The Nova Short Story Competition
The Nova Short Story Competition is an annual competition for budding writers of science fiction and fantasy short stories. The competition is open for entry from April until 30 September annually.
Short stories must be in the genres of Science Fiction or Fantasy. If, in the judges’ opinion, the short story is not written in these genres, the entry will be disqualified and the entry fee will be forfeited. While it can be either SF or F, the story must be intrinsically South African, with the human or physical environment having a direct influence on the plot, characters or outcome of the story. All entries must be in English prose, and must be between 2000 and 8000 words.
Prizes:
- First Place: R2000
- Second Place: R1000
- Thrid Place: R500
- Winning entries, finalists and selected other entries are published in Probe.
SFFSA reserves the right to publish any story free of charge in the club’s magazine “Probe”, or in the club’s “Best of…” short story collection, but the copyright will remain with the author. The highest ranked story less than 5000 words will be eligible to be published in the Italian annual anthology, Mondi Incantati.
There is no age restriction. The competition is open to professional and amateur writers. All entries must be the original, unpublished work of the author, and may not have won a prize in any previous competition. There is no limit to the number of entries submitted by the author. All entries must be accompanied by a completed entry form.
Entry Fees:
- Once-off admin fee of R25
- PLUS R25 entry fee for EACH story entered
Note: If you enter one story, the total fee is R50. If you subsequently enter a second story in the same competition, the additional fee is R25 – the admin fee does not have to be paid the second time.
Deadline: 30 September 2026