Introducing the 2025 Bristol Short Story Prize Shortlist

In the lead up to our 2025 awards ceremony, which will be held on June 28th at Waterstones, Bristol Galleries (tickets available here), it is an enormous pleasure to introduce the fifteen writers who have been selected for this year’s shortlist and whose brilliant stories will be published in our 17th anthology – available to pre-order from Tangent Books.

 

This year’s anthology features:

Redfern Jon Barrett is author to Proud Pink Sky, an ‘ambitopia’ set in the world’s first gay state, and The Giddy Death of the Gays & the Strange Demise of Straights, a comedy of polyamory and nonbinary life that was a finalist for the Bi Book Awards. Redfern’s short stories have appeared in The Sun, Passages North, and Booth. Their nonfiction has featured in Guernica, Strange Horizons, and PinkNews. Redfern is nonbinary, holds a PhD in Literature and lives in Berlin.

Follow Redfern:
World wide web - Free web icons redjon.com
File:Bluesky Logo.svg @redfernjon.bsky.social


Emma Challis is a writer from Essex and holds a BA in Creative Writing from Brunel University. Her short stories have featured for National Flash Fiction Day 2024 and 2025 and in the anthology It’s Complicated (2017). Her poetry has featured in the chapbook Skin. She was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize in 2024 and is currently working on her first novel.

 

 

 


JR Fenn is a writer from the Central Appalachians. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in many places, including Boston Review, Gulf Coast, DIAGRAM, SmokeLong Quarterly, Split Lip, Centaur, 100 Word Story, and the Bath Flash Fiction Award Anthology. She holds an MFA from Syracuse University, where she won the Joyce Carol Oates Prize in Fiction, and her writing has been supported by fellowships from Orion, Writing by Writers, and the Key West Literary Seminar, along with funded residencies at Hewnoaks and the Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow, among others. JR is represented by Catherine Cho at Paper Literary. She teaches at State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry and lives in Western New York with her family.

Follow JR:
World wide web - Free web icons www.jrfenn.com


Robyn Jefferson is a short story writer and aspiring novelist from Bristol. She has a BA in English Literature and an MA in Creative Writing, for which she earned a Distinction. Her work has been published online in The Mechanics’ Institute Review, Makarelle, The Phare, and Fiery Scribe Review. In 2022, her short story ‘In Language Strange’ was shortlisted for the Aesthetica Magazine Creative Writing Award; later that same year, she was the first-place winner of The Masters Review Novel Excerpt Competition with a chapter from her debut novel, Calling Out. In 2024, her short story ‘Molly’ was awarded third place in the Leicester Writes Short Story Prize. Most recently, her piece ‘and don’t blaspheme!’ won third place in the GWG Literary Prize 2025, and her short story ‘Slasher Dream #2’ was shortlisted for the Flash 500 Short Story Competition.

Follow Robyn:
World wide web - Free web icons xoxogossiprobyn.wordpress.com
File:Bluesky Logo.svg @demimondaine.bsky.social
@apocryphai


Phoebe Hamilton Jones is a writer from London. She has previously been a finalist for the 2024 Mslexia Short Story Award and longlisted for the 2024 Bath Short Story Award. Her fiction and nonfiction has been published by LitHub, Virago Press, Anthropolitan and Mslexia. She works as a social scientist in the environmental sector.

Follow Phoebe:
File:Bluesky Logo.svg @phoebhamiltonjones.bsky.social

 

 


Kerry Mead lives in Bristol with her two children and writes creative nonfiction and fiction. She writes about neurodivergence, place, and everything that makes us human. She gained an MA with distinction in Creative and Critical Writing from Birkbeck, University of London in 2023. Her creative nonfiction has been published in The Mechanics Institute Review, Oranges Journal, and The Curae Anthology, after being shortlisted for the 2023 Curae Prize for nonfiction.

Follow Kerry:
World wide web - Free web icons www.kerrymead.uk
File:Bluesky Logo.svg @kerrymead.bluesky.social
File:Instagram icon.png - Wikimedia Commons @kerrymeadwriter


Photo credit: Lyndsey Knight

Zoë Meager is from Aotearoa New Zealand. Her work has appeared in Cheap Pop, Granta, Gigantic Sequins, Landfall, Lost Balloon, Mascara Literary Review, Overland, Splonk, and The Offing, among others. In 2024, she was runner-up in the Seán Ó Faoláin International Short Story Competition, received an honourable mention in the Zoetrope All-Story Short Fiction Competition, and was a Sargeson Fellow.

Follow Zoë:
World wide web - Free web icons zoemeager.com
File:Bluesky Logo.svg @zoemeager.bsky.social
@ZoeMeager
File:Instagram icon.png - Wikimedia Commons @zoemeager


Laura Morris’s writing has appeared in The Dublin Review, The Lonely Crowd, Banshee and Southword. Her short story ‘Cree’ won the Rhys Davies Short Story Competition (2022). Originally from Caerphilly, Laura now lives in Cardiff, where she teaches English at a Welsh-medium secondary school.

Follow Laura:
File:Bluesky Logo.svg @morrislau78.bsky.social
@Morris78L

 

 


Issie Roll is a twenty-two year-old writer from Solihull, and she is currently studying an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Southampton. She has written stories for as long as she can remember and is thrilled to be included in this anthology. Besides writing fiction, Issie is a massive lover of theatre and has written, performed and directed musicals throughout her four years of university.

 


Louis Rossi is a British-born writer who lives and works in Vancouver, Canada, with his young family. Louis creates dark and speculative fiction, drawing inspiration from the raw beauty of the Canadian wilderness. His work examines the uneasy relationship between human beings and the natural world, the thin membrane that separates the everyday from the supernatural, and the places within our own minds best left unexplored. Louis works as a freelance copywriter, content writer, and creative. He is a former winner of the Blue Animal Literature Flash Fiction Prize with his story ‘Horror Vacui (Nature Abhors a Vacuum)’, while his short story ‘The Mycologist’ was published in the 2022 Oxford Flash Fiction Prize Anthology Sticks and Stones.


S-L Santana is a writer, teacher, daydreamer, observer, and eavesdropper from London. She holds an MA in Creative Writing from Brunel University and a BA in English Literature and Creative Writing from Aberystwyth, University of Wales. Since completing her Masters in 2020, she has been working on her first novel. Inspiration materialises from the ether, but always finds roots in relationships and community. Contrary to the beliefs of people who know her, S-L Santana likes the sound of other people’s voices as much as her own and hopes to capture some of the rhythm of oral storytelling in her writing. ‘1992’ was born in response to a writing task given in a seminar but draws on memories of time and place, research, and the kinds of things you see and hear as a child but don’t fully understand until you’re an adult.


Jillian Grant Shoichet endured an idyllic childhood in pastoral southwestern British Columbia (where nothing happens unless someone sets things in motion), which meant that at an early age she became a fiction instigator. Over time, friends and family members have come to accept that they will find reflections of themselves in her work. Jillian is most comfortable writing about uncomfortable human experiences: love and loss and our quest to find a meaningful balance between the two.

Follow Jillian:
World wide web - Free web icons www.jilliangrantshoichet.com
World wide web - Free web icons www.shoicheteditorial.com
File:Instagram icon.png - Wikimedia Commons @jilliangrantshoichet
/jilliangshoichet/


Becky Tipper is from the UK and now lives in the Northeastern US. Her short fiction has been published in The Interpreter’s House, Prole, FlashBack Fiction and The Honest Ulsterman, and her stories have previously won the Bridport Prize and an ALCS Tom-Gallon Trust Award from the Society of Authors.

Follow Becky:
World wide web - Free web icons beckytipper.com


Debra Waters is originally from Yorkshire, lives in Brighton, and works as a features writer. In 2020, she graduated from Goldsmiths with an MA in Creative & Life Writing. Debra writes short stories and flash. In 2020, she won The Bridport Short Story Prize and, in 2024, The Letter Review Short Fiction Prize. She’s been shortlisted for the Bath Short Story Award, Bridport Flash Prize, Oxford Flash Prize, Pat Kavanagh Award, Wells Festival of Literature Short Story Prize, and the Exeter Short Story Prize, and was a LISP flash finalist and highly commended for the Writers & Artists Working Class Writers Prize. Her longlists include the Manchester Fiction Prize, Anthology Magazine, and London Library’s Emerging Writers Programme. Debra has been published in Litro, LISP, and The Letter Review. Anthologies her work is published in include Bridport Prize 2020, Bath Flash V.5, Bath Short Story Award 2022, thi wurd’s Earthly Rewards, Transformations (Oxford Flash Fiction), and Motherhood Uncensored.

Follow Debra:
@DebAshWat
File:Instagram icon.png - Wikimedia Commons @_watersworld_


Anne Wilkins is a sleep-deprived New Zealand teacher who writes in her spare time. Her short fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in Apex Magazine, Cosmic Horror Monthly, The Dark, Small Wonders, Elegant Literature, and more. She has won the June 2024 Elegant Literature Prize, the 2023 Autumn Writers Battle, and the 2023 Cambridge Autumn Festival Short Story Competition, among others. Her love of writing is fuelled by copious amounts of coffee, reading and hope. Anne is supported in her writing journey by her ever-patient husband, two wonderful daughters, and two feline writing assistants.

Follow Anne:
World wide web - Free web icons www.annewilkinsauthor.com.
World wide web - Free web icons www.annewilkinsauthor.com/
File:Bluesky Logo.svg @annewilkins.bsky.social
@annewilkinsnz
/annewilkinsauthor


Congratulations to the shortlisted writers. We cannot wait to publish the anthology and help their wonderful writing reach more readers.

Meet Our Volume 17 Cover Design Artist

We are thrilled to share the incredible cover design of our forthcoming Bristol Short Story Prize Volume 17 anthology, which was designed by Emily Sneesbee, an illustrator and comic artist who loves to create queer fantasy worlds and stories in mixed media and vibrant colours.

Emily’s design was chosen from among over 70 design submissions to our annual cover design project with third year students on the Illustration degree course at the University of the West of England. Many thanks to Chris Hill, Jonathan Ward and the students for their dedication to this collaboration.

When asked about the inspiration for the design, Emily said:

‘The idea of combining Bristol’s iconic rainbow house dotted skyline and book spines clicked in my head pretty quickly! Every day, I get to see all the beautiful terraces houses in the distance from where I live up on a hill, the view is a constant part of my life here. I also often think about how every single one of those house’s has a story of its own, as if they were all books on a shelf, containing a whole anthology of different stories.’

Emily’s artwork will be on display at the upcoming UWE Bristol Degree Show, with exhibitions at Bower Ashton, Arnolfini, Spike Island and Frenchay Campus. The showcase is accompanied by an extensive digital Showcase. Reserve your tickets here for the event.

To see more of Emily’s artwork, visit www.sneesbee.co.uk

2025 Shortlist Announcement

We are thrilled to announce the 2025 Bristol Short Story Prize shortlist!

These 15 writers are in the running for this year’s top prize and their shortlisted stories will all be published in our volume 17 anthology. The winner and two runners up of the 2025 Bristol Short Story Prize will be announced at a special event at the end of June, more details to come. This will also be the official launch date of this year’s anthology

A huge thank you to our incredible judging panel: Jan Carson, Kate Johnson and Peace Adzo Medie, who were so generous with their time, knowledge, commitment and enthusiasm. They have ensured that we are able to publish a dazzling anthology.

Many congratulations to the writers below, we are delighted to be publishing your stories. And good luck for the rest of this year’s competition.


2025 Bristol Short Story Prize Shortlist (listed A-Z by author)

Redfern Jon Barrett – Borderline

Emma Challis – The Summer the Cows Burn

JR Fenn – Memory Box

Robyn Jefferson – Eggshell White

Phoebe Hamilton Jones – The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship

Kerry Mead – Redding Road Vs. Alderaan

Zoë Meager – Things with bodies

Laura Morris – The Weight of a Man

Issie Roll – How to Lose a Sister

Louis Rossi – Rambler

S-L Santana – 1992

Jillian Grant Shoichet – From Ashes

Becky Tipper – Metempsychosis

Debra Waters – Young Blood

Anne Wilkins – Washing Instructions for Delicate Fabric

Congratulations to Jane Healey on her new novel!

We’d like to offer a huge congratulations to Jane Healey on her new novel, Crescendo, a “seductive, opulent historical novel about music and desire.”

Crescendo was pre-empted by Harvill Secker and will hit bookshelves in spring 2026. From the publisher, “We are thrilled to be welcoming Jane to the Harvill Secker list. There is a singularly hypnotic quality to her writing, bold, propulsive and original, which has captivated the whole team. Like a Sarah Waters novel meets Challengers, Crescendo is seductive in every sense of the word and I can’t wait for readers to be drawn into the glitz and the peril of Max and Natasha’s world.”

Jane was shortlisted for the 2013 Bristol Short Story Prize, with her story, Pool Boy, which is published in our Volume 6 anthology, by Tangent Books. We wish Jane all the best with her new novel!

2025 Longlist Announcement

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.

Update on 2025 BSSP Longlist

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!

Happy publication day to Kasia Jaronczyk!

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.

Congratulations to Maureen Cullen on her debut novel!

Kitten HeelsWe’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.

BSSP Reopening for Submissions for One Day Only!

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 on her new novel

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.