Huge congratulations to all our BSSA 2024 winners! Such wonderful and varied stories selected from a very strong field in the shortlist. You can read Sophie Haydock’s comments on the winners’ stories and on the shortlist in general in her judge’s report. You can also read the bios of all the shortlist here
Connor Donahue
First Prize: ‘To Hail the Pale Horse Rider’ by Connor Donahue
Connor Donahue is an aspiring novelist currently pursuing his MA in Creative Writing at Queen’s University Belfast. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from The University of Kansas. In his stories, he enjoys writing about monsters, mucking about in dark waters, and fretting about human capabilities. He has previously been published in Intrepid Times and by The BBC, and his latest project is a novel set in a haunted bible college in his home state of Missouri. He misses the BBQ from his home state but does not miss the tornados. He lives and writes in Belfast.
Jane Fraser
Second Prize: ‘The Glitter Path’ by Jane Fraser
Jane Fraser lives, works and writes fiction in a house facing the sea in Llangennith, on the Gower peninsula, south Wales. She is the author of two collections of short fiction, The South Westerlies (2019) and Connective Tissue (2022) both published by SALT. Her debut novel, Advent (2021) was published by Welsh women’s press, HONNO, and awarded the SoA’s Paul Torday Memorial Prize in 2022. Her short stories have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4’s Short Works series.She has a PhD in Creative Writing (Swansea University), is a Hay Festival Writer at Work, and importantly, is grandmother to Meg, Flo and Alice.
X: @jfraserwriter Instagram: @janefraserwriter W: www.janefraserwriter.com
Marie Gethins
Third Prize: ‘Foxed’ by Marie Gethins.
Marie Gethins featured in Winter Papers, Bristol Short Story Prize, Australian Book Review, NFFD Anthologies, Banshee, Fictive Dream, Pure Slush, Bath Flash Anthologies, FlashBack Fiction, Jellyfish Review, Litro, REED and others. Awarded B.A.’s in English Literature and Dramatic Art/Dance from U.C. Berkeley, an MSt in Creative Writing from the University of Oxford and a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Limerick. She received a Frank O’Connor Bursary, Banff Center for Arts and Creativity residency and a Hawthornden Fellowship. Selected for Best Microfictions, BIFFY50, Best Small Fictions, she is the flash editor for Banshee and co-edits for Splonk.
Ruth Clarke
Winner of the Acorn Award for an Unpublished Writer of Fiction: ‘Fishing At Pisa Airport’ by Ruth Clarke.
Ruth Clarke lives in Norwich – the ‘City of Stories.’ She began writing fiction last year, taking courses with The Arvon Foundation and National Centre for Writing. This will be her first published story.
Rob Campbell
Highly Commended and also winner of the Local Prize ‘King of the Rec’ by Rob Campbell.
Rob Campbell splits his time between Bristol and Dartmoor and is married with two children. After a career in newspapers and education he began writing fiction and is working on a novel inspired by his PhD in journalism history from the University of South Wales. Rob has been highly commended in the Regional Press Awards for his column which ran in the Western Daily Press for 23 years, and in the Hastings Book Festival for fiction. He writes about art for the Friends of the Royal West of England Academy, and is a mentor for the Longford Trust.
Ben Howels
Highly Commended: ‘Ripples’ by Ben Howels.
Ben Howels hails from Exeter, England. A lawyer for many years, he eventually accepted the inevitable conclusion – that fictional worlds were more interesting than offices.He has previously been published everywhere from Writers Online to Spring Song Press,The Arcanist, and All Worlds Wayfarer. He’s also written three novels, and one day hopes to get them into print.
Ben can usually be found down the gym, hanging/falling off jugs at a climbing wall, or on X/Twitter – @BenHowel
Our 11th Award ends next Monday, 15th April and if you are a Last Minute writer, like I am when I enter competitons,now’s the time you might be looking over your story. Although I am a regular competition entrant, I don’t always attend to things I should before sending off the entry. Here’s a list for you to look through, if you are like me and would like some quick obvious reminders
As short story writers, where do you find the best places to send your work? Social media platforms, the magazines and journals you read and competition listing sites of which there are many. Listing sites do seem to come and go and, when I was posting our award this year, I noticed that many we’ve used over the decade have folded. One that seems here to stay is Christopher Fielden’s