Submission deadline is November 15, 2023
The Moment Magazine-Karma Foundation Short Fiction Contest encourages writers to submit stories related to Judaism or Jewish culture or history.
Established in 2000, this contest has brought in distinguished judges and special guests including Joyce Carol Oates, Robert Pinsky, Walter Mosley, Nicole Krauss, Erica Jong, Jonathan Safran Foer, Geraldine Brooks, Andre Aciman and Dara Horn.
Note: all submissions must be made through Submittable.
The contest is now accepting submissions for the 2023 contest. Moment will award up to three prizes to outstanding works of unpublished short fiction with Jewish content, including $1,000 for first place.
After the submission deadline, Moment editors will review all stories and contact winners if their stories are being considered for publication. Moment Magazine reserves the right at all times to select material for publishing. All selected material is subject to editing by Moment editors.
Entry Fees:
$25 for each entry (multiple submissions are accepted).
For each entry, submit an original short story—maximum length 5,000 words— with Jewish themes. You must acknowledge that you have read and agreed with the Official Contest Rules.
No previously published works, or works already accepted for publication elsewhere, are eligible. Work may be under consideration elsewhere, but must be withdrawn from the competition if accepted for publication.
Moment is not responsible for information in previous guidelines or advertisements. All deadlines may be extended or changed and may carry over into the next calendar year. Moment Magazine and the Karma Foundation are not liable for any misprints or errors of any kind.
Previous Karma Contest Events:
The 2021 winners read excerpts from their stories during the virtual event, “Everything is Material: The Influence of Love, Loss and Humor in Fiction and Memoir” with contest judge Susan Coll, Delia Ephron and Amy E. Schwartz.
The 2020 winners were acknowledged during a virtual event with judge Ruby Namdar, Ruth Franklin and Moment editor-in-chief Nadine Epstein discussing the enduring power–and perils–of Holocaust fiction.
The 2019 winners were part of a virtual event in July 2020, with contest judge Max Brooks.
The 2018 awards ceremony was held February 7, 2019, at the JCC Manhattan. Winners Jed Cohen and Joan Leegant read from their stories, followed by a conversation with author Andre Aciman, contest judge and author of the books Call Me By Your Name and Enigma Variations and Debra Granik, director of Winter’s Bone and Leave No Trace. 
The 2017 awards ceremony was held January 16, 2018, at the Eman-El Streicker Center in New York with special guests Dani Shapiro, bestselling author of the memoirs Still Writing, Devotion, and Slow Motion, and five novels, and Tova Mirvis, author of the memoir The Book of Separation and three novels, including the bestseller The Ladies Auxiliary.
“Winning the contest, and being treated so kindly by everyone from Moment, was as magical an experience as I’ve had. And to appear on the same bill as Andre Aciman, Debra Granik, and Joan Leegant—what a thrill! That Moment and the Karma Foundation, in the face of ever-dwindling interest in fiction—nay, in reading—continue to sponsor the Short Fiction Contest is a testament to those institutions’ enduring belief in the written word, and I’m over the moon to have been recognized by two organizations so vital to Jewish culture (and culture, period).” – Jed Cohen, 2018 contest winner
“I can’t begin to describe how important Moment’s Karma Foundation fiction prize is for writers. I sometimes hear people say they don’t read fiction because they only want to read “the truth,” and I have to tell them that, actually, fiction’s job is precisely to tell the truth. To shine a light on the most pressing things in life: how we live and love and thrive and suffer, and ultimately on what makes us one human family. For those of us who explore our humanity through stories, the recognition and validation that winning the Moment fiction contest provides is so exceptionally affirming.” – Joan Leegant, 2018 contest winner
Winners
2022
Judge: Allegra Goodman
First place: Steven Bieler, “Arguing with Reinfeld“
Second place: David Tuchman, “Chelm, NJ“
Third place: Ilana Marcus, “Night of Broken Glass“
2021
Judge: Susan Coll
First place: Anne Schott, “Why is there a Buddhist at this Seder”
Second place: Hillel Damron, “Calculated Moves“
2020
Judge: Ruby Namdar
First place: Omer Friedlander, “The Man Who Sold Air in the Holy Land”
Second place: Linda Brettler, “Private“
Third place: Rona Arato, “Polonaise“
Honorable mention: Ruth Sutton, “Little Miracles”
2019
Judge: Max Brooks
First place: Diana Bletter, “What if I’ve Changed my Mind”
Second place: Joan Mora, “The Anniversary Camera”
Third place: Phillip Cohen, “Call me Gefilte”
2018
Judge: André Aciman
First place: Jed Phillip Cohen, “Goldfader in Full”
Second place: Joan Leegant, “The Eleventh Happiest Country”
2017
Judge: Susan Coll
First place: Michalle Gould, “The Garden of Evil”
Second place: Judith Kay Jacobson,“The Mark”
2016
Judge: Nicholas Delbanco with Robert Pinsky
First place: Steven Volynets, “Turboatom”
Read an interview with the author here
2015
Judge: Jami Attenberg
First place: Miriam Karmel, “Summer is for People”
Second place: Jason K. Friedman, “Vanished Jews of Hetta”
2014
Judge: Alice Hoffman
First place: Paul B. Cohen, “Lecha Dodi”
Second place: Danielle Leshaw, “Killing Brother Michael”
Third place: Courtney Sender,”Lead Apron”
2013
Joyce Carol Oates and Alan Cheuse in Conversation
Judge: Alan Cheuse
First place: Becky Tuch, “The Inker”
Second place: Lauren Watel, “The Nothing of History”
Third place: Roberta Newman, “The Girl of the Comet”
2011
Judge: Walter Mosley
First place: Joan Leegant, “Roots”
Second place: Ruchama King Feuerman, “A Beggar’s Place”
Third place: Avital Chizhik, “Those Who Go About the City“
2010
Judge: Nicole Krauss
First place: Jason K. Friedman, “Blue”
Second place: Dalia Rosenfeld, “Infections”
Third place: Laura Price Steele, “Processes”
2009
Judge: Erica Jong
First place: Sherri Mandell, “Jerusalem Stone”
Second place: Sally Schloss, “The Goose Girl”
Third place: Kathryn Winter, “Mirušenka Moja“
2008
Judge: Anita Diamant
First place: Racelle Rosett, “Levi”
Second place: Judith Groudine Finkel, “Two By Four”
Third place: Amy Graubart Katz, “The Kiss“
2007
Judge: Geraldine Brooks
First place: Joe Kraus, “How Beautiful Are Your Tents, O Jacob”
Second place: Andi Arnovitz, “Three Dreams”
Third place: Ellen Davis Sullivan, “Yiddish Land“
2006
Judge: Jonathan Safran Foer
First place: Shaun Levin, “Mark Gertler in 13 Sketches”
Second place: Lisa K. Buchanan, “Trade Show”
Third place: Sande Boritz Berger, “The Sweetness”
2005
Judge: Judy Budnitz
First place: Susan Messer, “Remnants, Like Dust in Pocket Seams”
Second place: Andrew Fox, “Raoul Wallenberg in Orbit”
Third place: Isaac Leung, “Notes on Jewish Beauty (or Tamara Herschel)“