I’m posting stories from writers who have won third prize or been commended in previous awards ahead of the closing date for the 27th Award on Sunday June 2nd. Still time to be inspired and write a new story or to work on a draft. £1460 in prizes.

You’ll have heard it said that it helps to read your own stories out loud before you declare them finished. But do you read other people’s flash fictions out loud too? I heard a podcast last week by Michael Moseley, a broadcaster who hosts a series on BBC Sounds called ‘Just One Thing’ to promote heatlh and well-being. In this recent podccast be brings in researchers to show that reading poetry out loud boosts your mood and relaxes your body Of course, flash fiction with its careful attention to language is going to do the same.
And what better place to start reading aloud than with the brilliant stories I have linked today, by Stephanie Carty and Elisabeth Ingram-Wallace.

Stephanie won third prize in June 2019 with her story ‘Cosmina Counts’ ( published in the 2019 BFFA Anthology,With One Eye on the Cows and was commended, a year later,in June 2020, with her re-working of the fairy tale, Hansel and Gretel, The Price of Ginger Bread in print in the 2020 anthology, ‘Restore to Factory Settings’

Ad Hoc Fiction also published Stephanie’s excellent book, Inside Fictional Minds‘,in 2021 available from Ad Hoc Fiction and from Amazon. It’s a guide on how to create characters with psychological depth in fiction. Read the Q & A about it here. And you can find out more about her new writing guide books and other books on her website

Elisabeth Ingram-Wallace, SmokeLong Quarterly tutor and another extraordinary multi-award-winning writer won third prize in June 2016 with The Baby Came Early, Screaming in print in the first anthology, To Carry Her Home
and was commended in February 2017 with My Thirty-Eight Step Korean Cleansing Routine i which is published in the 2017 BFFA anthology The Lobsters Run Free. She was also commended in 2018 with Satin Nightwear for Women Irregular published in print in the 2018 anthologyh. Things Lost and Found on the Side of the Road.
Read more about Elisabeth Ingram Wallace’s work on her website

Please do read the stories linked out loud. There is a fantastic use of language in them.

If you are entering this time round, we are heading for the Last Minute Club. Virtual club badges for those who enter on the last day, Sunday June 2nd at midnight BST.

Jude, May 22nd 2024