Duane Stein Short Story Contest
Sponsored By:
Duane Stein Short Story Contest
This competition is in honor of Duane Stein, a beloved educator in the Waukesha School District from 1974 to 2011. Stein is well-known for his enthusiasm and encouragement in various classes and in leading the Academic Decathlon Teams at Waukesha North High School and Waukesha West High School. Wisconsin middle and high school students can enter an original short story of up to 2500 words.
Prizes
First place: $2,000
Second place: $1,000
Third place: $500
Contest Information
Preliminary judges for this contest will be former students of Stein’s, and the final decision will be made by Stein himself.
For further information on the competition and awards, contact: shortstorymatch@gmail.com.
Submission Guidelines
- Student must be a Wisconsin resident, currently enrolled in a middle school, high school, online school, or home-schooled and under the age of 19
- Length of story: up to 2500 words
- Submissions must be in English
- Any FICTION genre will be accepted
- No use of AI in the writing of the short story (except for ideas and research)
- All work must be original, unpublished work, including online
- All work must be submitted as a Word document (.doc), in Times New Roman, 12-point font, double-spaced with one-inch margins
- Name, address, phone number, email in the upper left-hand corner of first page
- Page number in upper right corner
- Must have THE END after story text
- Please check back in September for submission information for our 2026 contest.