Square Enix Light Novel Grand Award
すくうぇあ・えにっくすらいとのべるたいしょう
A public newcomer literary award sponsored by Square Enix, targeting light novels.
- Established
- 2009
- Organizer
- Square Enix
- Category
- Light Novels and Web Literature
- Selection Method
- Open call
- Target
- Newcomer
- Frequency
- 1 per year
- Application Deadline
- around October–November
- Announcement Period
- around April–May
- Status
- Ended
Description
A Square Enix-sponsored public literary award targeting light novels, held from 2009 to 2012. Submissions of handwritten manuscripts were allowed, and submissions via email attachments of text files were also possible. It featured a long-form category (equivalent to 200+ sheets of 400-character manuscript paper, unlimited upper limit) and a short-form category (equivalent to 40-100 sheets of 400-character manuscript paper) across 6 genres (rom-com, gag, battle, mystery, horror, free). Honorable mentions and above in the long-form category were published by Gangan Novels and serialized on Gangan ONLINE; honorable mentions and above in the short-form category were serialized on Gangan ONLINE. Grand prize works in the long-form category were adapted into dramatic readings (for opt-in entrants only). After 4 editions, recruitment was suspended in 2012.
Prize
- Main Prize
- Long-form category: Grand Prize 1,000,000 yen, Runner-up 500,000 yen, Honorable Mention 300,000 yen, Encouragement Award 100,000 yen, Expectation Award 50,000 yen; short-form category: Grand Prize 500,000 yen, Runner-up 300,000 yen, Honorable Mention 100,000 yen, Encouragement Award 50,000 yen, Expectation Award 30,000 yen (as additional prizes).
- Cash Prize
- 1,000,000 JPY
- Publication by Gangan Novels (long-form honorable mention and above)
- Serialization on Gangan ONLINE (honorable mention and above)
- Dramatic reading adaptation (long-form grand prize only)
Related Awards
- Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Grand Prize
Official Resources
http://www.square-enix.co.jp/magazine/prize_novel.htmlPast Winners
クロス・マイライフ is an award-winning work by 山篠雅. Amazon JP, NDL, and related publisher records were checked, but no ISBN for a standalone book or paperback containing the work could be confirmed. Magazine and article identifiers were not reused.
クロス・マイライフ, recorded as an award-winning work by 山篠雅.
きのせいですわ。 is a work by JohneyK. Award records show that the premise and conception were central to its recognition.
きのせいですわ。 offers a clear entry point into the qualities recognized by the award.
我らオカルト研究部 is a work by 猫人魚. Award records show that the premise and conception were central to its recognition.
我らオカルト研究部 offers a clear entry point into the qualities recognized by the award.
"Beni Kagekidan" is a light novel work that received an encouragement prize in the long-form division of the second Square Enix Light Novel Grand Award. Its title foregrounds the theatrical image of an opera troupe.
The opera-troupe title suggests both theatrical brilliance and narrative unease.
"Ongakuka wa Yogoto ni Sazameku" received an encouragement prize in the long-form division of the second Square Enix Light Novel Grand Award. Its title evokes musicians, night, and the murmuring texture of human relationships.
The title conjures musicians stirring and murmuring through the night.
"Watashi to Satsujinki" received an honorable mention in the short-form division of the second Square Enix Light Novel Grand Award. The title places a first-person speaker beside a killer, suggesting intimacy and fear.
Its spare title heightens the fear of standing too close to a killer.
"Seitokai Senkyo Zengo" received an honorable mention in the short-form division of the second Square Enix Light Novel Grand Award. Its title frames the before and after of a student-council election, suggesting school politics and shifting relationships.
Around a student-council election, the atmosphere of the school and its relationships begin to shift.
"Riso no Dame Shimai" received an encouragement prize in the short-form division of the second Square Enix Light Novel Grand Award. The title combines an ideal with flawed sisters, suggesting a comic take on sibling relationships.
The title hints at sisters who are somehow both ideal and hopeless.
A light novel about a boy whose ordinary life is upended by Himiko, a shrine maiden from the future. It mixes broad comedy, action, and romantic comedy in the winning work from the first Square Enix Light Novel Grand Award.
A shrine maiden from the future throws a boy’s life into comedy, battle, and romantic chaos.
A mystery-oriented light novel centered on Takumi Sezaki, a high school student burdened with the detective-like fate of having people die around him. It was published as a winning work from the first Square Enix Light Novel Grand Award.
A lonely case story about a boy whose talent as a detective seems to summon death around him.
Dream and waking life blur in this encouraged-prize work; no standalone publication could be confirmed.
An award-winning work titled ユメウツツ.
A long-form finalist work with an eccentric premise linking storytelling, mentorship, and death; no standalone book publication could be confirmed.
An award-winning work titled 真打ち! ななはちゃん師匠と語ると死ぬはなし.
A finalist work whose title suggests lineage and otherness; available information is limited to award listings, with no confirmed standalone publication.
An award-winning work titled Blue Blood.
A long novel in connected episodes about a young man and the people he encounters in an uncanny world; later digital PDF distribution is visible, but no paper-book ISBN could be confirmed.
An award-winning work titled コドモハ旅ヲスル六帖線.
The short-story grand-prize winner, built around familiar acts of messaging and doodling; no standalone book publication could be confirmed.
An award-winning work titled らくがきメール.
A short-story honorable mention using magical-girl transformation conventions; no standalone book publication could be confirmed.
An award-winning work titled 変身魔法少女りあら.
A short-story honorable mention whose title suggests tuning and adjustment; no standalone book publication could be confirmed.
An award-winning work titled チューニング.