Eligible Submitters

Alumni of California Baptist University are eligible to enter. Submissions are accepted in poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction.

Types of Submissions

PROSE (Including Short Stories, Flash Fiction, and Creative Nonfiction): 20 double-spaced pages max

POETRY: 5 pieces
Submissions should be grouped by category, but please submit each entry as an individual file.
 

Submission Process

For example, if you would like to submit 5 poems and 2 short stories:

1. Save each work as it's own Word/Rtf File with no personal information in the file.
2. Submit the 5 poetry files all at once and mark as poetry.
3. Then submit the 2 short stories together as prose.

Each alumna/us may submit to each of the categories once, so prep all of your files before submitting.
NO identifying personal information should be on the submission file--only the title and the work itself should be included in the Word/rtf document.
 

Awards

The judges will determine the top three pieces overall and award prizes.
Judges' decisions are final.  (If you experience a technical issue, etc., let us know.)

 

The Dazed Starling: Unbound is an online publication of the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program at California Baptist University. Its goal is to extend CBU’s Dazed Starling student literary journal’s mission by offering an additional publication opportunity open not only to current CBU students but also to faculty, alumni, and friends of the university. Each edition is thematic, but the editorial staff is open to an expansive interpretation of that theme. The editors will consider submissions in a wide variety of genres—poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction, of course, but other writing (creative, critical, devotional, etc.) that might go beyond those categories.

The theme for this winter edition of The Dazed Starling: Unbound is “Advent.” We welcome various interpretations of this theme that focus around faith, hope, peace, and joy. They need not be Christmas stories.

The Dazed Starling: Unbound also seeks to extend the creative voice of The Dazed Starling student literary journal with additional emphasis on visual arts. Artistic pieces should be submitted as JPEG or PNG image files. We are particularly looking for works embracing our theme. Still, We are open to various forms—photography, computer-generated images, paintings, drawings, line art, black & white, monotone, full color, everything! (Pieces connected to the Advent theme are especially encouraged.)
Whether written or visual, all submissions must be previously unpublished with all rights held by the submitter. All submissions should consider the mission and spirit of the university.

Multiple pieces may be submitted in one submission. Authors may submit up to 3 poems and up to 500 words of prose (fiction or nonfiction--we're looking for short pieces up to 250 words each). Artists may submit up to 5 pieces of visual art.

Whether written or visual, all submissions must be previously unpublished with all rights held by the submitter. Submissions created with AI assistance, beyond the use of basic mechanical editing (like Grammarly or spellcheck) are NOT permitted. All submissions should consider the mission and spirit of the university.

Students enrolled in a US high school for the 25-26 school year are eligible to enter. Submissions are accepted in poetry and prose (fiction or creative nonfiction).

PROSE (Including Flash Fiction, Short Stories, Scripts, Memoirs, Autobiographies, Creative Essays): Multiple pieces may be submitted up to 5,000 words total (maximum).
POETRY: Up to three (3) pieces may be submitted.

 Submissions can contain entries for multiple categories, but please submit each category as an individual file.

 

• For example, if you would like to submit 3 poems and 2 short stories:

1. Save all your poems in one Word/Rtf File with no personal information in the file. Use a page break between pieces.
2. Save all your stories in one Word/Rtf File with no personal information in the file. Use a page break between pieces.
3. Then submit the 2 files together.

Prep all your files before submitting so you can submit them all at once and pay only one submission fee.
No identifying personal information should be on the submission file--only the title and the work itself should be included in the Word/rtf document.


First prize in each category: $100
Second prize in each category: $50


Judges' decisions are final.
No refunds for submissions will be granted. (If you experience a technical issue, etc., let us know.)

 

Guidelines:

1. All entries must be written by an individual student enrolled at California Baptist University during the Spring 2026 semester. The entry may have been written for a class (in any previous semester); entries should not have been previously published, including self-published. All entries must be original work and should generally be in English.

2. Winning entries will be awarded and "performed" via a public table read at the Arts & Letters Symposium. Students are encouraged to submit entries that are suitable for public performance at this event. Winners will be expected to participate in the table read and award ceremony. Winners will be notified ahead of time that they need to attend (but will not be told which prize they won).

3. Entries should follow the format of a playscript, such as described in Gary Garrison's Writing and Producing the 10-Minute Play or David Starkey's Creative Writing: Four Genres in Brief. Freeware such as Trelby and Celtx playwriting software can help you format your play. At a minimum, your 10-minute play should include a title, a character list (with a brief description of the characters), the setting, and clearly formatted dialogue and stage directions. DO NOT PUT YOUR NAME OR OTHER IDENTIFYING INFORMATION ON THE PLAY, save for your CBU ID number. List your CBU ID number under the play title on the first page. Carefully proofread and edit your entries before submitting them.

4. A 10-minute play generally is 10 pages long; include page numbers on your 10-minute play script. Gary Garrison suggests this format for the 10-minute play:

• Pages 1-2: Set up the world we're in, introduce your  central character(s), and make sure we understand what they  need/want/desire in the journey of the story.
• Pages 2-3: Illuminate the central conflict—a dramatic  question that will be answered by the play's end.
• Pages 3-8: Complicate the story two or three times.
• Pages 9-10: Resolve the conflict, even if that creates  an unhappy ending.

• (Cited in David Starkey, Creative Writing: Four  Genres in Brief [4th ed.], p. 268)

5. Successful entries will generally recognize the strengths and limitations of the genre of the 10-minute play; the submissions will have stripped-down settings, reasonable prop lists, simple lighting needs, small casts, limited costuming and makeup requirements, and other elements that can be feasibly executed within ten minutes.

6. Students may submit up to two 10-minute plays.

7. First place is $100. Second place is $75. At its discretion, CBU may also award up to two Honorable Mention prizes of $50.

8. CBU reserves the right to publish the winning entries; all playwrights submitting entries retain their copyright to their plays.

9. Entries must be received on Submittable by 11:59 pm on March 1, 2026.