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TRIPLE CROWN AWARD

Triple Crown_edited.png
Triple Crown_edited.png

Awarded for Excellence Across Writing Forms in Basalt Sea Anthologies

 

The Triple Crown is about range, craft, and courage.
It honors writers who stretch themselves, who risk more, who work across multiple forms and produce consistently exceptional pieces throughout the contest year. This award recognizes artistic bravery, technical versatility, and the devotion required to create several strong, publishable works in a single season. Basalt Sea Press brought this into existence to help writers generate the strongest work of their careers. The Triple Crown celebrates those who rise fully to that challenge.

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How to Earn the Triple Crown

 

Writers earn the Basalt Sea Triple Crown Award by receiving Honorable Mention in three or more distinct craft categories across the Basalt Sea anthology lineup within the same contest year:

  • Omens (Haiku)

  • Micro

  • Crafted Short

  • Essay

  • Triptych

Any anthology. Any combination.
Three Honorable Mentions in three different forms = Triple Crown Winner.

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Triple Crown Recognition Includes

  • Featured Author Spotlight on the Basalt Sea website

  • Priority Pushcart nomination consideration

  • Front-of-book placement consideration

  • Digital Triple Crown badge for website & socials

  • Permanent listing on the Triple Crown winners page

  • Press amplification across Basalt Sea channels

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Why the Triple Crown Matters

 

The Triple Crown encourages writers to work across forms—to challenge their instincts, sharpen their technique, and uncover new ways of approaching story, voice, rhythm, and structure.
Each craft category builds a different muscle:

  • Haiku → precision and restraint

  • Micro → compression and clarity

  • Crafted Short → voice, resonance, arc

  • Essay → truth, structure, self-interrogation

  • Triptych → architecture, layering, cohesion

Writers who excel across these forms demonstrate unusual range and depth.
The Triple Crown is designed to recognize, celebrate, and elevate that achievement.

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General Guidelines

  • All work must be original and unpublished

  • Simultaneous submissions allowed

  • Up to 3 haiku per Omens submission

  • Each category submission is a separate entry

  • No writing “as” cultures you don’t belong to

  • No gratuitous trauma, exploitation, or stereotypes unless narratively essential.

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Payment & Contributor Recognition

 

Accepted contributors receive:

  • Publication in a Basalt Sea Press anthology

  • Digital contributor copy

  • Award nominations (Pushcart, Best American, etc.)

  • Eligibility for the Triple Crown

  • Author spotlight features and platform amplification

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Rights

 

By submitting, authors grant:

  • Exclusive First Publication Rights for 12 months

  • Permanent Non-Exclusive Anthology Rights

After 12 months, all rights revert to the author, except for Basalt Sea’s right to continue selling and promoting the anthology.
Authors may republish their work elsewhere after exclusivity ends, with credit to Basalt Sea Press as the original publisher.

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