Thomas M. Atkinson  is an American author and playwright. His story ‘Grimace in the Burnt Black Hills’ will appear in New Stories from the Midwest 2015 and received two 2013 Pushcart Prize nominations. ‘Me & Mr. Tinkles’ will appear in the Fish Anthology 2016. Standing Deadwood: Collected Stories, was a finalist in the 2014 Spokane Prize for Short Fiction and a finalist in the 2014 St. Lawrence Book Award for Fiction, and his new novel TIKI MAN was a finalist in the 2014 Leapfrog Press Fiction Contest. He has received five Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Awards. Shortlisted story: ‘Dancing Turtle’

 

 

Rhiannon Bull is a writer and illustrator currently based in the muddy, marshy Essex countryside. She is interested in the relationship between people and place, and in exploring the landscapes, languages and mythologies that form these relationships. She is still enjoying just starting out as a fiction writer, the freedom to experiment that this allows, and seeing her first few publications come to be.  More information can be found at www.rhiannonbull.com  Shortlisted story: ‘Though the Waves Toss’

Fflur Dafydd is a bilingual Welsh/English fiction writer, screenwriter and singer-songwriter. She recently wrote and co-produced a film adaptation of her Welsh-language novel Y Llyfrgell (The Library Suicides) which premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, where it was nominated for Best British Feature. She has an MA in Creative Writing from UEA, and a PhD on the work of the poet R.S. Thomas. She considers the short story to be her ‘first love’ and, following the publication of her Welsh-language collection, Awr y Locustiaid (Hour of the Locust) in 2010, she is now working on her first collection in English. Shortlisted story: ‘The Azalea Tree’

 

Rupert Dastur is a writer and freelance editor. He is director of The Short Story, an online platform for short fiction news, views and competitions. His most recent work is forthcoming in A3 Review, New Flash Fiction Review, and Bath Flash Fiction Anthology 2016. Shortlisted story: ‘White Flags’

Kerry Hood’s plays include Meeting Myself Coming Back (Soho Theatre. Sunday Times Critics’ Choice, British Theatre Guide Highlight of the Year, shortlisted Meyer-Whitworth Award, Evening Standard Awards); Caution! Trousers (for Alan Ayckbourn, Stephen Joseph Theatre); Talking for England (Ustinov). Stories: (BBC Radio 4): ‘Of All The Whole Wild World’, ‘Two Ticks’. Cinnamon Press Prize; Frome Festival Award; Bridport Prize 2013 (2nd); Ink Tears; JBWB Award; Mathew Prichard Award; Writers’ Bureau. Shortlisted, Bridport Prize (x4); Mslexia (x3); Flash500; The New Writer Prize.Title story, Patria and Other Stories (Cinnamon Press); Bristol Prize Anthology; Bridport Prize Anthology. Currently writing two plays supported by ACE. Shortlisted story: ‘The Purple File’

Ingrid Jendrzejewski grew up in Vincennes, Indiana, studied creative writing at the University of Evansville, then physics at the University of Cambridge. Her work has found homes in places like The Los Angeles Review, The Conium Review, Litro, Inktears, Neutrons/Protons, Flash Frontier, Vine Leaves, The Liars’ League London, concīs and The Mainichi. Last year, she won Gigantic Sequins’ Flash Non-fiction Contest and the A Room of Her Own Foundation’s Orlando Prize for Flash Fiction; recently, she received the Bath Flash Fiction Award. Links to Ingrid’s work can be found at www.ingridj.com and she occasionally tweets @LunchOnTuesday. Shortlisted story: ‘We Were Curious About Boys’

Eileen Merriman’s awards include second in the 2015 Bath Flash Fiction Award, commended in the 2015 Bath Short Story Competition, and third in the 2014 & 2015 Sunday Star Times Short Story competitions. Her work has previously appeared in a number of journals and anthologies, including Smokelong Quarterly, The Island Review, Literary Orphans, the 2015 Bath Short Story Anthology, the Sunday Star Times, F(r)iction, Takahe, Headland and Flash Frontier. Her young adult novel, Pieces of You, will be published in 2017 (Penguin Random House). More information can be found at her website: eileenmerriman.co.nz Twitter @MerrimanEileen. Shortlisted story ‘I Dare You’

Christina Sanders Christina has had short stories and flash fiction published in Litro, TFM magazine, Toasted Cheese and Rattletales, and has performed at Live Lit Events in Sussex.
Dandelions and Roses was written after overhearing a conversation about a repentant ex-husband. After several attempts at trying to turn it into a ‘story’, she consigned it to her laptop’s trash bin, but couldn’t quite bring herself to press delete. She is currently working on a collection of short stories on the theme of Compromise.

 Shortlisted story: ‘Dandelion and Roses’

Cherise Saywell was born and brought up in Australia and lives in Scotland. She has published two novels, Desert Fish (2011) and Twitcher (2013) (both Vintage). Her short stories have won the Mslexia Short Story Prize and the VS Pritchett Prize and been shortlisted for the Asham Award and the Salt Prize. Last year she had a story selected for BBC Radio 4 Opening Lines. Cherise’s stories have been published in Mslexia, The London Magazine and New Writing Scotland, as well as several anthologies. She lives in Edinburgh with her family and is working on her third novel. Shortlisted story: ‘Comfort’

William Pei Shih is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. His stories have been recognized by the John Steinbeck Fiction Award, the Bridport Prize, The Masters Review Short Story Award, the Raymond Carver Short Story Contest, The Alice Munro Short Story Competition, the AAWW/Hyphen Asian American Short Story Award, The Hemingway Short Story Competition, Writers’ Digest, Narrative Magazine and Glimmer Train. A Pushcart Prize Nominee, his stories have been published by The Masters Review, Carve Magazine, the Bridport Prize Anthology. The Des Moines Register, Reed Magazine and Hyphen. He is a 2016 Sun Valley Writers’ Conference Fellow. Shortlisted story: ‘Mrs. Li’

Jacky Taylor has a background in Arts Education and has worked in school, university and community settings. She has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Chichester and her work has won prizes at Bridport, the Asham Award, the Ilkley Literature Festival, the Momaya Short Story Award and has been shortlisted/longlisted in numerous places as well as published online. She is a member of the Fiction Forge writing collective and a reader/co-editor of their online literary magazine. She finds living by the sea both inspiring and full of surprises. Shortlisted story: ‘Searching for Silver Darlings’