The Aquarium
Write a story that takes place in an aquarium.
Prizes
- Grand Prize:
- $1,000
- Second Place:
- $250
- 10 Runners-Up:
- $25
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Nov 11, 2022
Submissions closed
Nov 19, 2022 4:59 AM CUT
Results
Dec 03, 2022
Prizes
- Grand Prize:
- $1,000
- Second Place:
- $250
- 10 Runners-Up:
- $25
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Nov 11, 2022
Submissions closed
Nov 19, 2022 4:59 AM CUT
Results
Dec 03, 2022
About this challenge
The Prompt
· Write a story between 600 to 3,000 words that takes place in an aquarium.
In a speech David Foster Wallace gave the graduating Kenyon College class in 2005, he shared the following parable:
There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, “What the hell is water?”
The focal point of this challenge is the aquarium, but whether the story takes place inside or outside of the glass is up to you.
The Prizes
- Grand Prize: $1,000
- Second Place: $250
- 10 Runners-Up: $25
How to enter
For your story to be eligible, it should be between 600 and 3,000 words and adhere to our Community Guidelines. Stories published on Vocal and entered into the contest up until November 18, at 11:59 PM ET will be entered for consideration. Official Rules for the Challenge can be found here.
The Aquarium Challenge is exclusive to Vocal+ members. To learn more and upgrade to Vocal+ visit https://customer-opinion.top/vocal-plus.
To be eligible to win the grand prize, second place, or runners-up prizes, you must be over the age of 13 and residing in a country where Stripe is available at the time of entry. A complete list of countries where Stripe is available can be found here—winners will need to have a Stripe account created and connected in order to receive the prizes. For this reason, entrants located outside of any of these countries will not be eligible to win.
Open challenges
Challenges you can enter now for a chance to win.
A System That Isn’t Working
Write about a system, whether social, economic, cultural, technological, or otherwise, that feels broken or misaligned.
$200 Grand Prize2 days leftEveryone Is Acting Normally
Write a story in which something is clearly wrong but all characters behave as if everything is normal.
$200 Grand Prize9 days leftThe Haiku of Now
Write a haiku that captures a small, precise moment from the present without reflection or commentary.
$200 Grand Prize14 days leftWhat the Myth Gets Wrong
Write a story set in a world where a well-known myth exists that focuses on a detail the myth simplifies, ignores, or distorts.
$200 Grand Prize16 days leftSomething Is Beginning, I Think
Write a story that opens at the edge of a beginning that feels uncertain, partial, or reluctant and avoid resolution.
$200 Grand Prize23 days leftSay It Plainly
Write a poem that states its central concern directly without metaphor, indirection, or symbolic substitution.
$200 Grand Prize30 days leftThe Rule Everyone Knows
Write a story centered on an unspoken rule that everyone in the story understands and follows, allowing the rule to emerge through behavior.
$200 Grand Prize35 days left
Challenge resources
Mismatch Challenge Winners
Blending genres isn’t about stacking elements side by side. It’s about what happens when two sets of expectations refuse to cooperate. The strongest entries in the Mismatch Challenge understood that tension and leaned into it. Rather than smoothing the edges, these stories let their chosen genres complicate one another, creating friction that carried through voice, structure, and consequence.
By Vocal Curation Team14 days ago in Resources
Public Announcement Challenge Winners
For the Public Announcement Challenge, writers were asked to work inside voices built for control. These were notices, warnings, and updates meant to inform rather than confess. The strongest entries committed to that form and didn't break from it. Corporate memos, formal government alerts, and internal policy language were held consistently, allowing emotion, fear, grief, or humor to surface indirectly through pressure rather than declaration. The following poems recognize the voice of authority, and let human feeling slip through despite all its rules and restraint.
By Vocal Curation Team19 days ago in Resources
