:

• This writing contest (or writing competition) opened for entries on June 1, 2018 and will close on August 31, 2018 at midnight.
• There is no entry fee.
• It is open to anyone, from any country, of any age.
• Winners will be announced early October 2018.
• The story should be in digital form, Microsoft Word or PDF.
• Each contestant may enter only one story.
• Formatting in accordance with common practice; see the internet, for instance:
  • William Shunn
  • Scribophile
• Preferred word count between 1500 and 5000 words. The better the story, the greater the margin may be, within reason.
• The winners will be published in the first official edition of this magazine, planned for October 2018.
• Stories outside the top 3 may still be published at our usual flat fee of US$25.
• We buy non-exclusive, one-time rights for online publication during a period of 6 months, with an option to repeat this for our usual fee of US$25.
• Simultaneous submissions are fine.
• Publications elsewhere are not a problem either.
• Stories are to be uploaded by filling out the form below. If for some weird reason it does not work, you can send it as an attachment by email, by clicking here

P.S.
As a special courtesy to any talented Dutch writers we offer them the possibility of submitting their stories in Dutch. If they end up in the top 3, we shall have them translated, free of charge. (Nederlandse schrijvers kunnen hun verhalen in hun moedertaal inzenden. Als ze in de top 3 eindigen, zorgen wij voor de vertaling, gratis.)