The UNM School of Architecture and Planning (SAP) is looking for writers and visionaries to help reimagine the Albuquerque Railyards.

The Railyard Fictions Writing Competition is taking submissions for poems, short stories (flash fiction) and other fictions that take place in and significantly feature the Fire Station, other railyard buildings and the grounds of the Albuquerque railyards. The goal is to imaginatively re-inhabit the area in ways that encourage the establishment of a vibrant community.

A Bear Called Paddington, Bless Me Ultima, Make Way for Ducklings, the TV show Cheers and many other fictions have had strong influences on the actual places in which they were set. Can fictional stories of the Albuquerque Railyards help a future community grow and flourish?

The competition is open to the public. There will be three categories of award – poems, short stories and other written fictions. Submissions will be accepted through March 15, 2020 and can be uploaded as .docx files here.

  • Poems may be up to 30 lines or 500 words maximum.
  • Short stories / flash fiction may be up to 1000 words.
  • Other fictions (e.g. lyrics, fictional future news reports) may be up to 1000 words.  These may be an excerpt from a longer work.
  • All genres of work are acceptable but must be appropriate to all ages.

There will be up to three winners from each of the categories of submission who will receive $200 each, in addition to the publication of their work in the Alibi.

Winners grant the Alibi first North American serial publication rights. Winners will read their work (or allow the work to be read) at a public event and grant the right for that event to be filmed and otherwise recorded and grant the right for the film and/or recordings to be published and presented to the public. Authors retrain all other rights.