Author Archives: jonathanjebrown

The end of the world…and a new direction for short story site

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After a successful year and a bit, England’s Future History  is ending the world!

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For our March 31st, 2017 deadline, we’re looking for stories set in the year 2150 that provide a world (or country) ending story.

It could be nuclear war, zombie apocalypse, a virus or just the general break down of society. The choice is yours. All we ask is that after this story, England will be a totally different country.

We’d like to try and tie in some of the other stories, though you don’t have to.

So what’s next I hear you call?

Well, once the world has ended, we plan to rebuild it.

People have really gotten behind the concept. We’ve had dozens of great entries and thousands of visitors to the site. We want to continue it but with a fresh start.

The first step will be publishing all the stories on the site in an ebook. This will come with an introduction by yours truly and (hopefully) some nice illustrations. We’re hoping to make this free as well.

After that, we’re going to start from fresh – no timeline, just your ideas.

Though there will be a few more rules to follow. The main one will be that we’re going to have themed entry periods. So, for example, we might have one for political-based stories or healthcare inspired tales. More on those in the future.

What it means for the short term is that we’re asking for new stories that will end the world. Deadline is March 31, 2017.

Check out the updated Submissions page for details on format, word limits and emails. Or email submission and questions to englandsfuturehistory@gmail.com.

Writers paint bleak future for England

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Brexit blues and post Euro 2016 have created a bleak mood in England – and it’s not going to get much better if the country’s creative are anything to go by.

We can expect food shortages, rising house prices, and possibly even the death of God. But it’s not all bad – we’ll soon be able to remove bad memories, chose out after life and even get a new pair of wings attached in the time it takes to ink a tattoo.

These are just some of the predictions found in the short stories on the England’s Future History website.

Our future timeline

The project was launched by former magazine editor Jonathan Brown to create a future timeline for the country.

Every three months, submissions are invited from short stories writers. The rules are simple – each tale should be set at some point in England’s future.

The catch is the events of each published entry become part of a timeline. Other writers then need to make sure their entries take these events into account.

Jonathan Brown, who now works with the Press Association as a digital content editor, said: “I wanted to create a joined up vision of our future.

“We’re at a tipping point in our country – we could head in a number of directions. I was just interested to see what other people thought would happen.”

The story so far…

The winning writers range from absolute beginners to experienced journalists and authors.

Jonathan Brown added: “The range of topics covered is amazing. But they’re definitely a few areas that are coming up time and again, with genetics and future healthcare one of the big issues.”

So far, seven stories have been published. They can be read here…

While there’s no set end date of the project, Jonathan says he’ll review the timeline after a year and see whether there’s still room to expand it or whether it’ll be time to reset and start again.

“The stories, I hope, reflect 2016. It’d be interesting to do it every year and see how the future changes.”

More information…

Entries are accepted all year round but new stories are only published once a quarter. It’s free to enter.

Ideas should be emailed to englandsfuturehistory@gmail.com . Visit the Submissions page for more details.

England’s Future History announces winners

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After many great entries on everything from genetic engineering to England’s football team, we’ve select our three winners.

The three stories are the first to be published on our new site, which aims to create a new vision of the future of our country through short stories.

It’s was hard to choose the winners, but we managed to get it down to three. They are…

Click on the links above to read these stories or go to our site. It also means we’ve updated our future timeline with the events of these brilliant short stories.

And it means we’re now accepting submissions for the June 30th deadline. Anyone wanting to enter should read the stories and check our timeline to make sure their piece fits in with the events now established. More details on how to enter can be found here.

England’s Future History wants your short stories…

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A new short story competition has launched giving writers the chance to map out what happens to England in the future.

England’s Future History is seeking stories or poems between 500 and 3,000 words set in the future and based in England. Simple, right?

The twist is that once a story has been accepted and published, the events in that story become canon – they are officially part of England’s Future History. Other stories that follow have to take these historic events into account.

Some tips:

  • Don’t write us into a corner: The selection of stories will be curated so any that write us into a corner (apocalypse scenarios etc) will be rejected no matter how good they are
  • Think small: Not every story has to have a major event. We’re looking for more personal views of the future. Characters are just as important as the events. But the story should reflect the changing times
  • Follow the timeline: As new stories are published the events of these tales will be added to our timeline. Before you submit, read the timeline to make sure you’re not contradicting someone else.
  • Get connected: One of the aims of this project is to create a connected vision of England’s future. So, you’ll get extra brownie points if you make reference to events in other stories. Think of it as the EFHLU – the English Future History’s Literary University.

What do predict for the future?

Will your story be about the day Wales gains independence? Will your character be the last red head in the UK? Or the first Brit to reach 120 years old?

Will it be about a new technological advance that changes everything or a political movement that threatens to send the country into meltdown?

Or maybe you just imagine a future in which Newcastle finally win the Premier League – stranger things have happened.

The rules…

1. All stories should be under 3,000 words, but can be as little as 500 words.

2. All stories should be set in England at some point in the future.

3. New entries must not contradict anything that has gone before. Check the timeline post for key dates and events.

4. I will have final say on what goes in.

5. All submissions should include a future date at the start so I can easily place it on the timeline.

6. We don’t mind if you have published your stories elsewhere previously.

7. We’d prefer not to remove stories once published – so be certain you want your piece online.

8. We’ll edit your piece for typos  and grammar mistakes, so let me know beforehand if there are any intentional mistakes, grammar styles etc that I should know about.

9. We’ll aim to let you know within 3 weeks.

10. Oh, and it’s free to enter.

11. Deadlines are at the end of March, June, September and December. The next one is Thursday, March 31, 2016.

If you want your story to be included, simply email us with your story as an attachment, a bit about yourself and brief intro to your piece.