The Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park (EHFOP) fosters understanding of the life and work of Ernest Hemingway, with emphasis on his Oak Park origins and his impact on world literature. Its mission reflects the Foundation's belief in the importance of the written word and the value of thoughtful reading and writing.
The mission is accomplished through
- outreach to diverse and international audiences through exhibitions, tours, conferences, lectures, discussion groups, publications and other educational programs and through service as a research resource.
- restoration and operation of Hemingway's birthplace and the preservation of other Hemingway sites in Oak Park.
- acquisition, conservation and management of archives and collections related to Hemingway.
- management of the Foundation's resources – human, financial and physical – by balancing innovation and economy.
HEMINGWAY SHORTS, the EHFOP annual literary journal publication, seeks to capture new voices engaged in writing short fiction. Eleven stories will be selected for publication, and our current and past Writer-in-Residences will assist authors in shaping and editing their work. In order to make space for more historically mis- and underrepresented writers, submissions will not be blind. This article provides further insight to our efforts.
In addition, we manage two (2) college scholarship high school essay contests held annually thru local area high schools in the following school districts (D200 Oak Park-River Forest, D201 Berwyn-Cicero/Morton, D208 Riverside-Brookfield, D209 Proviso Township and D401 Elmwood Park). The chosen student essays are concurrently published within this literary journal.
The Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park, Illinois is looking for your best short story. This call for submissions is for the Foundation's HEMINGWAY SHORTS CONTEST.
One (1) grand prize winner ($1,000.00 monetary award) and ten (10) finalists will be selected for publication in our 10th edition of the literary journal HEMINGWAY SHORTS. We will announce the grand prize winner's name and recognize all ten finalists at our Annual Foundation Benefit event.
Guidelines:
Applicants must submit their work through Submittable only. The submission fee is a non-refundable $15.00. Applicants are required to provide (a) the title of their submission, (b) author’s name, (c) street address; (d) phone number and (e) email on their submission text, (f) List of previous publications/awards/degrees (please note we do not share your data for any purposes) Submissions must be:
- Double-spaced using the Times Roman font at 12pt in doc or docx formats only.
- The story should be no longer than 2,000 words in English only.
- Short stories only.
- We allow simultaneous submissions—writers please notify us and withdraw your piece if your work is picked up elsewhere
- Multiple submissions are allowed, but must be submitted separately
- Previously submitted or previously published material is not permitted.
- International submissions are allowed
- Please note by submitting your work, you agree to the terms of use/publication agreement (located on second page of submitting after inputting contact info and before submission of work) if your work is selected for publication.
- A complimentary copy of the 2025 Hemingway Shorts will be provided to the authors of those works selected for publication. Additional copies will be made available for purchase on-line.
The deadline for submissions is April 15, 2025 (no exceptions)
Failure to adhere to these guidelines will mean disqualification.