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”
Category Archives: Competition
Third place: …now you don’t by Hazel Osmond
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”
New Voice Award: The Hornbeam’s lament by Helen Williams
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”
The 2021 summer short-list
We are thrilled to announce our short-list for the summer Oxford Flash Fiction Prize 2021. Congratulations to all of the authors who reached the list. If your story is listed, please do not identify which story belongs to you, as the judges are hard at work making their decisions. We will be contacting you soon regarding ourContinue reading “The 2021 summer short-list”
The 2021 summer long-list
We are thrilled to announce our long-list for the summer Oxford Flash Fiction Prize 2021. 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 2021 summer long-list”
I was brought up in a passionate family, larger than life. There are positives and negatives in this, but passion and love in all its forms is something that has always fascinated me. My short story collection ‘An affair of the Heart’ looks to examine those topics in detail. My father was a talented musician, andContinue reading
It’s very hard to write about happiness and much easier to write about loss (though I realise not everyone would agree). My collection ‘Love Stories for Hectic People’ started with the story ‘As Simple as Water’, which was probably the first true flash piece I ever wrote. I was facing a long difficult winter, so IContinue reading
Third place: Sticks and stones by Elizabeth Smith
She spends every evening extricating words from where they’ve lodged beneath the surface of the skin. Most of the wounds are superficial and easily concealed. A few of the cuts are deeper and could probably do with a stitch or two, but she just sticks on a plaster and hopes that the blood won’t seepContinue reading “Third place: Sticks and stones by Elizabeth Smith”
First place: Fearful Symmetry by Holly Barratt
I first met my sister when I was five. She was twice the size of a house cat, with a soft little bear-face, snowy whiskers and a baffled smile. She rolled over and stretched out her fluffy limbs. I instantly loved the pin cushion pads of her paws, and the wiggle of stripes as sheContinue reading “First place: Fearful Symmetry by Holly Barratt”
Second place: Skin by Daniel Draper
She was born with a caul, but at least she was human. At the birth I shut my eyes, terrified. The metallic smell of blood mixed with brine and earth under Sandra’s screams and I only opened them once I heard the midwife’s surprise. It was a surprise without horror. I’d never seen a caulContinue reading “Second place: Skin by Daniel Draper”
