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31st Award Round Up, Oct 2025

Thank you to everyone who entered our 31st Award judged this time by Kathryn Aldridge-Morris from the UK

We received 1058 stories this time, many of the stories from the UK, the US and Ireland and a substantial number from Australia, Canada and New Zealand and numerous other single entries or more from countries around the world. It is always so exciting to see where the entries come from and to know that flash fiction is thiriving in so many different places.

We issued our usual last minute club badge on the last day (pictured here) and there were, indeed ,a lot of writers who received the badge to celebrate their last minute entries.
Thank you to everyone who entered early or mid way through or nearer the end. We appreciate all of your support for our ventures.

The variety and standard of entries was very high. And our readers (thanks to them again for their dedication to flash fiction and intense reading period) had hard decisions to make to filter down to the final 50 out of so many entries. Sometimes choices were made because there were a lot of very good stories on a similar theme, So we hope these excellent stories that didn’t make our long list will find a home elsewhere.

Everything has been a little delayed this time due to my being in hospital (better now) which is why the long list, short list and winners were announced in quick succession. Thank you to everyone for your patience in waiting. And I hope the winning announcements coming within a few days of each other was not too much of a roller coaster ride.

Kathryn Aldridge-Morris worked very hard to keep to her schedule and we very much appreciate her for her close reading and difficult tasks in selecting the short list of twenty and for choosing the five top stories. All amazing stories, showing the great variety possible in writing flash fiction. You can read her report here

Many congratulations to all our winners:

This time first prize goes to ‘Two Male Nudes’ by Adam Brannigan from Australia
The second Prize, ‘Vagina First’, is by Emily Rinkema from the US, who has won second prize previously with (June 2024). Emily Rinkema June 2024 Second Prize
Third Prize ‘My Husband Watches Henry The Donkey’ is by Debra A Daniel from the US, who has also won third prize previously and also won the Bath Novella in Flash Award earlier this year,

Highly commended writer: Dawn Tasaka Steffler from the US with ‘The Menopausal Woman and the Tsunami’. Dawn won the Bath Flash Fiction Award in Dawn Tasaka Steffler October 2023 First Prize

The 50 writers on the longlist have been sent emails asking if they want to be published in our tenth anniversary anthology. We’re looking forward to publish this at the end of this year or early next and it will contain stories from all three awards this year.

The next award opens on November 1st and closes in early February 2026 and is judged by John Brantingham from the US, who has previously been a judge for the Novella in Flash Award in 2023 and 2024.

We look forward to reading more of your stories

Jude
October 31st 2025

Judge’s report

Thank you to our 31st Award Judge, Kathryn Aldridge-Morris, for her excellent and detailed comments on her reading process and the winning stories

Judge’s report

Reading this longlist reaffirmed my belief that flash fiction writers are where it’s at in the literary world. The stories in this round popped with pitch-perfect prose and demonstrated a deep understanding of how form impacts story. There was something stand-out in every flash I read, and it was clear why they’d made it through to the longlist. Congratulations to all the writers, thank you for trusting me with your words, and thank you Jude Higgins for inviting me to judge and immerse myself in these story worlds.

There were so many stories in the shortlist which moved me, through gorgeous language, brilliant metaphor and imagery, or made me laugh at human behaviour and the state of the world or portrayed characters and relationships that felt authentic and relatable. It would be impossible to select only a couple for a special mention. I journalled for days. I dreamt about the stories. Ultimately, some started to dominate my notes and my dreams, some whose emotional impact refused to fade and which revealed new meanings on multiple readings.

First place: Two nude night-owls
Wise and understated, this story is a masterclass in how to depict yearning and suadade; an untranslatable Portuguese word which tries to pin down the feeling of nostalgia for a thing—or person— you’ve never had. ‘I miss you, but I haven’t met you yet’ sang Bjork. The narratorial voice lingered and pulled me back over and over. We open and it’s past midnight, literally and metaphorically in the narrator’s life. The unfolding scene is cinematic and dreamy. The story speaks to the peculiarities of our times. We are together but separate. We’ve never been more connected, never seen so much into each other’s lives, yet we’re living through an epidemic of loneliness. ‘We’ve never discussed a fence or planted a screen of shrubs…’ says the narrator who sees his neighbour swim nude every night. This is about the necessity of letting go, reinforced by the casual repetition of ‘whatever’ throughout the piece. Closeness to death is bringing a reckoning with what truly matters and the narrator’s realisation at the end is quietly devastating.

Second place: Vagina First<
The moment I’m conscious a piece is a breathless sentence it can pull me out of the story. In Vagina First the voice is so compelling, the cadence so perfect, the structure doesn’t draw attention to itself until it lands on that perfect beat. Nothing detracts from the tension between a daughter’s palpable excitement at leaving home and her mother’s struggle with letting go. The emotional impact is heightened because the mother’s actions are filtered through the lens of the daughter and with each detail casually relayed we feel in our bones the mother’s fierce, protective love. This writer also understands how to use comedy to help land a gut punch. Not enough that this mother wants to conjure up an image of a bear eating her daughter. She needs to ratchet up the stakes, and the timing of the phrase ‘vagina first’ is exquisite. It makes us laugh because it is unexpected, but also, I think, because it forces a moment of recognition of the crazy things love can make us say and do. This piece not only made me feel, but it made me think – of the man vs bear debate, of how patriarchal fascism comes for women’s rights first. Then, the final, crushingly sad image of the mother opens up a whole new layer of understanding.

Third place: My Husband Watches Henry the Donkey
This story is a skilful snapshot of the complex, divisive and absurd times we’re living though. In the future people will need to read stories like this to understand how it was possible we watched reels of donkeys as a form of solace. But we do. A sick body politic is making the couple in this story sick. With deft use of the rule of three, sentences starting with the verbs ‘Losing…Blocking…Avoiding’ reveal how the politics of division is insidiously seeping into their lives. But we see them doing what they can to resist despair, resist authoritarianism. This is a story about hope and where we go to find it. The light-touch humour in the dialogue imbues the relationship with a gentleness, which itself feels like a form of resistance; an antidote to a world where everyone is screaming at each other. Through great storytelling, (note the perfect mix of sentence lengths to create pace), this writer has created characters I love and I’m rooting for them, as much as for what they represent.

Highly commended: The Menopausal Woman and the Tsunami
This story is a gloriously sassy subversion of the misery-menopause narrative. I love these women, living their best lives on swan floaties getting wasted on gin martinis. This writer pulls off humour and makes it look easy with perfect comic timing and juxtaposition. I love that The Menopausal Woman is never named, neatly conveying the flattening of middle-aged women’s identities. The husband (who is named) remains off-page on the other end of the phone, and with a succinct reference to them as newlyweds, we see how a relationship changes over time. He’s not a bad husband, she’s just kind of outgrown him as she enters her zero-fucks era. These sisters have already faced down the tsunami that is menopause, so, whatever, get another gin and bring it on!

31st Award Short List

Huge congratulations to the twenty authors who have made our 31st Award short list

Author names are yet to be announced, so while it is fine to share you are on the short list, please do not identify yourself with your particular fiction at this stage.

Winners will be announced tomorrow, Friday 31st October. Any questions, contact us.

Read in Full

Oct 2025 Long List

Congratulations to all the authors who have made our Award long list and huge thanks to all who entered.

Author names are yet to be announced, so while it is fine to share that you are on the long list, we do ask that you do not identify yourself with your particular fiction at this stage.

Important
We receive many many entries, and occasionally some entries have the same title. We are in the process of sending an offer of publication email to all authors on the long list. Please do not assume you are on the long list unless you have received that publication offer. If in doubt, contact us.

Read in Full

BFFA lists delayed, but not that delayed

Did you enter the October Award this year and are you, like the little tin chap pictured, waiting anxiously for our longlist? Our Judge, Kathryn Aldridge-Morris has now been sent the zip file of fifty stories for our 31st Award and normally, at this poin, we would be announcing the longlist titles on this website.

We are a bit delayed because Jude, who shares the posts has been unwell,so all the announcements will come in a cluster, likely to be in between 27th and 31st October. First longlist, then shortlist a couple of days later, then, by the end of the month, the final results of the top five stories plus judge’s reports. The winning five stories will be posted on the website as usual.

Our ninth annual Novella in Flash Award also ends on October 31st. And we’ll acknowledge everyone who has submitted for it by the end of the month.
Thanks

Guess the colour of the Last Minute Club Badge today!

Our 31st BFFA Award closes at midnight tomorrow, Sunday 5th October. The Last Minute Club opens at midnight tonight for the last day and those entering reeive a virtual badge after they’ve entered .

This will be the 23rd badge we’ve issued (We began the game in 2018). Today’s the day you can guess the colour of the badge for this round and win a prize A book if you live in the UK or a Bath Flash Fiction Award entry if you live in another country. It’s usualy a duo of colours. You can check out the colour combos already taken below in the gallery. If one person guesses one colour correctly, and another the other colour, we issue two prizes. Sometimes people get them both correct.

The guessing game now takes place on our Blue Sky account. So if you are signed up there, why not give it a go? And if you are are entering tomorrow, you will get a badge anyway. We’d love you to share your badge on Blue Sky and that you have entered tomorrow.

We do think everyone who enters deserves a badge really. And thank you everyone who has done so.

Results will be out by the end of October. £1460 in prizes. Judge kathryn Aldridge Morris.

Jude, October 4th 2025.

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Flash Fiction Fun in Bath!

I hosted a free evening of flash fiction readings in Bath last Saturay 27th September and here is a picture of those reading/ Writers travelled from many different parts of the UK to be there.

From right to left in the photograph, Kevlin Henney from Brstol, Roz Levens from Dartmoor, Marie Day from Bristol, Letty Butler from Brighton, Tim Collyer (back row) from Chippenham, Diane Simmons (front row) from Bath, Jude Higgins from near Bristol, behind her Sara Hills from near Rugby, next to Jupiter Jones from Wales,Cole Beauchamp at the back from London, Abigail Williams in the front, from Devon, Deborah Tompkins from Bristol benind her and next to Caner Akin from Bristol, Flemming George from Oxfrod and Ken Elkes from Clevedon. (Alison Woodhouse from near Bath also read but isn’t pictured here).

It was fun! Such a variety of fabulous stories, several published in previous Bath Flash Fiction Award anthologies such as the Constancy of Woodpigeons and The Weather Where You Are, Flash Fiction Festival anthologies and a couple of stories forthcoming in the new flash fiction festival anthology (red cover again) which Ad Hoc Fiction sponsors and I have just finished compiling, along with Diane Simmons.

If you want a chance of being published in our 10th anniversary anthology, the latest round of Bath Flash Fiction Award for up to 300 word micros closes this Sunday 5th October. It will be judged by Kathryn Aldridge-Morris. Results out by end of October. £1460 in prizes. Those longlisted are offered publication in the anthology, which should be out at the end this year or early next.

Jude, October 2nd 2025.

Tweak that title!

Thanks to everyone from around the world who has already entered our 31st Award. Deadline this coming Sunday. October 5th.

You may have a tweakable story in your archive that could still flower amazingly like this sunflower and be ready to submit in time. Why not consider changing the title? I found a few stories in my archives recently and realised the titles weren’t right. They added nothing and one of them was too abstract. I’d written one of the stories a couple of years previousy It was easier to see an alternative title after this time. I gave a more mundane title to the other recent story. The orgiinal was too fancy for the subject. For your story, can you write a shorter and simpler title? Or, would a longer one suit the subject better. Could either new title give the story more depth? What is likely to grab a reader’s interest?

It’s interesting to look at the title word count for the Bath Flash winning stories since the inugural contest in 2015.. In February this year, I studied the word count of all the first prize winner titles.

Below is a list of the different word count for the second prize winners. It’s a little different from the first prize winners. The longest list is for two word stories. More of the second prize winning stories have three word titles. There are five stories each for two and five word titles. Have a look through the lists from the first and second prizes. Which titles interest you? Read the stories too, to see how the title fits.

One Word

‘McDonalds’ by Sarah Freligh October 2022
‘Pack’ by Dawn Miller, February 2025
‘Edging’ by Iona Rule, February 2022
‘Between’ by Madeline Bryne June 2022

Two words
‘Butterfly Effect’ by Mairead Robinson, October 2023
‘The Mothers’ by Jo Gatford October 2021
‘Mother Before’ Tara Isobel Zambrono, October 2020
‘Rags,Riches’ by Shelley Woods, June 2016
The Coast by Zahid Gamieldien, October 2018

Three words
‘Failure to Thrive’ by Sara Hills June 2023
‘Walking to Wollongong‘ by Nikki Cruthley Feburary 2023
‘Snow Falling Upwards’ Fiona J Mackintosh, February 2019
‘The Perfect Fall’ by Christopher M Drew, February 2016
‘The Undertakers’ Jolly’ by Conor Houghton, June 2018
‘The Wild West’ by Francis McCrickard October 2019
‘There You Are’ by Alys Hobbs October 2024
‘Strong Like Carp’ by Emma Phillips, JUne 2021
‘The Cool Box’ by Nod Ghosh,June 2017

Four words
‘Psalm (after the animals)’ by Joseph Randall, June 2025
‘The Hierarchy of Substances’ by Catherine Edmunds October 2017

Five words
‘This is how we drown’ by Eileen Merriman 2015
‘Car Trouble, Spartenburg, August 2002’ by K S Dyal, Fenruary 2021
‘The Peculiarity of Space Objects’ by Nicholas Cook, February 2017
‘The Dissolution of Peter NcCaffrey by Simon Cowdroy February 2020
‘When the Rubber Hits the Road’ by Lee Nash, February 2018

Seven Words
All The Things That We Are Not by Jo Withers, February 2024

Nine words
‘The Species of Pangolin Compromise Their Own Order Pholidota’ by Hannah Storm, June 2020
‘A God and his Famous Digging Stick Dug This, by Anita Arlov June 2019

Ten words
You have so many more choices than fight or flight by Al Kratz, Feburary 2016

Twelve words
Driving my Seven Year Old Nephew to Visit His Mother at Rehab by Emily Rinkema, June 2024

Two Weeks to go!

Our 31st Award, judged this time by Kathryn Aldridge-Morris from the UK,closes on Sunday 5th October at midnight GMT. For stories up to 300 words. Prze fund of £1460. 1 entry £9.00, two entries £15.00 and three entries £18. Results out by the end of October. Offer of publication in our tenth anniversary anthology for all 50 longlisted. Thanks very much to all who have entered so far.

For those that haven’t entered, here’s your two-weeks-to-go prompt. It’s the autumn equinox this weekend, and in the UK, there is a glut of apples this year. I have a couple of laden apple trees in my garden. But I was still happy to receive the gift of two huge and perfect apples, from a visiting friend. Who has also made lovely blush-pink juice from some of them.

You will see from the picture that they are proper story-book apples, such a gorgeous red. For the prompt here’s an apple metaphor. Find a beautiful rounded idea or two, your very best ones. Juice them up and make them into sweet and poigannt short fictions. Or make your stories a little tartif you want. But not too tart. This apple is called Katie Delicious. So you could have a character called Katie in your story.

Happy writing!
Jude

The Power of Three

Just three weeks until our 31st Award closes on October 5thl .Thank you to everyone who has entered so far. We’re getting pretty busy.

To remind you, the prize fund is £1460. All 50 longlisted writers are offered publication in our tenth anniversary anthology and a free copy of the anthology will be sent to all contrinutors. Judge is muliti-award winning writer and tutor, Kathyrn Aldridge-Morris. Read my interview with her, (which also mentions her reaently published collection, Cold Toast here
Results are announced on this website by the end of the month and the long and short lists before that.

Here are three tips for you for creating new flashes or revising old ones. Yes, many of you know all these sort of things but every one forgets at least one of them.

1.Consider entering three stories. Readers have different tastes. Entries for three are discounted to £18

2.To make your story standout, go for your 3rd, 13th or even 33rd idea on a theme. So many editors and judges make the point that within competition entries there are many, many stories on familiar themes. You might not even realise how many dozens of stories can be about relationship break ups, dementia, or the end of the world. Many of these are excellent but the best ones add something new and arresting.

3.To add unusual departures in your stories pick three random words from three different pages in a non-fiction book, with the number three included, if you get stuck with your story. This activiy will be your personal version of ‘Word Cricket’, the exercise popularised by well-known writer and teacher, Vanessa Gebbie which she offers each year at the Flash Fiction Festival Bath Flash Fiction sponsors in Bristol in July each year. Vanessa starts off the whole group writing with the same phrase and bowls in random words at intervals which can make strange and wonderful things happen in a story. Often festival participants bravely read their new stories to the whole assembly. It’s extraordinary the drafts people write in a very short time, emboldened by the words and how differently the writers make use of these words.

I am suggesting a non fiction book to pick the words from because they often have a number of interesting words on any page. For eg. I just found up a copy of Vesper Flights by Helen Macdonald a book of essays about the natural world and chose disarticulated, qualms and nightjar from three different pages. Including such words could make a potential story about a rocky relationship, for example, go in unexpected directions.

Best wishes everyone. The picture shows a lucky four-leaved clover! Three leaved clovers are far too common of course. So just add one extra extraordinary thing to your story for luck. A great title, a fantastic ending. Something oddly amusing.

Thanks

Jude
September 14th, 2025