Background: For 2026, the Eastport Arts Center is inaugurating a short-fiction contest to bring a literary element to the wildly popular Eastport Pirate Festival. Submitted stories will be collected in an anthology which will be introduced at a book launch celebration at A Boatload of Books on Friday, September 11th at 5 pm. Prizes will be awarded to the writers of the top three stories.

​​

​Theme: “Pirates of Passamaquoddy Bay,” historical or invented. You may place one or more historical pirates in the Downeast area or create some new ones.

​Word Count: 1200 words or fewer. Submissions over 1200 will be disqualified.

Limit: One submission per writer. All work must be original and unpublished.

Format: 12-point Times New Roman or Arial, double-spaced. Please check grammar and spelling before submitting. Include your name and contact information. (Identifying info will be removed for blind judging.)

Restrictions: 

     • Adult-themed work is acceptable, but no excessive violent or sexual content.

     • No AI-generated content. Using AI for research is allowed, but the story itself must         be entirely the writer’s work.

     • No member of the EAC staff or board of directors or their family members may               enter this contest.

​

Deadline: June 30th, 2026

Submit to: eacpiratefiction@gmail.com