Category: About Writing

Call for Submissions: Story of the Month

This feature is open for submissions again from 5 January 2023.

Story of the Month is an occasional feature for literary fiction. The word range for new submissions is from 1000 to 3000 words. There is no reading fee. Payment is a copy of one of our past anthologies. Please read the guidelines in full before submitting. We are seeking to publish new stories by writers not previously featured in Story of the Month or not featured for more than a year. Story of the Month is online only, not for print publication.

2022 Writers, Don’t Let Me Down! Ed.

Your forebears could hunt an epiphany through the great forest of Um without breaking a twig and spear it with words sharpened on the soles of their feet. Arise, put on your leotards and send in your short stories, ye of this century…(Enough, thank you. Get to the music. Ed.)

SUBMIT

One-Off Mug inscribed
The Willesden
Short Story Prize 2022

Writing Course Online with Toby Litt

Follow the links to a free 10-part writing course online by the acclaimed novelist Toby Litt.

New Yorker Fiction: “The Depletion Prompts” by David Means

A series of paragraphs in the form of suggestions about how to write this story itself, complete with an audio reading by the author. David Means was a judge for our short story competition one year.

The world’s best writers reveal their favourite short stories…

Sunday Times / Audible – Writers’ Picks

“Some of our great writers – from Elizabeth Strout to Mark Haddon – nominate what their favourite short story is, and tell us, in this intimate series, why they love it so much. You can watch the series here, with new choices every week”

Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award website

New Yorker: “The Resident Poet” by Katherine Dunn

(May 4) The story in this week’s issue, “The Resident Poet,” is a previously unpublished piece by Katherine Dunn, who died in 2016 and was the author of, among other things, the best-selling 1989 novel “Geek Love,” which follows a family of self-described “freaks” who operate and perform for a travelling circus.

Deborah Treisman

I’d read “Geek Love” three times…

Naomi Huffman

A previously unpublished story by the late Katherine Dunn. It’s a road trip, starts in a car park in the night rain, we go places, the resident poet is excoriated, sordid things happen, ends back in the night car park with a reflection in glass. What’s not to like? (Ed.)

New Yorker Fiction: A rare prose poem

In a change from the usual New Yorker long short story genre, the 20 April 2020 issue features a self-described prose poem by Ben Lerner. It’s a marvellous jumble of words and thoughts in search of something.
Want to know more after reading “The Media”? Here you go…

The last of “New Irish Writing”?

Terrible news but surely a new sponsor will come forward? Guinness? RTÉ? Gov.ie?

Story of the Month Submissions: Open

April 2020: Partly as a response to and respite from the Coronavirus lockdown blues, we’ve opened up the Story of the Month submssions window again. It would be great to hear from writers who have not been featured before in this online series.

Stories previously published in print but not online will be considered. Please advise details so that acknowledgement of the original publication can be included.

We have a rolling deadline of the second-last Friday of every month but often select the featured short story before then.

There is no reading fee. Recompense is limited to one copy of our latest anthology. Copyright: apart from permission to display it on our website online, you retain all rights in your story.

For full details please visit our Our Submittable page.

Novel Called Patience Published 4,581 Days After It Was Begun

Patience

via Novel Called Patience Published 4,581 Days After It Was Begun

And yes, believe it or not, Toby Litt is a previous contributor to New Short Stories. We have an embarrassment of riches, in that sense, though still seeking adverts (zero so far) for our latest edition, the eleventh in the series.

You can read “Veronika and Roger-Roger” by Toby Litt in Willesden Herald: New Short Stories 4 (2010).

Maggie Gee’s comments on New Short Stories 5 (video)

Frankly, we’re sharing some past glories here to encourage writers to submit and entrust us with their short stories for New Short Stories 11. (Submit)

Distinguished author Maggie Gee was the judge for the Willesden international short story prize in 2011. We were honoured when she came to our results event in the Willesden library centre events studio to announce her verdict. Maggie was also generous with her comments, referring to each of the stories in turn before revealing the winner.

And if you’ve reached the end of that video and want to see what happened next, here’s the answer. The charming Mary O’Shea, all the way from Cork for the night, graciously accepts her first prize award.

“Out of Season” by Mary O’Shea is included in Willesden Herald: New Short Stories 5. Maggie Gee’s latest novel is “Blood” (Amazon.co.uk, Waterstones etc.).

Did you know?: We’re on Duotrope.com

For many years, the Willesden Herald has been listed by Duotrope, for which we are very grateful as it has greatly helped in bringing writers from around the world to our submissions page. Why not take a look at their features for writers? You won’t see a more impressive resource for writers seeking opportunities to place their work. And while you’re there, you might like to take a look at their listing for New Short Stories 11. You can see the basic listing, which is excellent, and if you sign up you can get even more info.