Can you imagine a beautiful, green, city, lush with plants and life? A “City in a wild garden? Can you craft a compelling story about that city in 750 words or fewer?

Then maybe you should compete in the contest, the Stories of the Nature of Cities 2020: City in a wild garden.

The contest asks:

Write a short story (“flash fiction”, up to 750 words), set in set in the present or future (near or far) and inspired by the phrase “City in a wild garden”. You do not have to literally use this phrase in your story. You may interpret liberally any of the words in the phrase: city, wild, and garden. Plot elements must include cities, nature, and people. It has to be fiction (that is, a story, not an essay)—any genre, from science fiction to magical realism—and can be about anything: climate change; food security; utopias; wild nature; a love story; … anything. At TNOC, we are very interested in imagining cities in which nature and people co-exist, cities in which the relationships between the human-made and the natural are imagined differently.

The contest is sponsored by a variety of organizations, including universities, non-profits, urban development programs, and more.

The grand prize is $3,000

Two second place prizes are $1,000

Three third place winners receive $500.

In addition to the money-winning stories, more stories will be included in an anthology of stories from this year’s contest.

The deadline to enter is January 1st, 2020.

The contest is ope to authors from around the world, 16 years or older.

To learn more, read the contest guidelines.