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 May 2026

Last month we received 355 53-word stories from writers around the world!

Unforgettable and Magical
by Kenneth M. McRae

“I’ll never forget that day, March eleventh. Your grandmother looked like an angel. I fell head over heels that first time I saw her. The stars aligned. I remember every second. It was unforgettable and magical.”

The grandchildren listened and giggled.

From the other room grandma hollered, “Good grief, it was the sixteenth.”

~ ~ ~

53-Word Bio
Ken McRae lives in Overland Park, Kansas, with his wife, Susan. They have two adult children, Rachel and Jake, and a bulldog, Hank. Ken is an attorney for a state agency; fiction writing is his hobby. He aims to write a couple hundred words every day. He usually doesn't, but he aims to.

Editors’ Note
As our winner for May, Ken will receive a free copy of What Dwells between the Lines: Fifty-Three 53-Word Story Contest Winners, Plus Tips on Writing Remarkably Brief Fiction. His story will appear on this page for the month of June and will be published in Issue 293 of Prime Number Magazine on September 1, 2026. Congratulations, Ken!

Read More of Our Winning Stories

But first, read your prompt for this month

Enter the 53-Word Story Contest for June 2026

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

Our Prompt for June: We learned that there is a National Flash Fiction Month for the first time and it is June 2026. This June, beginning right now, today, June 1. And what better way to kick off National Flash Fiction Month than to introduce a brand new 53-Word Story Contest prompt. Let’s get to the point.

Write a 53-word story about something brief, or a brief, your choice, just make sure whatever you write is 53 words long, no more, no less, you know, not too wordy. Something brief about brief, or a brief! Oh, and we have to receive your brief story by June 15. That’s the deadline.

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!)