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Decadent Stories for Decadent Times: A Writing Contest
Rome, 39 AD. Paris, 1884. London, 1890. Washington, DC, 2026.
At different eras in history, forces coalesce to create decadent times. Those times have returned. Inspired by France’s nineteenth-century fin-de-siècle decadent literary movement, this anthology will comprise of the 15 best decadent stories available.
Rachilde & Co. Books is seeking short stories for its anthology, Decadent Stories for Decadent Times. R&Co. welcomes stories with a good dash of artificiality, transgression, and Schopenhauerian pessimism in the veins of Barbey d’Aurevilly, Huysmans, Lorrain, Mirbeau, Mauppassant, Rachilde, Villiers de l’isle Adam, and Vivien. Finalists of the contest will be reviewed by special guest-judge Dr. Eleanor Keane.
To enter, submit your materials on Duosuma.com.
DATES
Submissions are open from June 15, 2026 to August 15, 2026, 8:59 p.m. Pacific, 9:59 p.m. Mountain, 10:59 p.m. Central, 11:59 p.m. Eastern, 3:59 a.m. GMT.
PRIZES
There will be 15 finalists to be published in the anthology. One contest winner receives $300 (USD) + publication in the anthology + plus one complimentary paperback copy of the published anthology. 14 runners up will receive publication in the anthology + one complimentary paperback copy of the anthology.
FEE
$20 for each submission
INCLUDE WITH YOUR STORY
1) A 50-100 word biography of yourself;
2) Your email address;
3) Your mailing address where you want the book sent.
WORD COUNT
Submissions should be between 1,000 to 7,500 words (we are not seeking poetry, flash fiction, scripts, novels, or novellas).
GENRE
Decadent fiction, as you interpret that word to be. See Rachilde & Co.’s articles on Substack for more information about decadent fiction.
LANGUAGE
Story must be in English.
FORMAT
Submit your story as a Microsoft Word .doc or .docx file.
FORMATTING
Submit your story in 12-point Times New Roman font, double spaced, with 1-inch margins. Documents should be paginated and have the name of the story as the header.
ANONYMITY
Exclude the author’s name from the document; neither the file name, nor the headers, nor the beginning of the document should contain the author’s name. If the document contains the author’s name, it will be rejected.
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Submitted stories may be previously published either online or in print, as long as the writer holds the copyright.
COPYRIGHT
Upon publication in the anthology, writers will retain the copyrights to their stories.
AI
No generative-AI submissions will be accepted. Stories may be tested for AI use. Generative-AI writing will be rejected.
COPYEDITING
By submitting a story, you agree to having your manuscript copyedited for typos and for style adherence to the Chicago Manual of Style.
PUBLICATION
The anthology will be published by R&Co. within 1 year of the contest’s close. Employees of Rachilde & Co. are disqualified from winning the contest.
SUBMISSION MAX
You may enter as many times as you wish. Each submission is $20.
SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS
You may submit a story that is being reviewed by another publisher.
HATE SPEECH
While decadent literature can be transgressive, no offensive or violent discourse targeting a group or an individual based on inherent characteristics (such as race, religion, or gender) will be tolerated.
ABOUT THE JUDGES
Guest Judge: Dr. Eleanor Keane is a member of the Decadence Research Centre at Goldsmiths, University of London, and the British Association of Decadence Studies (BADS) Executive Committee. Her research interests focus on the decadent fairy tale, literary decadence and the visual arts, and expressions of gender, decadence, and sexuality within the late nineteenth century. She holds a PhD in English and an MA in Literary Studies from Goldsmiths, and an MSc from City University, London.
Panelist: Francesca Penchant is a dark fiction book editor and publisher who teaches editing at the University of Washington in Seattle. Discovering Joris-Karl Huysmans's Là-Bas (1891) in a used bookshop in San Francisco in the 1990s consummated decadent literature's hold over her. She founded Rachilde & Co. Books, an independent press for which she designs books of decadent LGBTQ+ authors and themes from the nineteenth-century and beyond.
CLMP GUIDELINES
The Community of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP) believes that ethical contests serve our shared goal: to connect writers and readers by publishing exceptional writing. Intent to act ethically, clarity of guidelines, and transparency of process form the foundation of an ethical contest. To that end, we agree
to conduct our contests as ethically as possible and to address any unethical behavior on the part of our readers, judges, or editors;
to provide clear and specific contest guidelines—defining conflict of interest for all parties involved; and
to make the mechanics of our selection process available to the public.
This Code recognizes that different contest models produce different results, but that each model can be run ethically. We have adopted this Code to reinforce our integrity and dedication as a publishing community and to ensure that our contests contribute to a vibrant literary heritage.
To enter, submit your materials on Duosuma.com.
COMING SOON:
Buy on Amazon
Buy on Bookshop.org
Buy on IngramSpark
Buy on Barnes & Noble
Rome, 39 AD. Paris, 1884. London, 1890. Washington, DC, 2026.
At different eras in history, forces coalesce to create decadent times. Those times have returned. Inspired by France’s nineteenth-century fin-de-siècle decadent literary movement, this anthology will comprise of the 15 best decadent stories available.
Rachilde & Co. Books is seeking short stories for its anthology, Decadent Stories for Decadent Times. R&Co. welcomes stories with a good dash of artificiality, transgression, and Schopenhauerian pessimism in the veins of Barbey d’Aurevilly, Huysmans, Lorrain, Mirbeau, Mauppassant, Rachilde, Villiers de l’isle Adam, and Vivien. Finalists of the contest will be reviewed by special guest-judge Dr. Eleanor Keane.
To enter, submit your materials on Duosuma.com.
DATES
Submissions are open from June 15, 2026 to August 15, 2026, 8:59 p.m. Pacific, 9:59 p.m. Mountain, 10:59 p.m. Central, 11:59 p.m. Eastern, 3:59 a.m. GMT.
PRIZES
There will be 15 finalists to be published in the anthology. One contest winner receives $300 (USD) + publication in the anthology + plus one complimentary paperback copy of the published anthology. 14 runners up will receive publication in the anthology + one complimentary paperback copy of the anthology.
FEE
$20 for each submission
INCLUDE WITH YOUR STORY
1) A 50-100 word biography of yourself;
2) Your email address;
3) Your mailing address where you want the book sent.
WORD COUNT
Submissions should be between 1,000 to 7,500 words (we are not seeking poetry, flash fiction, scripts, novels, or novellas).
GENRE
Decadent fiction, as you interpret that word to be. See Rachilde & Co.’s articles on Substack for more information about decadent fiction.
LANGUAGE
Story must be in English.
FORMAT
Submit your story as a Microsoft Word .doc or .docx file.
FORMATTING
Submit your story in 12-point Times New Roman font, double spaced, with 1-inch margins. Documents should be paginated and have the name of the story as the header.
ANONYMITY
Exclude the author’s name from the document; neither the file name, nor the headers, nor the beginning of the document should contain the author’s name. If the document contains the author’s name, it will be rejected.
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Submitted stories may be previously published either online or in print, as long as the writer holds the copyright.
COPYRIGHT
Upon publication in the anthology, writers will retain the copyrights to their stories.
AI
No generative-AI submissions will be accepted. Stories may be tested for AI use. Generative-AI writing will be rejected.
COPYEDITING
By submitting a story, you agree to having your manuscript copyedited for typos and for style adherence to the Chicago Manual of Style.
PUBLICATION
The anthology will be published by R&Co. within 1 year of the contest’s close. Employees of Rachilde & Co. are disqualified from winning the contest.
SUBMISSION MAX
You may enter as many times as you wish. Each submission is $20.
SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS
You may submit a story that is being reviewed by another publisher.
HATE SPEECH
While decadent literature can be transgressive, no offensive or violent discourse targeting a group or an individual based on inherent characteristics (such as race, religion, or gender) will be tolerated.
ABOUT THE JUDGES
Guest Judge: Dr. Eleanor Keane is a member of the Decadence Research Centre at Goldsmiths, University of London, and the British Association of Decadence Studies (BADS) Executive Committee. Her research interests focus on the decadent fairy tale, literary decadence and the visual arts, and expressions of gender, decadence, and sexuality within the late nineteenth century. She holds a PhD in English and an MA in Literary Studies from Goldsmiths, and an MSc from City University, London.
Panelist: Francesca Penchant is a dark fiction book editor and publisher who teaches editing at the University of Washington in Seattle. Discovering Joris-Karl Huysmans's Là-Bas (1891) in a used bookshop in San Francisco in the 1990s consummated decadent literature's hold over her. She founded Rachilde & Co. Books, an independent press for which she designs books of decadent LGBTQ+ authors and themes from the nineteenth-century and beyond.
CLMP GUIDELINES
The Community of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP) believes that ethical contests serve our shared goal: to connect writers and readers by publishing exceptional writing. Intent to act ethically, clarity of guidelines, and transparency of process form the foundation of an ethical contest. To that end, we agree
to conduct our contests as ethically as possible and to address any unethical behavior on the part of our readers, judges, or editors;
to provide clear and specific contest guidelines—defining conflict of interest for all parties involved; and
to make the mechanics of our selection process available to the public.
This Code recognizes that different contest models produce different results, but that each model can be run ethically. We have adopted this Code to reinforce our integrity and dedication as a publishing community and to ensure that our contests contribute to a vibrant literary heritage.
To enter, submit your materials on Duosuma.com.
COMING SOON:
Buy on Amazon
Buy on Bookshop.org
Buy on IngramSpark
Buy on Barnes & Noble