Occasional feature. Want to get your name into the list of contributors? You have come to the right place. Still no reading fee. Still the same reward, a copy of one of our past anthologies. Guidelines
Photo: Anton Chekhov reading The Seagull to the Moscow Art Theatre company c.1898
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.
The Willesden Short Story Prize 2022 was revealed at Willesden Library this evening. First prize went to “Hotline” by Zakia Uddin (left).
Runners-up were “Vevey” by Catherine McNamara and “Cuckquean” by Jackie Morris.
Thanks to Claire Lacey and Katy Darby for bringing the stories to life and making the event go with a zing.
Thanks to Jarred McGinnis for judging and to the writers of all ten shortlisted stories, as every one is a prize-winner in this short story competition. (Ed.)
From Willesden Herald Books, an imprint of Pretend Genius Press
The best of the Willesden Short Story Prize 2020
Short fiction by David Butler, Helen Harjak, Catherine McNamara, Andy Mead, Jackie Morris, Diana Powell, Peter Newall, Anju Sharma, Lui Sit, Zakia Uddin
With an introduction by Jarred McGinnis
Launch: The Performance Space, Willesden Green Library, 8 November 2022, from 7pm
Cover by Stratos Fountoulis based on an original photo by Stephen Moran
The ten stories shortlisted for the Willesden Short Story Prize 2022 in alphabetical order by author
Shoes by David Butler
Remembering Not Forgetting by Helen Harjak
Vevey by Catherine McNamara
Haircut by Andy Mead
Cuckquean by Jackie Morris
My Last Journey with Baron Baldanders by Peter Newall
Empathy by Diana Powell
Things we see, things we don’t by Anju Sharma
Forecast for Rain by Lui Sit
Hotline by Zakia Uddin
Thanks to all who entered for making our selection task so difficult with the high standard of writing. The total number of entries was 371. It was painful having to leave out many outstanding short stories.
There will be a special event to announce 1st prize and runners-up and to launch the anthology, New Short Stories 12. Details to follow.
Total: 371, ten of which will comprise New Short Stories 12 and one that will attract the one-off mug inscribed The Willesden Short Story Prize 2022, plus a certificate with no Staples A4 printer paper spared in its production. Thanks to all for the high standard of entries. Ed. pic.twitter.com/mk073Oa3Ma
We’re delighted to announce that novelist and short story writer Jarred McGinnis has agreed to judge the Willesden Herald Short Story Competition 2022. An American abroad, his debut novel The Coward (Canongate, 2021) was a BBC2 national television “Between the Covers” recommendation. It is also about to be published in the US and in France, Italy and Spain later this year. He has many strings to his bow, including short fiction for BBC Radio 4 and much more besides, which you can read all about on his website. He is no stranger to our competition, having had a short story in New Short Stories 4. (Submit)
We’re back with a competition for inclusion in Willesden Herald: New Short Stories 12. Open to international entries. Closing date will be August 31, 2022. Entry fee £5. There are ten prizes, as follows:
Meet our next fab shortlisted writer, Jo Lloyd. You can follow the link to read an interview with Jo and a short story Ade, Cindy, Kurt and Me from her brilliant collection The Earth, Thy Great Exchequer, Ready Lies https://t.co/0J1nxtY49Cpic.twitter.com/Q6uzyr3Nz3
(It’s always gratifying to see a mention for our own short story competition. Ed.) Full shortlist and selected stories online: Announcement – 2021 Edge Hill Shortlist.
Hello! I’ve been asked to do a short thread with some of my stories available to read online so here goes! “All the People Were Mean and Bad” is here: https://t.co/ocxW76NA2D
Twitter: Lucy Caldwell shares links to some of her stories online
Three-time nominated Lucy Caldwell has won the sixteenth BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University (NSSA) with ‘All the People Were Mean and Bad’, a story taken from her 2021 collection, Intimacies. The news was announced live on BBC Front Row by 2021 Chair of Judges, James Runcie. Caldwell, a multi-award-winning writer from Belfast, was previously shortlisted in 2012 and 2019.
New Short Stories 