The International Aeon Award Short Fiction Contest is a high-profile short story writing competition that aims to promote writers and writing in all the speculative fiction genres, including science fiction, fantasy and horror. The writing contest also aims to promote short fiction that cross between the genres of speculative fiction or are otherwise difficult to classify. There is no restriction to entry by nationality or location.

The Aeon Award fiction contest attempts to achieve the above aims by providing short fiction writers with the opportunity to win three substantial cash prizes (of €1000, €200, and €100) as well as guaranteed publication in Albedo One, a long-running and respected short fiction print and electronic magazine. Albedo One is the premiere magazine of fantasy, horror and science fiction published in Ireland, and is the winner of three European Science Fiction Society Awards including Best Magazine (1997) and Best Publisher (1999). For more information on Albedo One, see our listing in the prestigious online Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.

Entering the Aeon Award short fiction contest means that your work will have the chance of being read by our multiple award-winning panel of Grand Judges, renowned SF author Ian Watson, Hugo Award-winning SF author Anne McCaffrey, multiple Hugo-winning author Mike Resnick and respected Irish science fiction author Michael Carroll. More info on the Grand Judges of the Aeon Award competition can be found on the Aeon Award Contest Grand Judges page.

Stories shortlisted for the Aeon Award contest have gained widespread attention, being awarded coveted Honourable Mentions or being reprinted in prestigious Year's Best anthologies by top editors in the genres of science fiction, fantasy and horror, such as Ellen Datlow, Rich Horton, Kelly Link and Gavin Grant, and Gardner Dozois. Shortlisted stories have also been honoured by receiving expert translation from English and re-publication in highly respected genre magazines such as Galaxies SF (in France) and Phase X (in Germany).

The International Aeon Award short fiction contest is a unique opportunity to get your name and your writing significant recognition, as well as helping to show that speculative fiction in all its guises is a thriving, valid and essential means of exploring what it means to be human in a world that is changing at an ever greater pace.