From Maíz Poppin’ Press

The Radical Raza Fiction Prize is open to Raza and Indigenous writers whose communities are rooted in occupied US territory.

We seek book-length fiction, including novels, story collections, and hybrid narrative works. Manuscripts must be at least 40,000 words.

We are not looking for manuscripts that reaffirm the American Dream, celebrate assimilation, or simply retell the immigrant experience. Nor are we looking for stories where existence alone is mistaken for resistance.

We seek Resistance Writing. 

Resistance Writing is literature whose artistic vision and political imagination are inseparable. It emerges from national liberation movements and confronts conquest, settler colonialism, capitalism, patriarchy, white supremacy, and every structure that seeks to erase Indigenous and colonized peoples. It does more than describe oppression. It imagines, organizes, and advances liberation.

Existence is survival. Resistance is struggle. Resistance that transforms material conditions is revolutionary. We seek fiction of exceptional literary craft whose artistic vision is inseparable from its commitment to liberation.

We are looking for prose fiction: literature, horror, fantasy, romance, mystery, slipstream, science fiction, and every other genre that denies colonial inevitability to create new political possibilities. We seek work that shows liberated futures, different presents, reclaimed histories, and worlds built beyond the limits of empire. Writing rooted simultaneously in ancestral memory and political transformation.

Does your manuscript challenge colonial common sense? Does it create new meaning where empire has fixed meaning? Does it open space for national consciousness, collective dignity, and liberation?

We seek stories that refuse surrender, organize memory, make liberation imaginable, and that help a people return to history.
The winning manuscript will receive $500 upon publication with Maíz Poppin’ Press.

The inaugural Radical Raza Fiction Prize closes December 6, 2026. The winner will be announced in 2027

Submission Guidelines
Eligibility
• Open to Raza writers and Indigenous writers whose communities are rooted in occupied US territory
• One manuscript per author.
• Simultaneous submissions are permitted. If a manuscript is accepted elsewhere, please notify us immediately and withdraw it from consideration.
• Current Maíz Poppin’ Press staff, editors, and judges are not eligible.

Manuscripts
• We seek book-length prose fiction. Novels, story collections, and hybrid narrative works are eligible.
• Manuscripts must be at least 40,000 words.
• Manuscripts should be primarily in English, though the incorporation of Spanish, Indigenous languages, and multilingual storytelling is encouraged.
• The manuscript must be the author’s original work.
• Manuscripts generated primarily by artificial intelligence are not eligible.
• Manuscripts must not have been previously published as a book, including self-published editions.
• Individual stories or excerpts that have appeared in journals, magazines, anthologies, or other publications may be included

Formatting
• Submit as a .docx file. PDFs will be accepted, but editable manuscript files may be requested from finalists and the winner.
• Include a title page with the manuscript title and author name.
• Pages must be numbered consecutively.
• Use a readable 12-point font and standard page margins.

Prize
• One winner will receive $500 upon publication with Maíz Poppin’ Press.
• The editors reserve the right to name finalists and honorable mentions.
• Finalists may also be considered for publication.
• Maíz Poppin’ Press reserves the right not to select a winner if no manuscript is deemed suitable for publication.

Timeline
• Closes: December 6, 2026
(Commemorating the anniversary of the Battle of San Pascual).
• Winner announced: 2027

Submission Materials
Please email the following to maizpoppinpress@gmail.com with the subject line:
Radical Raza Fiction Prize Submission – [Add the title of your book]
Include the following materials:

• Manuscript as a .docx file. PDFs will be accepted, though editable manuscript files may be requested from finalists and the winner.
• Author Bio (100–200 words).
• Book Summary (300–500 words) describing the manuscript without revealing every major plot point.
• Resistance Statement (250–500 words). The Radical Raza Fiction Prize seeks Resistance Writing: work that confronts colonialism and imagines liberation. Tell us how your manuscript engages with resistance, decolonization, liberation, or revolutionary transformation. How does it challenge colonial common sense, reclaim memory, or create new political possibilities?
• Audience & Outreach Statement (250–500 words). Who do you hope this book reaches? What communities, organizations, classrooms, readers, or movements do you hope would connect with it? If selected for publication, how would you help bring the book into those spaces?
• Contact Info- Your full name, email address, and website or social media