Tag Archives: writers

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.

14TH BBC NATIONAL SHORT STORY AWARD SHORTLIST INSPIRED BY #METOO, TRUMP AND DISCRIMINATION

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NSSA_Stacked_2019Award-winning writer Lucy Caldwell joined by former bookseller Lynda Clark, charity worker Jacqueline Crooks, and new voices Tamsin Grey and Jo Lloyd to complete shortlist of writers exploring sexual politics, intolerance, community and immigration.

Lucy Caldwell, multi-award-winning novelist, playwright and short story writer, has been shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University for the second time for ‘The Children’. Previously shortlisted in 2012 for ‘Escape Route’, one of her first ever short stories, Caldwell is joined on the 2019 shortlist by a wealth of emerging talent including University of Dundee Fellow and former bookseller Lynda Clark for ‘Ghillie’s Mum’; charity worker Jacqueline Crooks for ‘Silver Fish in the Midnight Sea’; civil servant Tamsin Grey for ‘My Beautiful Millennial’; and Welsh writer Jo Lloyd for ‘The Invisible’. The shortlist of five stories was announced on Friday 6 September 2019, during BBC Radio 4 Front Row.

The shortlist is:

  • ‘The Children’ by Lucy Caldwell
  • ‘Ghillie’s Mum’ by Lynda Clark
  • ‘Silver Fish in the Midnight Sea’ by Jacqueline Crooks
  • ‘My Beautiful Millennial’ by Tamsin Grey
  • ‘The Invisible’ by Jo Lloyd

Now celebrating its fourteenth year, the Award is one of the most prestigious for a single short story, with the winning writer receiving £15,000, and the four further shortlisted authors £600 each. Selected from over 900 entries (an increase of 15% on 2018), this year’s shortlist is the sixth all-female shortlist in the BBC National Short Story Award’s history.

Nikki Bedi, TV and radio broadcaster and Chair of Judges for the BBC National Short Story Award 2019, says: “One of the things I’ve discovered over a lifetime of meeting, interviewing and spending time with the most extraordinary creative minds in the world, is that they all have something in common: they seek to move us, to make us think and to transform us. I strongly believe all five of the shortlisted writers and stories we’ve chosen do all that and more. Judging them, however, has not been an easy process. To say it was a hard-fought contest is putting it mildly. We agonised over our decisions and disagreed vociferously at times, but on the whole, the discussion and debating was carried out in a civilised manner.” 

Nikki Bedi is joined on this year’s judging panel by novelist and writer of narrative non-fiction Richard Beard; short story writer, novelist and youngest author to be shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize Daisy Johnson; screenwriter, novelist and 2017 BBC National Short Story Award winner Cynan Jones; and returning judge Di Speirs, Books Editor at BBC Radio.

All five stories will be broadcast on Radio 4 on BBC Sounds in September and published in an anthology produced by Comma Press. The readers of this year’s stories include Line of Duty and Call the Midwife star Jessica Raine, who reads ‘The Children’, and Welsh actor Aimee-Ffion Edwards of Peaky Blinders and Skins fame, reading ‘The Invisible’. Tamara Lawrance, who read Candice Carty-Williams’ Queenie for BBC Sounds, reads ‘Silver Fish in the Midnight Sea’, and Katherine Press, whose television credits include Foyle’s War and the Golden Globe-nominated BBC series Dancing on the Edge, reads ‘My Beautiful Millennial’. Stephen Campbell Moore, best known for his role in the stage production of The History Boys completes the line-up with ‘Ghillie’s Mum’.

The BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University was established to raise the profile of the short form and this year’s shortlist join distinguished alumni such as Zadie Smith, Lionel Shriver, Rose Tremain, William Trevor, Sarah Hall and Mark Haddon. As well as rewarding the most renowned short story writers, the Award has raised the profile of new writers including Ingrid Persaud, K J Orr, Julian Gough, Cynan Jones and Clare Wigfall.

The winner of the BBC National Short Story Award 2019 will be announced live on BBC Radio 4 Front Row on Tuesday 1 October. The anthology published by Comma Press is out now.NSSA shortlist announcement

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

Ruth Rendell Short Story Competition 2020

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SSC20 flyer
Thursday 1st August 2019 will see the launch of the seventh Ruth Rendell Short Story Competition hosted by the award-winning charity InterAct Stroke Support.

 

The competition asks writers to write a piece in any genre in no more than 1000 words. The winner of the competition will receive £1000 and will be commissioned to write four further stories for InterAct Stroke Support over the course of one year. The closing date for submissions is 5pm on Monday 2nd December 2019 and first place will be awarded at the winner’s ceremony on Tuesday 3rd March 2020, InterAct’s 20th birthday. This year the competition will be judged by esteemed novelist Margaret Drabble.

 

Entries can be submitted by email or post and the submission fee is £15.00 per story. Please find more details and terms and conditions of entry on the InterAct Stroke Support website: https://www.interactstrokesupport.org/ssc2020

 

Previously shortlisted competition entrants have been published alongside authors such as Ruth Rendell, Toby Young and Nell Dunn in our illustrated collection of short stories and poems, Interactions, which is available to purchase on our website: https://www.interactstrokesupport.org/shop

 

InterAct Stroke Support is the only UK charity dedicated to supporting stroke recovery by using professional actors to deliver hospital readings and community projects. InterAct specialises in delivering stimulating and inspiring short stories specially selected to suit the needs of stroke patients.  The readings are designed to assist recovery by improving mood, stimulating the brain and providing much-needed entertainment.

Call for Submissions: Pixel Heart Literary Magazine – Issue Three: Nature

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Screen Shot 2019-02-06 at 20.09.08

Pixel Heart Literary Magazine is currently open for submissions for its third issue, on the theme of ‘Nature’.

The magazine publishes flash fiction (under 750 words), poetry (of any length), and short stories (1,000 – 2,500 words).

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 our more specific submission guidelines and info on how to submit, please click here. Submissions for Issue Three are currently open until midnight BST on May 31st, 2019. ❤

Call for Submissions: HCE’s Classified Issue

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The editors at Here Come Everyone magazine (HCE) are seeking submissions for our upcoming Classified Issue. We’re a literary magazine of short fiction, poetry, articles and artwork based around different themes. Our aim is to provide an open and accessible platform, full of interesting content, for readers and contributors.

The new theme: CLASSIFIED

Deadline: 1st February 2019

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

Promo Pic_Classified_Back page of Rituals

Poetry: you may submit up to three poems of no longer than 30 lines each.

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

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 (300 dpi and 640 x 640 res). We will consider all visual media, including photographs of sculpture and installations.

 

 

 

Please see our submissions guidelines for full details. Work must be sent via the form on our website; stuff we receive via email will not be accepted.

We look forward to receiving your creations…

 

Rituals front cover_v1To get an idea of what HCE is looking for, you can check out our previous issues. Full of short stories and flash fiction, plus art, poetry and other writing.

We’re also taking pre-orders for the brand new Rituals Issue!

Call for Submissions: Pixel Heart Literary Magazine – Issue Two

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Pixel Heart Literary Magazine is currently open for submissions for its second issue. The theme is ‘Pride’, and the magazine is accepting positive LGBT+ fiction and poetry for this issue, to coincide with the theme.

Pixel Heart publishes flash fiction (under 750 words), poetry (of any length), and short stories (1,000 – 2,500 words).

There is no submission fee, and we’d love to read anything you’d like to send to us, whether you’re a new or experienced writer. In this issue we’re aiming to publish as many LGBT+ writers as possible, and, as always while all submissions are considered with care, if writers state in their submission email that they are people of colour, disabled, working class, and/or LGBT+ then their submission will be given a little extra attention.

So if you’re a writer with a positive LGBT+ story or poem, we’d love to read and consider it, so please consider submitting to us!

For our more specific submission guidelines and info on how to submit, please click here. Submissions for Issue Two are currently open until midnight BST on December 15th, 2018. ❤

Call for Submissions: HCE’s Rituals Issue

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The editors at Here Come Everyone magazine (HCE) are seeking submissions for our upcoming Rituals Issue. We’re a literary magazine of short fiction, poetry, articles and artwork based around topical and interesting themes. HCE aims to bring together a network of artists, writers and thinkers to create new and innovative content, as well as carry out community creative writing projects. Our team strives to make each magazine an open and accessible platform for readers and contributors.

The new theme: RITUALS

Deadline: 01 July 2018

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

Poetry: you may submit up to three poems of no longer than 30 lines each.

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

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 Submittable button on our website; stuff we receive via email will not be accepted. Any Word or .doc.x 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 work…

 

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

Submissions for National Flash Fiction Day 2018 are NOW OPEN!

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Now in it’s seventh year, National Flash Fiction Day will be on Saturday 16th June 2018 and we’ll be celebrating with events and readings and submission opportunities! We’re currently open for our micro-fiction competition and our annual anthology, so get writing!

Micro Competition

From now until Saturday 17th March 2018, you can send us up to three micro fictions on any theme for our Micro fiction competition. These must be 100 words or fewer, and can be on any theme.

More details about the micro completion can be found here: http://nationalflashfictionday.co.uk/comp.html

Anthology

This year’s anthology theme is one you’ll be able to sink your teeth into, and we’re hungry for your flashes! From now until Saturday 31st March 2018, you can send us up to three 500 word flashes on this year’s theme: Food! The anthology will be edited by award-winning writer, Alison Powell, and National Flash Fiction Day Co-Director, Santino Prinzi. Your stories must be 500 words or fewer.

We’re looking for stories inspired by and about whatever’s on your plate. We’re ready to salivate over your sentences, to savour the subtle flavours of your subtext, to devour your delicious dialogue. Sweet, sour, savoury, sharp, tangy, rich, or rotten. Serve us up some scrumptious tales and tantalising treats with tasty twists. Are we all becoming too healthy? Or is suet the main dish of the day? Has a friendship been ruined by raw chocolate? We’re looking for full-fat, jam-packed flash fiction with an aftertaste we won’t forget. Feel free to interpret the theme of “food” however you wish, but your flashes must fit the theme in some way.

More details about the anthology submissions can be found here: http://nationalflashfictionday.co.uk/anth.html

 

We can’t wait to feast upon your words!

Call for Submissions: HCE’s Tomorrow Issue

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

 

The new theme: ‘TOMORROW’ (future/technology/space/other worlds/science etc.)

Deadline: 1st March 2018

POS Tomorrow Issue

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

 

POETRY: you may submit up to three poems of no longer than 30 lines each.

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

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 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_Brutal

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

Flash Fiction Competition, London Independent Story Prize

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London Independent Story Prize, LISP is holding a writing contest. Their aim is to discover extraordinary artistic approaches to story writing, stories that embrace the diversity of gender and culture whilst being brave and passionate. They are looking for unique and strong voices. BAME, Women, and LGBTQ are especially welcome. They’ll be delighted to read it and you could be in with a chance to win!

Entries can be sent through their website www.londonindependentstoryprize.co.uk

Follow their Facebook and Twitter @LIStoryPrize for the announcements.

Early Bird Deadline: 1st of January 2018

Submissions Close on 10th of January

Winner announcements, on 10th of February

Prizes: £100 First, £30 Second, £10 Third

Check their amazing judge list from this link.LISP-5

Spelk: Open for Submissions

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Spelk is open for submissions.

Our current reading period is February 14 to March 12.

We will let you know by mid-March if your story has been accepted.

Submission guidelines: http://spelkfiction.com/submit-2/

Please keep the following in mind if you’d like to send us something:

  • We publish flash fiction — 500 words, give or take.
  • We’ll consider just about any genre: we’re not fussy if it’s “literary” or “non-literary.” If we like it, we’ll publish it.
  • We don’t publish poetry or non-fiction.
  • We post three stories a week, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
  • We want previously unpublished stories. If you’ve got something good, we want it to appear on Spelk first.
  • We accept simultaneous submissions, but let us know if you place your story somewhere else.
  • We don’t accept multiple submissions, so just one story at a time please.
  • We don’t pay. Sorry.
  • You retain all rights to your story, but we’d like to archive it on our site.
  • Spell-check your story before you send it. Proof it. Make sure it’s the best you can make it.
  • Send us a Word document and include a short bio at the end of your story. Let us know if you’re on Facebook or Twitter, or if you have your own website.
  • Email your story to Gary Duncan at spelkfiction@gmx.com (subject line: SUBMISSIONS — “STORY TITLE”).

TOKEN Magazine – Call for submissions

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new-header-token

TOKEN magazine is now open for submissions.

We are looking for short stories (in any genre/style) with the word count between 500-5000 words, non-fiction pieces, interviews, illustrations, photography, and artwork. As this issue is our first we really want as many diverse creative works as possible – so if in doubt, submit! We are in particular looking for BAME writers underrepresented in literature and the arts.

There is no theme for this issue.

If you are selected we may want to work with you in developing your piece (this is mainly for written pieces).

All contributors will be given a hard copy of the zine.

To submit please email your piece to tokenmagazine@gmail.com.

 

Rules

Any works published elsewhere (including on your personal blogs) will not be accepted.

The deadline for submitting is midnight (UK time) 28 February 2017.

 

For more information about TOKEN Magazine please see our website here or follow us on twitter here

 

 

Words Away January Salon: Writing Short Stories with Stella Duffy

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Words Away is a new series of monthly creative writing salons taking place at the Tea House Theatre Cafe in London. Each month, over tea and cake or a glass of wine, writers Emma Darwin and Kellie Jackson meet up with a different guest author for a focussed discussion on aspects of writing fiction. The audience plays a key part in the evening; exchanging ideas, asking questions and with a chance to socialise after.

We have some great guests lined up for 2017 including, Ruth Ware, Essie Fox, Sara Grant and Francis Spufford.

Our next salon, Writing Short Stories with Stella Duffy, is on Monday 23rd January at 7.30pm. All welcome.

Venue: Tea House Theatre Cafe, 139 Vauxhall Walk, London, SE11 5HL

Cost: £10 to book online or or £12 on the door.

For more info and to book: wordsaway.info

London Lit Lab: 1-day intensive beginners’ workshop 28th January

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This one-day workshop is for anyone who would like to start writing creatively in 2017, or who wants to kickstart a lagging writing habit! Whether you want to finish a short story you’ve started, or face down the blank page for the first time, this friendly course will get you writing and improving.

We’ll cover five key areas during the day:

  • Generating ideas: how to pluck ideas from the world and turn them into stories
  • Building strong characters: creating characters that feel real, and how much character dictates plot
  • Creating a sense of place: analysing those settings that come to life, and looking at ways to reflect your characters’ inner states
  • Writing great dialogue: looking closely at how dialogue works best on the page, and how it differs from ‘real life’ conversation
  • Developing plot and story: giving your story a satisfying shape, and figuring out where to start and end.

For each topic we’ll look at great examples from published short stories and novels, discuss techniques, and do some writing exercises together. There will be plenty of time for questions and trouble-shooting along the way, and of course to stop for tea and cake.

Location: Keynes Library, Gordon Square, London – originally the home of Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell.

Date and time: 10am-5pm, Saturday 28th January 2017. Please arrive 15 mins early for a 10am start.

Cost: Full price £169. Special offer: book two places together and each receive 20% off.

Tutors: this course will be taught by both Lily Dunn and Zoe Gilbert of London Lit Lab. By leading workshops together, we are able to bring two perspectives to everything we teach, and therefore everything is up for discussion! Sharing our differing approaches to writing helps to create a richer learning experience, which we believe benefits everyone who comes on our courses.

To read testimonials from our past courses, learn about Lily and Zoe, and see all the London Lit Lab courses available in 2017, go to http://www.londonlitlab.co.uk/

To contact us directly with queries or to reserve a place, please email info@londonlitlab.co.uk.

Call for Submissions: HCE’s Toys & Games Issue

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The editors at Here Come Everyone magazine (HCE) are seeking submissions for our upcoming issue: Toys & Games. We’re a quarterly literary magazine of poetry, fiction, articles and artwork based around topical and interesting themes.  HCE is published by Silhouette Press, a not-for-profit publishing social enterprise that aims to create a network of artists, writers and thinkers to create new and innovative content, as well as carry out community creative writing projects. Together, we aim to provide an open and accessible platform for readers and contributors.

The new theme: TOYS & GAMES

Deadline: 10 January 2017

We encourage bold/striking interpretations of the theme. If your link to toys/games isn’t self-evident, we advise you to include a few lines in your author bio to provide context.Poetry: you may submit up to three poems of no longer than 30 lines each.

pos

Fiction: please submit only one piece per issue; stories may be up to 2,500 words.

Non-fiction: please submit only one piece per issue; articles may be up to 2,000 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 Submittable button on our website; stuff we receive via email will not be accepted. Any Word or .doc.x 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…

Watch/listen to Stroud Short Stories on our YouTube Channel!

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The 7 stories read by their authors at our October 2016 ‘Stroud Short Stories Greatest Hits’ event at Cheltenham Literature Festival and the 10 stories read by their authors at our November 2016 event ‘The Apocalypse Alphabet & Other Stories’ are now on the SSS YouTube Channel.

Just click here

Just decide which of these authors you want to watch/listen to – Debbie Young, Philip Douch, Ali Bacon, Andrew Stevenson, Rick Vick, Mel Golding, Bill Jones, Alex Clark, Ken Clements, Steve Wheeler, Nastasya Parker, Chloe Turner, Natalie Lee, Kate O’Grady, Mark Graham or Geoff Mead.

Actually, you can’t go wrong!

http://stroudshortstories.blogspot.co.uk/

 

 

Words Away October Salon: Creating Characters In Fiction

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Words Away is a new series of monthly creative writing salons for writers taking place at the Tea House Theatre Cafe in London. Alongside Emma Darwin, each month, Kellie Jackson will be meeting up with a different guest author for a focussed discussion on aspects of writing fiction, be it short or longer form. The salons have been created with the audience as a key part of the evening, to exchange ideas, ask questions and mingle.

Our next salon, Creating Characters In Fiction is on Monday, 17th October and features author Elizabeth Fremantle. We have some great guests lined up this winter including Caroline Green and Essie Fox.

Be inspired. Nurture your craft. Meet other writers.

Join us at the fab Tea House Theatre Cafe, 139 Vauxhall Walk, London, SE11 5HL @7.30pm. £10 on the door or book online wordsaway.info