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Bess Streeter Aldrich Short Story Contest, 2026

Seeking Original Short Stories 

To honor Nebraska author Bess Streeter Aldrich and recognize outstanding writing, the Bess Streeter Aldrich Foundation announces its 2026 Short Story Contest. 

Objective/Theme: To generate a fictional short story that is written in the wholesome spirit displayed by Bess Streeter Aldrich in her works while incorporating a theme that focuses on Nebraska’s family life, economy, history, cultural diversity, and/or geography (past, present, and/or future).

All of Aldrich's novels remain in print, in standard editions as well as Braille and large print, and in a number of European and Asian languages. As you may know, we also have free curriculum for Mrs. Aldrich’s most recognized book, A Lantern in Her Hand. Elmwood would become the locale, by whatever name she called it, of her many short stories, and it would also be the setting for some of her books.

Aldrich had won her first writing prize at fourteen and another at seventeen, having been writing stories since childhood.

Writers are encouraged to focus on historical and/or realistic topics remembering that Mrs. Aldrich had a passion for Nebraska, small-town dynamics, and family antics. 

Resources: Books by the author that writers can read to generate ideas about content and style are:

Short Works 1907-1919; Short Works 1920-1954; Mother Mason; The Rim of the Prairie; The Cutters; Spring Came on Forever; A Lantern in Her Hand; A White Bird Flying; Miss Bishop; Song of Years; The Lieutenant's Lady; Journey into Christmas; The Drum Goes Dead; and The Man Who Caught the Weather.

Eligibility (Four divisions):

Adult:  1st Prize $100; 2nd Prize $50; 3rd Prize $25

High School (Grades 9-12):   1st Prize $50; 2nd Prize $25; 3rd Prize $15

Middle School (Grades 6-8):  1st Prize $50; 2nd Prize $25; 3rd Prize $15  

Intermediate School (Grades 3-5):  1st Prize $50; 2nd Prize $25; 3rd Prize $15

*Schools are limited to 15 submissions per teacher.

Much of her work has been anthologized and produced for radio and television. Available in Word, these materials can be personalized by choosing and modifying those resources that work for you and your students, the desired learning outcomes, and time restraints. Aldrich also wrote several pieces on the art of writing, and these were published in The Writer.

In 1934, Aldrich was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Nebraska, and in 1949 she received the Iowa Authors Outstanding Contributions to Literature Award.

Aldrich also was the author of one novella and two omnibus editions and served as a scriptwriter for Paramount. In addition, Aldrich wrote more than 100 short stories, which were first published in magazines; many were later republished in two volumes. Bess Streeter Aldrich: The Dreams Are All Real. Simply tell the guide you were a short story participant.

Submission Process: Stories should be submitted here by midnight April 15, 2026.

Aldrich's first book, Mother Mason, a compilation of short stories, was published in 1924.

In May 1925, shortly before her second book, Rim of the Prairie was published, Charles Aldrich died of a cerebral hemorrhage, leaving Bess a widow with four children ranging from four to sixteen. Exp.: name, photos, headings/footers (other than page number), and/or title pages.

Charles Aldrich had graduated with a law degree from Iowa State University and had been one of the youngest captains in the Spanish-American War.

Following the war, he served for years as a U.S. Commissioner in Alaska.

In 1909 the Aldriches and Bess's sister and brother-in-law, Clara and John Cobb, bought the American Exchange Bank in Elmwood, Nebraska, and moved there with the Aldrich's two-month old daughter, Bess's widowed mother, and the Cobbs. She is best described as a romantic realist who wrote of rural life in a positive sense, valuing its warmth and generosity of spirit, yet who was honest enough to show that it was not perfect.

Aldrich received an honorary doctorate from the University of Nebraska in 1934 and the Iowa Johnson Brigham Literature Award in 1949, and she was posthumously elected to the Nebraska Hall of Fame in 1973.

Carol Miles Petersen Omaha, Nebraska

Petersen, Carol Miles.

Those standards can be found at https://cdn.education.ne.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/ELA-Standards-Final-Draft-edited-10.6.21.pdf.

However, for two years after the family moved to Elmwood, Aldrich was too busy with local activities to write. Her novel Miss Bishop (1933) became the movie Cheers for Miss Bishop (1941).

On behalf of the Bess Streeter Aldrich Foundation, we would like to thank you for seeking opportunities to expose your students to the exceptional writings of Nebraska Hall of Fame Honoree Bess Streeter Aldrich.

From that time on, Aldrich wrote whenever she could find a moment between caring for her growing family and her household chores. Her work appeared in such magazines as The American, Saturday Evening Post, Ladies Home Journal, Collier's, Cosmopolitan, and McCall's.

Family members of the Aldrich Foundation Board are not eligible.

Length: 1,000 to 2,000 words (there is no minimum word requirement for the Intermediate Category)

Scoring: Stories will be based upon the writer’s effective use of theme and the use of the six-traits of writing.

Results: Winners will be notified by email in mid-May and invited to a recognition event.