Tag Archives: flash fiction

Call for Submissions

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The Casket of Fictional Delights is an online short story and flash fiction website which specialises in producing professional podcasts. We are looking for submissions for the following slots :~

Short Stories – The vast majority of short stories are made into podcasts, therefore should be between 1,500 and 3,000 words. This is an optimum length for a podcast.  There is flexibility on word count and, in terms of theme, other than Valentines, there are no restrictions. 

November 2022 short story

February 2023 short story (Valentines)

June 2023 short story

October 2023 short story

November 2023 short story

2023 Summer Flash Fiction Collection – this will be a group of flash fictions on the theme of ‘Summer’ in its widest interpretation.  We anticipating there will be between 6 and 12 in the collection.  Flash fictions should be no more than 500 words (excluding title). The Summer Flash Fiction Collection will be made into a series of podcasts. 

We do not publish stories  containing excessive swearing, sex or violence (we do not have an ‘explicit licence’ from Apple iTunes).

Deadline – 1st May 2022.

Contact The Casket with ShortStops in the subject. Thank you.

We look forward to hearing from you and Good Writing Vibes.

Fictive Dream Call for Submissions

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Fictive Dream is open to submissions and, as always, we’re interested in short stories with a contemporary feel (500 – 2,500 words). We especially like stories that give an insight into the human condition; stories that focus on those moments that change people’s lives. They may be on any subject. They may be challenging, dramatic, playful, exhilarating or cryptic. Above all, they must be well-crafted and compelling.

Check out the Fictive Dream website here.

See our submission guidelines here.

We’re looking forward to receiving your best work!

Laura Black
Editor

Website www.fictivedream.com
Twitter @fictivedream
Instagram fictive.dream

New prize for flash fiction & non-fiction in honour of Dave Murray

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An international award for new and emerging flash fiction and flash non-fiction writers has been launched in memory of a popular Manchester-based writer and critic. The QuietManDave Prize will be run by the Manchester Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University, in conjunction with the Manchester School of Theatre, named in honour of Dave Murray, a keen writer and theatre blogger, and lover of flash fiction and non-fiction, who passed away last year.

In recognition of Murray’s achievements and his passion for writing that he embraced later in life, the QuietManDave Prize offers awards of £1,000 for Flash Fiction and Flash Non-Fiction under 500 words, as well as runner-up prizes. the Flash Non-Fiction category open for everything from creative non-fiction – which weaves fact into the form of a story using the tools of fiction, to blog posts or theatre reviews, which were QuietManDave’s particular passions. Judges are ShortStops curator, poet and short story writer Tania Hershman,  short story writer, essayist and poet Kate Feld, and Shane Kinghorn, Senior Lecturer in Drama and Contemporary Performance at Manchester Metropolitan.

Both prizes are open internationally to writers aged 16 or over – with award judges keen to encourage, discover and celebrate new writers, particularly those who have come to writing later in life. Sponsored entry is available for those who might not otherwise be able to participate. The deadline for entries is Friday April 17. Enter here 

Reflex Fiction Autumn 2019 Winners!

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Spring 2020 - Reflex Fiction - Flash Fiction Competition shortstops Jan
Reflex Fiction is a quarterly international flash fiction competition for stories between 180 and 360 words. We operate a choose your own entry fee system.

Autumn 2019 Winners

At the end of December, we published the three winning stories from our Autumn 2019 flash fiction competition as chosen by Naomi Booth. Here are the winners and links to the stories:

You can read Naomi’s thoughts on the winning stories here.

Winter 2019 Long-List

We’ve also just published the long-list for our Winter 2019 competition and have started publishing stories as we count down to the announcement of the winners at the end of March.

Spring 2020 – Choose your own entry fee

We’re also accepting entries for our Spring 2020 competition. For this round, we’re delighted to have flash-fiction legend Kathy Fish as our judge.

We’re continuing with our choose-your-own-entry-fee system. If the suggested entry fee of £7 is prohibitive, just pay what you can afford. If you’d like to support a writer who can’t afford the full fee, why not add a pound or two? More details on our website.

Here are the important details:

Prizes: £1,000 first, £500 second, £250 third (or the equivalent in your local currency)
Entry Fee: Choose your own
Entries close: 29 February 2020
Judge: Kathy Fish

SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY

Creative Future Writers’ Award 2020

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The 2020 Creative Future Writers’ Award is now open for submissions.

Founded in 2013, the Creative Future Writers’ Award is the UK’s only national writing competition and development programme for under-represented writers. They showcase talented writers who lack opportunities due to mental health issues, disability, identity or other social circumstance.

Prizes are awarded for both poetry and short fiction, including cash and professional writing development opportunities, publication in an anthology, and a high profile awards ceremony at the Southbank Centre in London as part of London Literature Festival (TBC).

2020 judges are Kerry Hudson, Anthony Anaxagorou, Aki Schilz of The Literary Consultancy, and the CFWA 2020 Writer In Residence (TBA).

This year’s theme is ‘Tomorrow‘.  Submissions are open for:

  • Poetry (one poem up to 42 lines)
  • Short fiction (up to 2,000 words)

Deadline is 31 May 2020.

For more information and how to submit, please click here.

Call for Submissions: HCE’s Green Issue

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The editors at Here Come Everyone magazine (HCE) are seeking submissions for our upcoming Green Issue. We’re a tri-annual literary magazine of short fiction, poetry, articles and artwork based around topical and interesting themes. HCE aims to provide an open and accessible platform for readers and contributors.

 

The new theme: GREEN

Deadline: 10 Feb 2020

We encourage bold/striking interpretations of the theme. If your link to ‘green’ isn’t self-evident, we advise you to include a few lines in your author bio to provide context.

Green

Fiction: please submit only one piece per issue; stories may be up to 2,000 words.

Poetry: you may submit up to three poems of no longer than 35 lines each.

Non-fiction: please submit only one piece per issue; articles may be up to 1,500 words.

Artwork: you may submit up to three pieces; we accept all visual media (300 dpi and 640 x 640 res).

 

Please see our submissions guidelines for full details. Work must be sent via the submissions form on our website; stuff we receive via email will not be accepted. Any Word or .docx format is fine, but no PDFs. For submissions of artwork, please ensure your files are of sufficient image size and hi-res, otherwise they cannot be used.

We look forward to receiving your creations…

FRONT COVER Classified

To get an idea of what HCE is looking for, you can check out our brand new Classified Issue – now available for purchase from our shop! Full of short stories and flash fiction, plus art, poetry and other writing.

Is Your Work Too Intense?

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deadline 10 janIf it is, we’d like to see it. The A3 Review and Press is seeking flash fiction or short stories that overshare, are deeply lyrical, and say something about what it’s like to be alive at this point in time. Deadline is 10th January 2020.

For examples of the kind of prose The A3 Press publishes, check out MASH by Lena Ziegler, Jason Jackson’s The Unit, and My New Car by Alan Sincic.

Selected titles receive £200 and 10 copies of the published work.

For more details and how to submit, visit their Submittable page here.

The Reflex Spring 2020 flash fiction competition is open!

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Spring 2020 - Reflex Fiction - Flash Fiction Competition shortstops
Reflex Fiction is a quarterly international flash fiction competition for stories between 180 and 360 words. We publish one story every day as we count down to the winner of each competition.

We had a fantastic response to our Winter ’19 competition: 515 entries from 30 different countries. We’re busy reading and judging in preparation for announcing the longlist on 1 January. In the meantime, the next round of the competition is now open for entries.

We’re delighted to have flash fiction aficionado Kathy Fish acting as judge. Here are the important details:

Prizes: £1,000 / £500 / £250 (or the equivalent in your local currency)
Entry fee: Choose your own!
Deadline: 29 February 2020
Judging: March 2020
Longlist announced: 1 April 2020
Judge: Kathy Fish
Submissions: via our online entry form.

Flash Fiction Editor Vacancy

We’re currently recruiting an editor to manage flash fiction submissions for online publications. See our website for all the details.

Fictive Dream’s Flash Fiction February 2020

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Exactly three weeks left to submit your best flash fiction to Fictive Dream’s Flash Fiction February 2020.  

During Flash Fiction February, now in its third year, we will feature a new piece of flash fiction throughout the month. That’s a new story, every day, starting on 1 February right through to February 29. Our submissions window will remain open until December 31, 2019.

As always, we’re interested in material with a contemporary feel on any subject. Your stories may be challenging, dramatic, playful, exhilarating, even cryptic. Above all, they must be well-crafted and compelling.

We’ve put a squeeze on our usual word count though, so only stories of between 200–750 words please.

Read our Flash Fiction February 2020 submission guidelines here.

Check out the Fictive Dream website here.

For those of you who prefer to write longer stories we remain open to standard submissions (500–2,500 words). 

We’re looking forward to receiving your best work!

Laura Black
Editor

Website www.fictivedream.com
Twitter @fictivedream
Instagram fictive.dream

Talking Tales #26 – 10th December – Bristol

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Talking Tales is open for submissions for the next event on Tuesday 10th December 2019.

Here is our manifesto:

  •  the ‘To Hull and Back Anthology 2019‘ will be launched on the night
  •  many of the authors featured in the anthology will be reading
  •  you could read too – this time stories of 500 words might get our vote
  • The Right Honourable Christopher Fielden will be the Leader of the House
  •  we pledge you will laugh and be entertained in equal measure

TaToHullAndBack2019frontcoverlking Tales is a lovely night of stories, with a warm audience in a great venue. If this sounds like your kind of party then put pen to paper and vote with your feet.

Submissions close late on Friday 29th November 2019 – send your stories by e-mail to: stokescroftwriters@gmail.com

Event details – are stupendously straight-forward:

…venue:     Left Bank, 128 Cheltenham Road, Stokes Croft, Bristol BS6 5RW

…time:       we start at 6:30 pm on Tuesday 10th December 2019

…join-in:    the ‘finish the lines’ competition – win a Talking Tales badge.

Stokes Croft Writers would love to see you there.

P.S. It’s #26 – no recounts.

 

Fictive Dream’s Flash Fiction February 2020

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The submissions window for Fictive Dream’s Flash Fiction February 2020 is now open.

During Flash Fiction February, now in its third year, we will feature a new piece of flash fiction throughout the month. That’s a new story, every day, starting on 1 February right through to February 29. Our submissions window will remain open until December 31, 2019.

As always, we’re interested in material with a contemporary feel on any subject. Your stories may be challenging, dramatic, playful, exhilarating, even cryptic. Above all, they must be well-crafted and compelling.

We’ve put a squeeze on our usual word count though, so only stories of between 200–750 words please.

Read our Flash Fiction February 2020 submission guidelines here.

Check out the Fictive Dream website here.

For those of you who prefer to write longer stories we remain open to standard submissions (500–2,500 words). 

We’re looking forward to receiving your best work!

Laura Black
Editor

Website www.fictivedream.com
Twitter @fictivedream
Instagram fictive.dream

Reflex Fiction Summer 2019 Winners!

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Autumn 2019 Winners - Reflex Fiction - Flash Fiction Competition - shortstops
Reflex Fiction is a quarterly international flash fiction competition for stories between 180 and 360 words. We publish one story every day as we count down to the winner of each competition.

Summer 2019 Winners

At the end of September, we published the three winning stories from our Summer 2019 flash fiction competition as chosen by Claire Fuller. Here are the winners and links to the stories:

First Place: The Puncture by Lauren Collett
Second Place: Do Not Tell Me We Are Friends by Alice Franklin
Third Place: Growing In the Dust by Dona McCormack

You can read Claire’s thoughts on the winning stories here.

Autumn 2019 Long-List

We’ve also just published the long-list for our Autumn 2019 competition and have started publishing stories as we count down to the announcement of the winners at the end of December.

Winter 2019 – Choose your own entry fee

We’re also accepting entries for our Winter 2019 competition. For this round, we’re delighted to have Barbara Byar, author of the forthcoming Reflex Press book Some Days Are Better Than Ours as our judge.

We’re continuing with our choose-your-own-entry-fee system. If the suggested entry fee of £7 is prohibitive, just pay what you can afford. If you’d like to support a writer who can’t afford the full fee, why not add a pound or two? More details on our website.

Here are the important details:

Prizes: £1,000 first, £500 second, £250 third (or the equivalent in your local currency)
Entry Fee: Choose your own
Entries close: 30 November 2019
Judge: Barbara Byar

SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY

 

Call for Submissions: Pixel Heart Literary Magazine – Issue Four: Joy

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Screenshot 2019-10-01 19.35.27

Pixel Heart Literary Magazine is currently open for submissions for its fourth issue, which has the theme of Joy.

The magazine publishes flash fiction (under 750 words), poetry (of any length), and short stories (1,000 – 2,500 words) as long as they adhere to the issue’s theme.

There is no submission fee, and submissions are open to all – experienced and new writers alike.

Pixel Heart Literary Magazine is dedicated to publishing writers who are disabled, LGBT, and/or writers of colour, as well as writers from a working-class background. While all submissions will be considered with great care, if writers state in their submission email that they are any of the above, then their submission will be given a little extra attention.

For more specific submission guidelines and information on how to submit, please click here. Submissions for Issue Four: Joy are currently open until midnight BST on the 1st of November, 2019. ❤

Fictive Dream’s Flash Fiction February 2020

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The submissions window for Fictive Dream’s Flash Fiction February 2020 is now open.

During Flash Fiction February, now in its third year, we will feature a new piece of flash fiction throughout the month. That’s a new story, every day, starting on 1 February right through to February 29. Our submissions window will remain open until December 31, 2019.

As always, we’re interested in material with a contemporary feel on any subject. Your stories may be challenging, dramatic, playful, exhilarating, even cryptic. Above all, they must be well-crafted and compelling.

We’ve put a squeeze on our usual word count though, so only stories of between 200–750 words please.

Read our Flash Fiction February 2020 submission guidelines here.

Check out the Fictive Dream website here.

For those of you who prefer to write longer stories we remain open to standard submissions (500–2,500 words). 

We’re looking forward to receiving your best work!

Laura Black
Editor

Website www.fictivedream.com
Twitter @fictivedream
Instagram fictive.dream

Palm-Sized Press call for submissions

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Palm-Sized Press is currently accepting submissions for the next issue!

We’re looking for:

  • Flash fiction, up to 500 words
  • Articles and essays on writing, craft, and flash fiction
  • Original artwork

Deadline: 4 October

To submit your work, use the forms located on our Submissions page.

Contributors who have work chosen for the issue will receive a small payment! In order to make this possible, there will be a small submission fee of $2.

Those of you who have been with Palm-Sized Press since the end of 2017 know that we put together a small zine of flash fiction and art. This new magazine will also incorporate articles on writing and craft, and we’ll be looking into opportunities to include submissions and events listings, interviews, and more.

Sky Light Rain book launch and literary night

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Sky Light Rain launch pic

To celebrate the launch of her second collection, Sky Light Rain, author Judy Darley invites you to an atmospheric evening of readings and music on the themes of sky, light, and rain. Drawing on her enduring fascination with the fallibility of the human mind, Sky Light Rain is a collection of short stories and flash fictions examining aspects of human existence, our relationship to nature and complex behaviours towards one another.

The event will take place at Waterstones Bristol Galleries, from 7pm on Saturday 2nd November 2019. Alongside Judy, participants include writers Paul Deaton, Kevlin Henney and Grace Palmer, and indie art-pop musician Hidden Tide.

This is a Bristol Festival of Literature 2019 fringe event.

Tickets are free but limited, so don’t forget to book yours.

Date And Time: Saturday 2nd November 2019, 7pm-9pm.

Location: Waterstones, 11A, Union Galleries, Broadmead, Bristol BS1 3XD

Book your free tickets here. Sky Light Rain will be published by Valley Press.

Northern Lights Writers Conference 2019 – tickets available now

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Creative Industries Trafford (CIT) is running its popular Northern Lights Writers’ Conference for a sixth year, at Waterside in Sale, a short hop by tram, bus, car and bike from Manchester city centre.

Northern Lights Writers Conference 2019

Northern Lights Writers Conference 2019

The day-long event for emerging and established writers includes one-to-one advice sessions on writing, editing and submitting short stories, poetry and creative non-fiction; workshops on creating scripts for TV and collaborating on graphic novels; talks and panel discussions on funding, training and development opportunities for writers, pathways to publication, and diversity in the publishing industry; networking possibilities and book signings, plus a keynote speech and ‘in conversation’ session looking at different genres, platforms and adaptations by bestselling author Jane Rogers.

Saturday 21 September, 11am–5pm (registration from 10.30am), Waterside, Sale, £35 (£25 concessions). Book online or call 0161 912 5616. More here.

Fictive Dream Call for Submissions

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We start the month with some wonderful news. Four Fictive Dream stories have been included in the very best fifty British and Irish Flash Fiction (BIFFY50) 2018-2019. We’re delighted and our thanks to authors Niamh McCabe, Gary Duncan, Meg Pokrass and Jason Jackson.

But now it’s back to business. Fictive Dream is open to submissions and, as always, we’re interested in short stories with a contemporary feel (500 – 2,500 words). We especially like stories that give an insight into the human condition; stories that focus on those moments that change people’s lives. They may be on any subject. They may be challenging, dramatic, playful, exhilarating or cryptic. Above all, they must be well-crafted and compelling.

Check out the Fictive Dream website here.

See our submission guidelines here.

We’re looking forward to receiving your best work!

Laura Black
Editor

Website www.fictivedream.com
Twitter @fictivedream
Instagram fictive.dream

Fictive Dream Call for Submissions

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Fictive Dream is open to submissions and, as always, we’re interested in short stories with a contemporary feel (500 – 2,500 words). We especially like stories that give an insight into the human condition; stories that focus on those moments that change people’s lives. They may be on any subject. They may be challenging, dramatic, playful, exhilarating or cryptic. Above all, they must be well-crafted and compelling.

Check out the Fictive Dream website here.

See our submission guidelines here.

We’re looking forward to receiving your best work!

Laura Black
Editor

Website www.fictivedream.com
Twitter @fictivedream
Instagram fictive.dream

Talking Tales #24 – 20th August – Bristol

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Talking Tales is open for submissions for its flash fiction special event on 20th August. What’s special about it? You’re going to be there and you’re going to be reading.

If that seems a little presumptuous, let me explain. The flash fiction special is celebrating the art of very short stories, poems and all other forms of creative writing. We have an upper limit of 300 words and we have confidence in you.

We believe in your writing – whatever form that may take. We believe in your ability to knock our socks off at the beginning, the middle or the end. We believe you know that Talking Tales is a lovely night of stories, with a warm audience in a great venue. And we believe…this is the important bit…that between the tennis, the barbecue, the warm Summer nights, the paddling and the 99s – we believe you’ll pull your digits out and give us 300 of your best by 9th August (submissions close then). 

Hosted by the awesome Christopher Fielden who will also be launching two of his writing challenge anthologies on the night. Are you in them? If not, there’s no excuse not to be in the next ones.

Challenge Books  E-mail your submissions (300 words or less) to: stokescroftwriters@gmail.com

Event details – are stupendously straight-forward:

…venue:     Left Bank, 128 Cheltenham Road, Stokes Croft, Bristol BS6 5RW

…time:       we start at 7pm on Tuesday 20th August 19 – doors open at 6.30

…join-in:    the ‘finish the lines’ competition – win a Talking Tales badge.

Stokes Croft Writers would love to see you there.