New Plains Review, a literary magazine rooted in the Great Plains, has established the New Plains Prize in Poetry and Fiction as part of a special anniversary issue. The prize seeks fiction that engages with water as a theme—a subject of acute relevance in a region where rainfall is never assumed and where the constructed landscape of lakes and reservoirs speaks to both scarcity and intervention. The editors frame this call around shared concerns: water as a complex, communal element that shapes daily life and civic identity. While the theme is not exclusive, it signals the kind of work the jury is inclined to reward: narratives that treat water not as backdrop but as force, memory, or political reality. The contest is open to all writers, but the magazine explicitly invites submissions from traditionally underrepresented communities, with a particular interest in voices from the Plains. This dual invitation reflects the publication's stated commitment to highlighting concerns that directly impact its communities within a shared world. The prize thus operates as both a literary competition and a regional and cultural call—an opportunity for writers whose perspectives have been historically marginalized to place work in a journal attentive to place, resource, and consequence. Each submission must consist of previously unpublished short stories, with a maximum of 10,000 words. A reading fee of $3.00 (USD) applies per submission. Files are accepted in PDF, .doc, .docx, and .rtf. The deadline is October 14, 2026. No prize amount is specified in the provided information; writers should consult the magazine directly for any further details on the award. The editors' framing suggests a curatorial vision that values craft, thematic resonance, and a grounded sense of place—whether that place is the Plains or another water-shaped landscape.