HNSNA 2027 Short Story Contest
The Historical Novel Society North America invites writers to submit original historical short fiction for our 2027 anthology, inspired by the rich and layered history of Pittsburgh and the surrounding region.
The winning story receives the Grand Prize of $250 plus in-person conference registration (approx. $550 value), and all finalists will be published in HNSNA’s 2027 short story anthology.
Pittsburgh is a city shaped by rivers, bridges, industry, immigration, labor, invention, and reinvention. Long before it became known for steel, it stood at the meeting of three rivers: a place of movement, conflict, trade, ambition, and change. From Indigenous history and frontier struggles to the rise of industry, from immigrant neighborhoods and labor movements to art, music, sports, medicine, and social change, Pittsburgh offers a powerful landscape for historical storytelling.
What story will you uncover?
Perhaps your tale begins along the banks of the Allegheny, Monongahela, or Ohio. Perhaps it unfolds in a steel mill, a boardinghouse, a rail yard, a church basement, a smoky jazz club, a union hall, a Gilded Age mansion, a wartime factory, or a neighborhood where old-world traditions met new American dreams.
Your story must be historical, but any subgenre is welcome: biographical fiction, romance, mystery, adventure, literary fiction, family drama, gothic, crime, or another historical form. We hope to showcase a wide range of voices, eras, styles, and perspectives.
Stories must take place in Pittsburgh or the surrounding western Pennsylvania region at any point in time up to 1980. Submissions are limited to 4,000 words and may not have been previously published.
Each submission will be reviewed blindly by two members of our review committee, who will help select the contest finalists. One grand prize winner will be selected from the finalists by our guest judges: TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON.
The grand prize winner will receive $250 plus in-person conference registration to HNSNA 2027. Non-winning finalists will receive an honorarium of $50 and inclusion in the anthology. All finalists will receive a paperback copy of the anthology, be recognized at the conference, and have the opportunity to participate in a special book signing event.
Entry fee is $25.
The contest is open to anyone. Multiple entries are allowed, but no author will have more than one story included in the anthology.
Submissions Open September 1, 2026, and close December 1, 2026
Be sure to sign up for our email list so you don't miss the announcement!
HNSNA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Proceeds from entry fees and anthology sales will benefit HNSNA’s scholarship fund and diversity initiatives.