Giveaways

Write Us a Short Story Inspired by The Dog Days of Summer

Aug 13 2012

Read below for prizes and details

In these final weeks of summer, when the days are long, the sun is fat, and idleness blooms in the withering heat, we propose a challenge, something to do with those hot, restless hours. Write us a short story, no more than a 1,000 words inspired by these Dog Days, these days of affairs (think Gatsby’s blue gardens), of tragic love (think Romeo & Juliet), of erotic nights (Think Atonement), of hot hotels (think E.B. White’s This is New York), of … back to school commercials (think JC Penny). As Plath put it, “…the best of the summer gone, and the new fall not yet born. The odd uneven time.”

We – that is The Standard, our friends at Warby Parker, who know a thing about summer reading, The Paris Review, PEN, and author Hettie Jones – want you to capture this last hurrah of heat for a chance to win prizes. Keep reading …

From Top Left Clockwise: Still from Swimming Pool (2003) // Summer reading on the Riviera, 1953 // Still from Baz Luhrmann’s forthcoming The Great Gatsby with Leo and Carey Mulligan // Keira Knightly looking very period in Atonement (2007)

  1. What You Win…
  2. • The five winners will be published in a compendium & placed in all Standard Hotel guest rooms, the Warby Parker HQ Showroom & the Warby Parker Readeries in Miami & LA.
  3. • Five winning stories to be published on StandardCulture.com
  4. • Two free pairs of Warby Parker glasses
  5. • Complimentary copy of Object Lessons: The Paris Review Presents the Art of the Short Story
  6. • Complimentary subscription to The Paris Review.

  7. • GRAND PRIZE WINNER: 3 night stay at The Standard Spa, Miami Beach over Miami Book Fair in November (Excludes incidentals) or at a preferred Standard in LA or NY (Subject to availability. Excludes incidentals).

  8. Who’s Judging?
  9. • Jakab Orsos, Director of PEN American Center’s World Voices Festival of Literature
  10. • Lorin Stein, Editor, The Paris Review
  11. • Hettie Jones, Writer & Professor, author of How I Became Hettie Jones a memoir of the “Beat Scene” of the 50s & 60s.


  1. Submission Requirements:
  2. • Max 1,000 words of short fiction.
  3. • Previously unpublished (or will remain unpublished until December 2012.)
  4. • Vigorous, concise, elegant proses
  5. • There is no fee for submission.
  6. • No attachments please. Paste your copy into an email and send to: StorySubmissions@standardhotel.com
  7. • The author’s name must not appear on any page, but please include your email at the top of the email.
  8. • Do not include an author’s note, bio, or acknowledgement.
  9. • Revisions will not be accepted after manuscripts have been received.
  10. • Submissions to other publications are allowed, but contestants are asked to notify the contest coordinator if a manuscript has been accepted for publication elsewhere.
  11. • Manuscript submissions will be accepted from August 22nd to September 23rd, 2012 (11:59pm).
  12. • Manuscripts received after September 23rd, 2012 cannot be considered.
  13. • Winners will be announced November 5th, 2012
  14. • In English