A competition for AI storytellers

Submit a Body of Work that tells a story from start to finish. Be reviewed by expert judges, and compete for a $1,000 grant and a feature in Prompt Magazine.

Free to enter · Open worldwide · Judged on skill · Entries close 12 July

##The Story of an Impossible Almost

This work explores longing as a form of architecture: how a few real moments can become the foundation of an entire imagined lifetime. I wanted the boundary between memory and desire to remain uncertain, because emotionally, an unlived life can feel as vivid—and be mourned as deeply—as one that truly existed.

Once upon a time, an artist met a man between one floor and another.

It was only a small moment in an elevator—too ordinary to recognise as the beginning of anything. Yet she carried it home, placed it between the pages of a book, and began to draw.

First came the places where their paths crossed: a chair glowing green among rows of grey, conversations hidden inside busy rooms, laughter over cooling cups, and messages travelling through the darkness when they were apart. Each moment became a line. Each line became a thread. Slowly, the thread began to pull the drawings from the paper and into the world.

Then a small golden circle appeared.

Perhaps it marked the beginning of their life together. Perhaps it marked the place where such a life became impossible. The book never explained.

Beyond that page, a home emerged. Two cups waited every morning. Children filled the rooms with noise. Seasons passed through the same windows. Birthdays became anniversaries, children became adults, and two familiar faces grew old beside one another.

No one could say where memory ended and imagination began. The artist herself seemed to stand both inside the life and outside it, watching as the years she had drawn unfolded in golden light.

But paper was never meant to carry an entire lifetime.

The colours faded. Walls returned to pencil lines. The family became fragments, then shadows, then empty space. At last, only a few small moments remained: an elevator, a green chair, a laugh, a message, and the face of a man beneath an elderly woman’s trembling hand.

She closed the book as the final grains fell through the hourglass.

Years later, the room stood empty. The hourglass lay broken, its sand scattered across the table. The book remained—dusty, cracked and almost forgotten—still bearing its title in faded gold:

The Story of an Impossible Almost.

Whether it preserved a life once lived or a life only longed for was left to whoever found it.

7 more

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Nikki

@Nikki_01

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Edition 1 Theme

The Architecture of Feeling

Pick a feeling - (wonder, longing, awe, the quiet kind of joy, it's up to you!) - and build a Body of Work that tells a story about it. Tell one story from start to finish, as a collection of images and/or videos, or as a single edited video. Think short film or mini exhibition, not a single image, clip, or mood board.

We want to feel it, not just see it.

Full competition details

Key Dates

Entries open

Jun 15, 2026

Entries close, judging begins

Jul 12, 2026

Winners announced

Jul 20, 2026

Winners announced in 6d 16h 1m

Awards & Prizes

🏆
Best Overall$1,000 USD grant + 30,000 fast credits + feature in Prompt Magazine
📖
Best Storytelling15,000 fast credits + feature in Prompt Magazine + verified Select portfolio
✨
Most Creative15,000 fast credits + feature in Prompt Magazine + verified Select portfolio
❤️
Community Favourite15,000 fast credits + feature in Prompt Magazine + verified Select portfolio
🎖️
Highly Commended (×10)2,400 fast credits each + print copy of Prompt Magazine + Highly Commended badge

Full prize list

Judging Panel

Angus Russell

Founder, NightCafe

Sarah Impey

AI Community Manager, Runware

Marco Pittarello

Founder, Prompt Magazine

Gully Ahmed

NightCafe community member

About the panel · How it's judged

FAQ

Discuss NightCafe Select

PRO

Nikki

@Nikki_01

0Creations

View Profile

Key Dates

Entries open

Jun 15, 2026

Entries close, judging begins

Jul 12, 2026

Winners announced

Jul 20, 2026

Winners announced in 6d 16h 1m

Judging Panel

Angus Russell

Founder, NightCafe

Sarah Impey

AI Community Manager, Runware

Marco Pittarello

Founder, Prompt Magazine

Gully Ahmed

NightCafe community member

About the panel · How it's judged

Discuss NightCafe Select

PRO

Nikki

@Nikki_01

0Creations

View Profile

Edition 1 Theme

The Architecture of Feeling

We want to feel it, not just see it.

Full competition details

Key Dates

Entries open

Jun 15, 2026

Entries close, judging begins

Jul 12, 2026

Winners announced

Jul 20, 2026

Winners announced in 6d 16h 1m

Awards & Prizes

🏆
Best Overall$1,000 USD grant + 30,000 fast credits + feature in Prompt Magazine
📖
Best Storytelling15,000 fast credits + feature in Prompt Magazine + verified Select portfolio
✨
Most Creative15,000 fast credits + feature in Prompt Magazine + verified Select portfolio
❤️
Community Favourite15,000 fast credits + feature in Prompt Magazine + verified Select portfolio
🎖️
Highly Commended (×10)2,400 fast credits each + print copy of Prompt Magazine + Highly Commended badge

Full prize list

Judging Panel

Angus Russell

Founder, NightCafe

Sarah Impey

AI Community Manager, Runware

Marco Pittarello

Founder, Prompt Magazine

Gully Ahmed

NightCafe community member

About the panel · How it's judged

FAQ

Discuss NightCafe Select

Edition 1 Theme

The Architecture of Feeling

We want to feel it, not just see it.

Full competition details

Awards & Prizes

🏆
Best Overall$1,000 USD grant + 30,000 fast credits + feature in Prompt Magazine
📖
Best Storytelling15,000 fast credits + feature in Prompt Magazine + verified Select portfolio
✨
Most Creative15,000 fast credits + feature in Prompt Magazine + verified Select portfolio
❤️
Community Favourite15,000 fast credits + feature in Prompt Magazine + verified Select portfolio
🎖️
Highly Commended (×10)2,400 fast credits each + print copy of Prompt Magazine + Highly Commended badge

Full prize list