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Established in 2007, the Bristol Short Story Prize is an international competition for both published and unpublished writers.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!