⏳ Weekly Writing Contest | May 25: A Truth Between Strangers

Submit your entry to this week’s guest judge Tommy Dean by Friday, May 30 at 12pm ET/5pm BST

Artwork by Emma Winterschladen

Welcome to the Weekly Writers' Hour Contest!

This week's challenge invites you to step into the electric space between strangers and write the moment a truth slips into the open.

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PROMPT

A Truth Between Strangers: Write an encounter—real or imagined—in which two people who barely know each other are drawn into a conversation that leads one or both to reveal something they’ve never admitted before.

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Unpublished pieces of 500 words or less in any genre are eligible.

Submissions are due by Friday, May 30th, at 5pm BST / 12pm ET.

Keep reading for more information on prizes and FAQs – plus an introduction to this week’s guest judge,

Tommy Dean

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Happy writing!
The Writers’ Hour Magazine Team

Meet Our Guest Judge:

Tommy Dean

Tommy Dean is an associate literary agent with Rosecliff Literary, the author of two flash fiction chapbooks Special Like the People on TV (Redbird Chapbooks, 2014) and Covenants (ELJ Editions, 2021), and a full flash collection, Hollows (Alternating Current Press, 2022). He lives in Indiana, where he is currently the editor of Fractured Lit and Uncharted Magazine. A recipient of the 2019 Lascaux Prize in Short Fiction, his writing can be found in Best Microfiction 2019, 2020, 2023, Best Small Fiction 2019 and 2022, Monkeybicycle, Moon City Press, and numerous other litmags.

His interviews have been previously published in New Flash Fiction Review, The Rumpus, CRAFT Literary, and The Town Crier (The Puritan).

He has taught writing workshops for the Gotham Writers Workshop, the Barrelhouse Conversations and Connections conference, and The Writers Workshop.

A Note from Our Editorial Team

When two strangers meet, there's a rare kind of freedom—no history, no expectations, just the immediacy of the moment. This week’s prompt invites you to explore what happens when that freedom turns intimate, when a passing encounter becomes the container for a confession.

As you write, consider the setting: what kind of space allows a truth to surface? What details make the moment feel real? And what compels someone to speak what’s long been unspoken?

How to Submit:

• Submissions should be made through our online submission platform, Submittable, and formatted as a Word Doc.

• For more details, please read the full Contest Guidelines.

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The winning entries will receive:

First Prize:

• $65 USD (£50 GBP)

• Publication in Writers’ Hour Magazine

• 3-months of London Writers’ Salon Silver Membership (£79 value)

• Commemorative Writers’ Hour trophy mug

Second Prize:

• Publication in Writers’ Hour Magazine

• 1-month of London Writers’ Salon Silver Membership (£29 value)

Third Prize:

• Publication in Writers’ Hour Magazine

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FAQs:

• What genres can I write in?
  All genres - fiction, nonfiction, poetry, etc - are welcome.

• Is there a word limit?
  Your piece must be 500 words or less. Pieces that exceed this will not be considered. There is no minimum word limit.

• Do I need to submit in a specific format?
  Please follow the instructions outlined in the Contest Guidelines.

• When is the deadline to submit?
  Submissions are due by Friday, May 30 at 5pm BST / 12pm ET / 9am PT. Submissions received outside this window will not be considered.

• When will the winner be announced?
  The winner will be contacted via Submittable, and the winning entries will be published in Writers’ Hour Magazine by Saturday, June 14th.

• Can I submit a piece I’ve already published?
  Only previously unpublished pieces are eligible for this contest. (Published means anything that has already been made publicly available in print or online.)

• Can I use AI tools (like ChatGPT) to help write my contest submission?

  No. We do not accept any AI-assisted writing for contest entries. All submissions must be the author’s original work and human-generated. Use of AI will disqualify you from this and any future contests.

• Is there a fee to submit?
  No, there is no fee to submit. However you must be subscribed to Writers’ Hour Magazine in order for your submission to be considered.

Congratulations to the winners of Write What You Want!

We are thrilled to share the contest results for the week of May 4. Writers were invited to cast off expectations and write with abandon. Special thanks once again to our guest judge,

Dennis James Sweeney

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• First Place: Saroj Lata by Juhi Singh

• Second Place: / \ by

  Krista Carson

• Third Place: I am forbidden by

  Tasneem Azim

Congratulations to the winners, and thank you to everyone who participated. It’s a pleasure to share these pieces with you, and we can’t wait to see what you create in the next contest!

PS - Write with us at Writers’ Hour

Come work on your submission at Writers' Hour—our daily silent writing sprints—where writers from around the world come together to work on their projects. It’s the perfect environment to focus, share space with other writers, and make progress on your contest entry.