Attention Educators! If you are using the 53-Word Story Contest in your classroom, please send an email to our publisher at Kevin@Press53.com for a free copy of What Dwells between the Lines. We created this anthology especially for you!

Our FREE Monthly 53-Word Story Contest

It's free, it's fun; the winner gets published in Prime Number Magazine and receives a free book from Press 53. Be sure to subscribe to our email updates for free. You’ll receive an email on the first day of each month with our winning story and the prompt for our next contest.

Open to writers around the world who write in English

Congratulations to Our Winner for July 2026

Last month we received 258 53-word stories from writers around the world!

“A North Carolina Picker”
by Lisa H. Owens

Pressed between pages of Granny's King James Bible, a young tobacco leaf left an oily stain. Why keep a memento of hardship? She lived a hardscrabble life. But her rough hands, tobacco-gum sticky no matter how much she scrubbed, were gentle when she painted daffodils or picked briars from my summer rat's-nest hair.

~ ~ ~

53-Word Bio
Lisa H. Owens, a former humorist columnist, resides in north Texas with a senior rescue dog named Fred, who rules the roost. Her work’s been featured in anthologies and magazines and a collection of her short stories will be released in 2026. Lisa favors dark comedy and isn't afraid of spiders and snakes.

Editors’ Note
As our winner for July, Lisa will receive a free copy of The Winter People by John Ehle, since, as our first three-time winner, she already has a copy of What Dwells between the Lines: Fifty-Three 53-Word Story Contest Winners, Plus Tips on Writing Remarkably Brief Fiction. Her story will appear on this page for the month of August and will be published in Issue 293 of Prime Number Magazine on September 1, 2026. Congratulations, Lisa!

Read More of Our Winning Stories

But first, read your prompt for this month

Enter the 53-Word Story Contest for August 2026

**Deadline is the 15th day of the month**

Our Prompt for August: There is a little restaurant in Washington that only serves burgers topped with peanut butter and bacon. How does that make you feel? I found this combination abominable, but the persistence of the Washingtonian in my life eventually led to me cradling the oozing mess in my hands. Truly, it was a dream.

 Write a 53-word story about reconsidering

Please read our guidelines carefully

**DEADLINE is the 15th day of the month**
***NO ATTACHMENTS, PLEASE!***
Paste your story in the body of your email to 53wordstory@gmail.com

HINT: Each month, when we offer a new prompt, we introduce it with a short 53-word description that suggests several ways you might consider the prompt. Even the photo can offer a different way to look at it. What are we looking for? A story that surprises us in its approach to the prompt, something unusual and creative. The first idea that pops into your head probably popped into the heads of others too, so you might want to take another look at how your story can be different. Challenge yourself to find an unusual way to write a 53-word story about the prompt, and don’t think you have to use the prompt in your story, literally; implying the word works too. Surprise us! That’s what we are looking for.

Here’s how to enter (please read our guidelines carefully before sending us your story):

–Your story must be 53 words—no more, no less—titles are not included in the word count. Stories with fewer than or more than 53 words will be disqualified. Send only stories; poetry with line breaks will not be considered.
–There is no age limit. This is a FREE contest, so there is no age restriction.
–Be careful of word count. Hyphenated words count as one word. 
–Titles are not included in the word count. If your story is not titled, we will create a title for publication.
–One submission per person. 'Nough said.
–NO ATTACHMENTS! Paste your story into the body of your email. Stories sent as attachments, or images embedded in the email, will not be considered.
–By entering this contest the author grants Press 53 First Serial Rights to publish the story in Prime Number Magazine and to archive it permanently on our website. All other rights remain with the author.
–Email your story directly to 53wordstory@gmail.com by the 15th  day of the month, midnight Eastern Time. NO ATTACHMENTS, PLEASE!

Our judges for the 53-Word Story Contest are the editors of Press 53 and Prime Number Magazine. Our winner for this month’s contest will receive a free book from Press 53, and the winning story will appear here on the 53-Word Story Contest page for the entirety of the month following the contest, and will also be published, along with the author’s *photo and 53-word bio, in the next issue of Prime Number Magazine.

(*we will request your photo and 53-word bio if your story is our winner, so be prepared!)