2018 has been a fabulous year for Bath Flash Fiction and our publisher, Ad Hoc Fiction. We began the year with a joint launch of The Lobsters Run Free, Bath Flash Fiction Vol Two, the Ad Hoc Fiction published anthology from the 2017 Awards and Flash Fiction Festival One, 
the anthology of flash fictions submitted by particpants and presenters from the first Flash Fiction Festival in Bath. Thirteen writers, pictured on the left and below, who had fictions in one or both of the anthologies read their micros at the event. It was very pacy and fun.
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Next up Ad Hoc Fiction (the free weekly micro contest linked to Bath Flash Award) had its third birthday reading party in February complete with cake baked by writer NFFD director and Flash Fiction Festival hospitality organiser, Diane Simmons. We heard stories from those with single and multiple wins, including our most prolific winner, Steven John, pictured below.
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In March we heard that Amanda 0’Callaghan’s first prize winning story from the June 2017 Bath Flash Fiction Award judged by Meg Pokrass, was selected by Amy Hempel for Best Small Fictions, 2018 and Emily Devane’s story, The Hand That Wields The Priest, the February 2017 winner, was a finalist for this prestigious anthology. Both pieces were selected from thousands of worldwide submissions.
May was super exciting when Charmaine Wilkerson pictured on the left receiving her trophy,
won the novella category in the Saboteur Awards for her marvellous novella-in-flash, How To Make A Window Snake, which won our inaugural novella-in-flash Award, judged by Meg Pokrass, in 2017.
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In June, Bath Flash Fiction Award, out of hundreds of nominations, was a finalist in the publishing category for the Creative Bath Awards. You can see our name here on the screen.
In July, we held the second Flash Fiction Festival, UK in Bristol directed by our founder, Jude Higgins and funded by Bath Flash Fiction Award. It was an amazing success with 112 participants and presenters coming from several different countries. There were so many wonderful workshops where writers new to and experienced in flash fiction could learn about and write flash fiction, readings, a raffle, a competition and party times with karaoke. Have a look at the gallery on the festival site which gives a flavour of the event.
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Running alongside all of this we organised three more rounds of Bath Flash Fiction Award, with bumper numbers of entries, this time in February judged by Tara L Masih from the USA, in June, judged by David Gaffney from the UK and in October, judged by Nuala 0’Connor from Ireland. The anthology of winning, shortlisted and longlisted authors from these three rounds,
Things Left And Found By the Side Of The Road, has just been published by Ad Hoc Fiction, along with Flash Fiction Festival Two, the Anthology of flash fictions submitted by participants and presenters at the Flash Fiction Festival.You can buy from the Ad Hoc Fiction Bookshop in several different currencies.
Ad Hoc Fiction also published In the Debris Field, in May, the collection of winning novellas-in-flash from the second of our yearly Awards for a novella-in-flash. A review of this collection containing the title novella by the winner Luke Whisnant, and runners up Victoria Melekian and Jack Remiel Cottrell, will be published at Smokelong Quarterly, just before Christmas. Ad Hoc Fiction was also delighted to publish Alligators at Night, 
the first UK collection by acclaimed flash fiction writer, editor and teacher, Meg Pokrass and you can now buy these collections along with Bath Flash Fiction Vols One and Two, To Carry Her Home and The Lobsters Run Free the first collection of novellas-in-flash, How To Make A Window Snake and Flash Fiction Festival Two from Kindle and Nook as well as in print from the bookshop.- Once again, we’d like to thank the large and vibrant community of flash fiction writers from around the world who support our ventures. Flash Fiction engages writers of all ages and backgrounds. We love it and all the burgeoning creativity in this world-wide flash fiction community. We’re looking forward to what 2019 brings and already have exciting events planned. The joint launch of Things Left and Found At the Side Of The Road and Flash Fiction Festival Two with loads of authors coming to read, is taking place on January 19th in Bath and the third Flash Fiction Festival taking place 28-30th June, 2019 in Bristol with well-known flash writers and teachers from the UK, Ireland, Germany, USA and New Zealand coming to lead workshops. Booking for the festival will be open early in the New Year. Finally there are new collections to look forward to by Diane Simmons and K M Elkes in the winter and spring of 2019. And a new work by another well-known flash fiction author to be announced soon.
