Prizes:	One cheribun will be awarded $100 (one hundred USD), plus publication in Issue 29 of MacQueen’s Quinterly (August 2025).
	Up to a dozen finalists will also be published in Issue 29.
Entry Fee:	$3 (USD) for one cheribun, OR $5 (USD) for up to three cheribun*
Entry Period:	7 days**
Opening Date:	21 June 2025 (Eastern Daylight Time, USA)
Closing Date:	27 June 2025 (Eastern Daylight Time, USA)**
Results:	To be announced no later than 22 August 2025

* A sequence of multiple interconnected cheribun will be considered a single piece, and the total word count of the sequence must be no more than one thousand, including the title and any epigraphs and/or author footnotes.

For an example, see Memento Mori by Daryl Scroggins.

** Entry period may close earlier, depending on when the submission cap in each entry category is reached. A total of 40 submission files will be considered in the $3 entry category (one cheribun per file, or one sequence of interconnected cheribun). And a total of 20 submission files will be considered in the $5 category (up to three cheribun per file; one or more sequences may also be included, but each must be no longer than 1,000 words).

Only one submission file may be uploaded per person.

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One form of writing will be considered for this challenge: the cheribun, a rare hybrid which combines prose poetry, lyrical micro-prose, and/or creative nonfiction with one or more cherita poems (including cherita terbalik variations).

For details about cheribun, and links to 30 examples, see:
MacQ’s Cheribun Challenge #2: Results in Issue 24 of MacQ.

See also Summer of Love by Cynthia Anderson and Birthdays of the Dead by Gary S. Rosin.

Extra points for cheribun that include at least one word that begins with the letter Q—as a nod to MacQ publisher Clare MacQueen’s fondness for Q words! (Which may be lower case or capitalized as appropriate in the cheribun.)

Entries may be serious, humorous, or both. 😃
Yet they should also be polished literary works.

Themes are open and diverse:
To get a feel for MacQ’s editorial focus, please peruse previous issues.

Although they will not be considered for the cash prize of this Cheribun Challenge, MacQ Contributing Editors are invited to submit cheribun via Solicited Manuscripts (open 11-17 June), for publication in Issue 30 in September.

MacQ’s Cheribun Challenge #3 is Clare MacQueen’s twelfth contest in ten years. For a list of links to winners and finalists of her previous writing challenges, see MacQ’s Contest Portal.

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Nuts-and-Bolts Guidelines for Cheribun Challenge #3:

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For chances to win $100 (one hundred USD) and publication online in Issue 29 of MacQueen’s Quinterly at the end of August 2025: Submit original, unpublished cheribun, no longer than one thousand words each, including title and any epigraph(s) and/or author footnotes.

Electronic submissions only, via Submittable:
Entries in the English language will be considered from writers 18 years of age and older, from countries worldwide.

No simultaneous submissions:
Clare MacQueen will not hold your work(s) in limbo for long! She’s committed to announcing results as soon as possible, which will be no more than eight weeks beyond the closing date of this contest, or no later than 22 August.

Original works only:
Entries must be unpublished, and must not have been chosen as a winner, finalist, or honorable mention in another contest. For this cheribun contest, works that have appeared on an author’s website or blog, and/or on social media like Facebook, Bluesky, Twitter, and sites such as Fictionaut, are considered previously published.

Submission period will open on 21 June 2025, and close either just before midnight Eastern Time (USA) on 27 June 2025—or whenever the submission cap has been reached in each category, whichever occurs earlier.

Entry Fee:
$3 (three USD) for one cheribun, uploaded within a single file; OR
$5 (five USD) for up to three cheribun, uploaded within a single file.

A total of 40 submission files (i.e., one per person) will be considered in the $3 entry category, with one cheribun per file (or one sequence of interconnected cheribun, whose total word count is no more than one thousand).

A total of 20 submission files (again, one per person) will be considered in the $5 category, with up to three cheribun per file (one or more sequences may also be included, but each must be no longer than 1,000 words, including title and any epigraphs and/or author footnotes).

Please choose only one category. Only one submission file will be considered from each person.

Entry fees cannot be refunded, so please read these guidelines carefully before selecting your entry category in Submittable.

Only one cheribun (or sequence thereof) will receive the cash prize: However, additional cheribun of merit by the prize-winning author may be offered publication as well, but in Issue 30 of MacQ which launches at the end of September.

All entries will be considered for publication:
Depending on the number and quality of cheribun received, Clare hopes to publish at least a baker’s dozen in MacQ-29 in August.

And if MacQ’s blessed with a deluge of wonderful cheribun—which would be awesome!—then Clare would be delighted to publish a dozen or more in Issue 30 in September.

Submissions must be “anonymous”:
Please do NOT include your name, address, and other identifying info within your submission file. Author’s name, contact info, and bio should be entered in the boxes provided at Submittable. And Submittable keeps things nicely organized by assigning a number to each submission file.

Submission files may be uploaded in .doc or .docx format (or as a PDF for entries with any special formatting or images).

File name should also omit any author info:
Please do NOT include your name or any identifying info within the name of your file. Instead, please use the title of the cheribun (or one of the cheribun) from within your document. This will help ensure that all entries will be considered as impartially as possible.

Requests to Edit Entries:
If you discover significant errors in your work after uploading your file, please send Clare a note via Submittable and request an edit.

Please do NOT withdraw your entry to submit an updated version. Doing so would not only waste your time and money, in part because entry fees cannot be refunded, but would also impact Clare’s frenetic schedule, and skew the MacQ submission stats. Huge thanks for your understanding! ♥♥♥

Basic Formatting:
11- or 12-point font such as Times New Roman or Verdana. At least one-inch margins.

Word Count:
No more than 1,000 (one thousand) words per individual cheribun, or per a sequence of multiple interconnected cheribun. Max word count includes a mandatory title at least one word in length, as well as any epigraphs and/or author footnotes.

No cover letters necessary:
As a one-person production army, Clare has very little time and energy to read or respond to letters. Folks with specific questions or concerns not addressed in these guidelines are welcome to leave her a brief message via Submittable.

Restrictions:

1. No gratuitous violence; remember, less is more.
   
   
2. No gratuitous obscenities; judicious usage is okay of course.
   
   
3. No children’s stories, but fables or fairy tales for adults will be happily considered.
   
   
4. No pornography, although literary erotica and works containing sexual themes and related explicit language will be considered.
   
   
5. No screeds and/or religious rants; however, literary works from a range of spiritual traditions are welcomed.
   
   

Publication Rights:
Authors whose cheribun are selected will be asked to approve an agreement which grants exclusive first-time worldwide publication rights to MacQueen’s Quinterly. (For more information, see Contract: Publishing Rights.)

By entering this contest, Authors certify that the submitted work(s):

1. is/are the Author’s own original writing(s);
   
   
2. has not/have not been published in print or electronically (including on social media and/or Author’s website);
   
   
3. has not/have not been submitted nor accepted for publication elsewhere; and
   
   
4. is not/are not in the public domain.
   
   

Results will be announced no later than 22 August 2025, with the publication of MacQ-29 online (i.e., Issue 29 of MacQueen’s Quinterly).

The winning cheribun and several unranked finalists will be selected by Clare MacQueen, founding editor and publisher of MacQ. Authors will be notified by email just before Clare announces the results officially with the launch of Issue 29. Judge’s decisions are final.

Payment of Prize:

1. A cash prize of $100 (one hundred United States Dollars) will be paid via PayPal to the author of the winning cheribun.
   
   
2. If a collaborative work is selected as the winner, then the prize money will be split evenly between the collaborating authors.
   
   
3. Any taxes due on contest winnings are the sole responsibility of the prize winner.
   
   

This competition is void where prohibited by law.

A world of thanks to those who enter MacQ’s Cheribun Challenge #3—Clare hopes you have fun with it, and looks forward to reading your cheribun!

MacQ’s Submission Manager