Hilo Micro-Fiction Contest!

By: HILOBROW

January 26, 2010

CONTEST: HiLobrow.com readers are INVITED TO SUBMIT a short-short (250 words maximum) story about a troubled/troubling superman or -woman.

JUDGES: The stories will be judged by HiLobrow.com editors Matthew Battles, author of several SF stories published on this website, and Joshua Glenn, who writes about pre-Golden Age [a.k.a. Radium Age] SF for io9.com; and HiLobrow.com contributor Matthew De Abaitua, whose 2009 novel The Red Men was short-listed for the Arthur C. Clarke award.

PRIZES: The author of the winning story will receive a HiLobrow t-shirt, and his or her story will be recorded as part of our podcast (see below) and also published on this site. A few honorable mentions will be awarded; those stories will also be published.

PODCAST: Next month, HiLobrow.com will record the 2nd episode of our pre-Golden Age science fiction podcast, “Parallel Universe: Pazzo.” (Click here to listen to the 1st episode; theme: RADIUM AGE ROBOTS.) The 2nd episode will be devoted to fiction about RADIUM AGE SUPERMEN, from Olaf Stapledon’s Odd John to Hugo Gernsback’s Ralph 124C41+ to Philip Wylie’s Gladiator.

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR STORY: Publish it to the comments section of this post, no later than 5 pm EST on Monday, February 15th. Don’t include any personal info besides your name (i.e., no phone number, mailing address, website, etc). You must enter your actual email address when posting, but only the editors of this website will be able to see it. The author retains all rights to his or her story; but HiLobrow.com retains the right to publish/record the story as described above.

WHO’S ELIGIBLE: anyone, including HiLobrow.com contributors and friends.

GUIDELINES: No more than 250 words, and only one story per author. NB: The superman or -woman should not be a caped crusader type. Many of the first fictional supermen were portrayed by their creators as homo superior, an evolved human whose superiority was mental, physical, or both. Stapledon, Wylie, and many other authors of the time agreed the superman — whose values and worldview the rest of us can’t share, or even comprehend — would seem cold, inhuman, alien, or worse. Even, or especially when, he or she is trying to help us. However, a few authors took a rosier view of the superman; Gernsback’s Ralph 124C41+, for example, is a scientist whose inventions help ordinary mortals. Read more about troubled & troubling superhumans here.

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For an archive of posts related to HiLobrow.com podcasts, click here. For more science fiction on HiLobrow.com, click here.