The Aquarium
Write a story that takes place in an aquarium.
Prizes
- Grand Prize:
- $1,000
- Second Place:
- $250
- 10 Runners-Up:
- $25
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Nov 11, 2022
Submissions closed
Nov 19, 2022 4:59 AM CUT
Results
Dec 03, 2022
Prizes
- Grand Prize:
- $1,000
- Second Place:
- $250
- 10 Runners-Up:
- $25
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Nov 11, 2022
Submissions closed
Nov 19, 2022 4:59 AM CUT
Results
Dec 03, 2022
About this challenge
The Prompt
· Write a story between 600 to 3,000 words that takes place in an aquarium.
In a speech David Foster Wallace gave the graduating Kenyon College class in 2005, he shared the following parable:
There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, “What the hell is water?”
The focal point of this challenge is the aquarium, but whether the story takes place inside or outside of the glass is up to you.
The Prizes
- Grand Prize: $1,000
- Second Place: $250
- 10 Runners-Up: $25
How to enter
For your story to be eligible, it should be between 600 and 3,000 words and adhere to our Community Guidelines. Stories published on Vocal and entered into the contest up until November 18, at 11:59 PM ET will be entered for consideration. Official Rules for the Challenge can be found here.
The Aquarium Challenge is exclusive to Vocal+ members. To learn more and upgrade to Vocal+ visit https://vocal.media/vocal-plus.
To be eligible to win the grand prize, second place, or runners-up prizes, you must be over the age of 13 and residing in a country where Stripe is available at the time of entry. A complete list of countries where Stripe is available can be found here—winners will need to have a Stripe account created and connected in order to receive the prizes. For this reason, entrants located outside of any of these countries will not be eligible to win.
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