It’s been another thrilling round of Bath Flash Fiction Award with six hundred and eighty six entries coming in from twenty five different countries – a huge variety of styles and subject matter. Many entrants wrote close to the maximum word limit – and a large number of writers entered much shorter pieces. The winning and commended stories are by authors living in the UK, Canada and Ireland.

Everyone who reached the long list has been offered publication in our end-of-year print and digital anthology; a collection of flash fictions from our first four competitions.

A special thanks to Michelle Elvy, our first international judge, who’s been very supportive throughout the four months of the Award and who worked quickly with the long list of fifty stories to select a short list of twenty stories, three winners and, this time at her request, four commended pieces, within two weeks of the award ending.

Our first prize winner, Sharon Telfer, used a free entry from winning our weekly Ad Hoc Fiction micro challenge to submit her story. Sharon’s micro won on Ad Hoc’s one-year-old birthday issue back in April, and she received a celebratory two free entries that week. Both pieces reached the Bath Flash long list. We’re delighted to say this is the second time an Ad Hoc Fiction winner has won a Bath Flash cash prize. And this time, it was the big one.

The next round of Bath Flash Fiction Award opens on Monday 27th June and ends midnight Sunday October 16th 2016. The judge is Robert Vaughan from the United States. Robert is a flash-fiction writer, poet, editor, writing tutor and author of several books, including the acclaimed collaboration with Kathy Fish, Rift – reviewed here.  And we have a brand new novella-in-flash award judged by US flash fiction writer, poet, teacher and editor Meg Pokrass, also coming soon.

A big thank you to everyone who entered and continues to support our literary adventure; we’re proud to have you on-board.

Jude Higgins
Founder Bath Flash Fiction Award