Established in 2007, the Bristol Short Story Prize is an international competition for both published and unpublished writers. Shortlisted authors and prize winners receive between £50 and £1,000  and publication in our Volume 17 anthology. We are delighted to announce 2025’s longlist. 

First, we would like to express our profound appreciation to everyone who entered. For the 2025 competition year, we received over 1,800 short stories from 46 countries and the overall standard was extremely high. This year’s longlistees are based in Asia, Australia, North America and Europe.

As our awards are judged blind, authors’ names will be kept under wraps until judging is complete. In the meantime, congratulations to the authors of the 2025 Bristol Short Story Prize longlist.

2025 Longlist

1992
Beneath the Cottonwoods
Borderline
Citrus and Cedar
Dead-end Vagina
Diving; or, An Osaka Night in Five Parts
Dogs of War
Eggshell White
Friends
From Ashes
Garg 
How To Lose A Sister
Indigo Noir
Memory Box
Metempsychosis
Pool Nite
Prime Mover
Rambler
Redding Road Vs. Alderaan 
Stones
Tangled Sisters
The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship
The Fort 
The Queen Sacrifice
The Summer the Cows Burn
The Weight Of A Man
Things with bodies 
Three Bruises
Washing Instructions for Delicate Fabric
Young Blood

The Bristol Short Story Prize shortlist, as judged by Jan Carson, Kate Johnson and Peace Adzo Medie, will be announced in May 2025.

Hello all you lovely writers!

Just checking in with a quick update on the 2025 Bristol Short Story Prize longlist. After thorough consideration we have decided to push the longlist announcement back by a week.

We do apologise for any frustration or disappointment this causes. Please know that this decision was made with our contestants’ best interests at heart. We want to ensure that each entry is given its due diligence, including entries that were submitted during our ‘second chance submission window.’

If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at bristol-short-story-prize@bristol.ac.uk.

Otherwise, we will be back soon with our official longlist announcement!

Congratulations to Kasia Jaronczyk, whose new novel, Voices in the Air, was published by Palimpsest Press last week!

From the publisher, “This fast-paced, exciting and heart-wrenching story asks: What would drive women to risk the lives of their children and innocent people to leave their mother country forever?”

From Antanas Sileika, “Voices in the Air is a remarkable achievement – the novel depicts multiple characters as if they lived on two flaps with a hinge between them – a before and an after – with a dramatic event in the middle that changes everything for them all. The depiction of Marshal Law Poland is gritty and compelling, and the variety of post-emigration stories is psychologically subtle and profound.”

We can’t wait to read Kasia’s new book and wish her all the success in reaching new readers.

Kasia’s short story, Lemons, was shortlisted for the 2016 Bristol Short Story Prize and is published in our Volume 9 anthology by Tangent Books.

We’d like to give a big shout-out and hearty congratulations to Maureen Cullen on not one but two exciting literary achievements!

Maureen’s debut novel Kitten Heels was published by Ringwood Publishing in October 2024. From the publisher’s website, “Kitten Heels is a moving coming-of-age story, set in 1960’s working class Clydeside and told from thirteen-year-old Kathleen’s perspective.”

Keep your eyes on the bookshelves because Maureen’s short story collection, Havoc Shore, will also be published by Ringwood Publishing this June.

Maureen was shortlisted for the 2018 Bristol Short Story Prize, with her story, Havoc Shore, which is published in our Volume 11 anthology. We wish her all the best with her debut novel and forthcoming short story collection.

Due to technical issues on 31 January, we are reopening for submissions for one day only!

On Wednesday 5 February our payment portal will reopen from 00:00 to 23:59 BST.

Once you have paid for entry, you will need to upload your story via Step 3 on our entry page. Our submission portal will remain open for uploads until 17:00 BST on Friday 7 of February. Entries received after this time will not be considered for the prize.

Best of luck with the competition!

Congratulations to Kasia Jaronczyk whose new novel, Voices in the Air, will be published next month by Palimpsest Press. 

From the publisher’s website, “On April 30, 1982, two women and their families hijack a Polish passenger plane flying from Breslau to Warsaw in a bold attempt to escape Martial Law in Communist Poland and find safety in West Berlin […] Voices in the Air follows the main characters’ lives before and after the hijacking, and through real-life events as the fall of the Berlin Wall, the fight for women’s rights in modern Poland, the Covid pandemic and the refugee crisis on the Polish-Belarus border. A must-read novel exploring ambiguous moral choice, censorship, emigration, fate and regret.”

We wish Kasia every success with the book and hope that it reaches many new readers.

Kasia’s short story, Lemons, was shortlisted for the 2016 Bristol Short Story Prize and is published in our Volume 9 anthology by Tangent Books.

Don’t miss out on the Bristol Short Story Prize! 

Only two weeks remain before our submission portal closes. Get your entries in by 23:59 (BST) 31 January 2025.

Submissions must be in English, not exceed 4,000 words, and meet all entry requirements. All genres, themes, and subjects are welcome!

Enter now for a chance to win £1,000 and publication in the Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology!

Please note: all free entries for this year’s prize have been claimed. 

Don’t miss out on your chance to win £1,000 and publication in the Bristol Short Story Prize anthology!

We accept entries of up to 4,000 words from any genre and from published and unpublished authors alike.

All shortlisted entries will receive £50, be published in our print anthology and receive a free copy.

1st Prize: £1000

2nd Prize: £500

3rd Prize: £250

Enter by Friday 31 January midnight (BST) for the chance to win!

Prize Rules and Entry Requirements

Enter the Bristol Short Story Prize 2025

Welcome to the new home of the Bristol Short Story Prize at the English Department of the University of Bristol. We’re now open for entries until 31 January 2025! See the tabs above for more information.