Author Archives: FJ Morris

The day of the disappearance smells of citrus air freshener. Jimmy is nine. His younger sister, Clara, who likes to be the centre of attention, throws up on the way to the theatre and they are late taking their seats. The show is a magic show. The magician pulls a bunny from a hat, transformsContinue reading “Second place: The Salt Trick by Matt Kendrick”

I know you people think all dolphins are great, but believe me, Meg is a straight up asshole. I should know. I have to work with her every goddam day, swimming around this shitty lagoon in Key Largo, rickshawing tourists on our backs for two minutes a pop. Meg is a total fucking sell-out collaborator.Continue reading “Third place: Asshole Dolphin by Jeremy Glazer”

As soon as my fuddled brain tasted the stale alcohol of the beer, the sirens began. They screamed one long note, which tore the silence of the night apart. I sat still, head half-cocked, listening. As usual Dad’s pub was full to bursting with locals who had all been dancing and singing to high heavens,Continue reading “New Voice Award: The Egg by Sophie Kendall”

We are thrilled to announce our short-list for the winter Oxford Flash Fiction Prize 2022. If your story is listed, please do not identify which story belongs to you, as the judges are hard at work making their decisions. SHORT LISTED STORIES A Summoning Spell Am I Human? Asshole Dolphin Birthday gift Daisy Bradley, Fake Santa andContinue reading “The 2022 winter short-list”

We are thrilled to announce our long-list for the winter Oxford Flash Fiction Prize 2022. Congratulations to all of the authors who reached the list and for all those who entered this round. We saw a wonderful range of genres, topics and stories from all over the world and it was hugely competitive. Many wonderfulContinue reading “The 2022 winter long-list”

Mam wants a mermaid instead of me and though I slip out of her like a fish in the birthing pool on a rainy day, I have no tail or scales, and I do not smell of the sea, and when Pa tries to give her this squalling too-many-limbed me, she tells him ‘Some cactusesContinue reading “First place: Twenty-one Species of Fish Called Sardine by Rosaleen Lynch”

In the beginning it was just you and me. Perhaps just me, from my perspective. You were the extension that was warm and singing. You were black hair and green eyes.  At first, we were in the back room of the old Victorian house. You fed me in bed against the red wall, illuminated byContinue reading “Second place: A Migration by Lydia Benson”

They used to laugh about it before they went on. It was their warm-up and lucky routine. She’d be contorting herself in some corner near the plug socket, coaxing her hair to twice its volume with a hot wand, and he’d take his wand out of its case and with a white, black, white wave over hisContinue reading “Third place: …now you don’t by Hazel Osmond”

Autumn 1901 The axes, saws and chains came that autumn. I was only 82 years old then. They cleared the land to build the house, removing the woodland around me with indecent haste. The sounds of the crashing branches as they felled my family haunt me still. Then, they stopped, and left me, a loneContinue reading “New Voice Award: The Hornbeam’s lament by Helen Williams”