Singular Source Short Story Contest

mausburger — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 08:44:18 -0800

"Singular Source" is a hard science fiction short story contest. We are looking for stories on the theme of future computer programming and technology, with particular attention to programmers working with vast archives of source code. The deadline is November 30, 2011. Visit our web site for more details. You can support the contest by donating money for prizes and honorariums for judges.

I am co-editing an academic book on recent research on helping programmers find and reuse source code on the web.

It's common to end academic books with a speculative chapter, and what would be more speculative than a science fiction short story? I invited Vernor Vinge to submit a story, because I think the future might be the programmer archeologists that appeared in his "Fire Upon the Deep" and "Deepness in the Sky." Rather than writing software from scratch, people are taking pieces from existing systems and combining them. In this style of programming, knowing the archives is as important as the ability to put the pieces together.

Unfortunately, Vinge declined. However, he did give his blessing for a short story contest. So, here we are.

The contest is open to all with no entry fee. Cash prizes for top three entries ($500, $200, and $100) and publication for the winner. The deadline is November 30, 2011.

We are looking for donations to fund the prizes and honorariums for judges. If we exceed our fundraising goals, we will publish an anthology with an independent press, such as lulu.com. If we don't meet our goals, any monies we receive will be used for prizes.

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Singular Source Short Story Contest