We are seeking original short stories (up to 7,500 words) that fully embody the serious literary art of Faërie or Mythopoeia (see J.R.R. Tolkien’s essay On Fairy-Stories). These may be set in ancient realms or contemporary worlds—timeless villages or modern cities—so long as the perilous enchantment of Faërie breaks through and the tale achieves genuine sub-creation. Secondary World.
The stories we publish will:
- Construct a coherent Secondary World whose laws the reader can enter and accept as “true” while inside it.
- Evoke the arresting strangeness of Faërie—its beauty and peril, its ancient air—without reliance on dream-frames, satire, or triviality.
- Offer Recovery: a fresh, clear vision of familiar things, cleansing the eye of triteness and restoring wonder.
- Provide noble Escape: not the coward’s desertion but the deserter’s flight—to communion with other living things, to the satisfaction of ancient desires, or from the prisons of modern despair.
- Deliver the consolation of eucatastrophe: the sudden joyous “turn” that pierces with Joy, denying universal defeat and giving a fleeting glimpse of grace beyond the walls of the world.
- Draw freshly yet reverently from the Cauldron of Story, recombining old motifs in new and inevitable ways rather than repeating or subverting for its own sake.
- Above all, produce that distinctive mark of the true fairy-story: a catch of the breath, a beat and lifting of the heart.
We seek prose of precise, evocative, and enchanting craft, whether the events unfold under starlit skies of long ago or beneath the streetlights of today.
Please note that we are not seeking works in the contemporary “Romantasy” genre. Romance in stories should serve the larger purpose of sub-creation and the evocation of Faërie’s ancient peril and joy, not the fulfilment of romantic desire. Works that center romantic relationships as the primary narrative drive, however skillfully written, will not align with our editorial vision.
- Submit previously unpublished work only, in a single .docx file to editor@thefyr.review (The subject line should contain your name and the words “Short Story”)
- Simultaneous submissions are accepted; please withdraw immediately if accepted elsewhere.
- Use standard formatting (legible font, single-spaced)
- Attach the .docx file to the email. No other file types or links to files, please.
- We read year-round and respond within 2-4 weeks (unless otherwise advised).
These criteria together define what Tolkien believed a fairy-story can and should be at its most serious and potent: a literary art of sub-creation that reflects man’s image-making nature as a “little maker” under God, capable of evoking profound, evanescent Joy.
The Seven Criteria
Successful Sub-Creation and Secondary Belief
The story must make a Secondary World that commands Secondary Belief through “the inner consistency of reality.” The reader, while inside it, must accept what happens as “true” according to the laws of that world. Without this achieved sub-creation, the tale fails as Fantasy and cannot properly be a fairy-story.
Evocation of Faërie and Arresting Strangeness
The tale must produce the peculiar quality of Faërie—enchantment that is both beautiful and perilous, marked by an “arresting strangeness.” It is not mere wonder or prettiness; it contains the seas, the sun, the moon, trees, birds, mortal men when enchanted, and carries the air of the Perilous Realm.
Recovery
It must give the reader Recovery: a regaining of a clear view, seeing things afresh “as we are (or were) meant to see them.” Familiar objects, words, and ideas are cleansed of triteness and possession, so that we see the splendour of bread, the sea, or a tree again as if for the first time.
Noble Escape
The story must offer true Escape—the flight of the deserter rather than the coward’s desertion. It provides escape from hunger, thirst, poverty, pain, and death’s shadow, and escape to communion with other living things, exploration, or realms where ancient desires (flight, long life, speaking with beasts) are satisfied.
Consolation through Eucatastrophe
The highest function is achieved only when the tale delivers the sudden joyous “turn”—eucatastrophe. This is not escapism’s cheat but “a sudden and miraculous grace: never to be counted on to recur,” denying universal final defeat and producing a fleeting glimpse of Joy beyond the walls of the world.
Fresh Drawing from the Cauldron of Story
The tale must taste of the shared primordial soup—the Cauldron of Story that has always been boiling, receiving new bits from countless contributors over time. Yet it must not merely repeat; it should add something new or recombine the old in a way that feels inevitable and alive, avoiding degradation into childish triviality or mechanical retelling.
Production of Joy
At its best, the fairy-story must pierce the heart with Joy: “a catch of the breath, a beat and lifting of the heart, near to (or indeed accompanied by) tears.” This Joy is the mark of the true form of fairy-tale, distinct from mere happiness or satisfaction, and is the ultimate evidence that the tale has fulfilled its purpose.