Jude is a well-known face in the short story and flash fiction world. In addition to being a prolific writer, she is a tutor, runs online Flash Fiction Festival Days three times a year, is the founder of Bath Flash Fiction Awards, directs the small press, Ad Hoc Fiction and also Flash Fiction Festivals UK, an in-person weekend event, now in its 7th year, which attracts writers from all over the world.

Her flash fiction has been published in numerous literary magazines and anthologies and The Chemist’s House, her debut chapbook of short fictions, was published by V Press in 2017. Last year Ad Hoc Fiction published Clearly Defined Clouds, her full flash fiction collection, also available from Amazon. It has been described as a ‘mastery of condensed fiction.’ She is also a founding member of Bath Short Story Award, which is where we’ll begin.

• In the twelve years since Bath Short Story Award began in 2012, you have read thousands of entries. What have you observed in terms of theme, content and style over the years? Have there been many changes or some things that always stay true?

Of course, there are always many stories about relationships in all their forms, and within the short story entries, people often focus on what I have called the three ‘D’s: death, divorce and dementia. It’s very interesting the way people find different angles on these subjects. It’s the most unusual ones that make the cut. In recent years I think more people are writing about climate change and world events. In addition, it is fascinating to see experiments with style and structure.

• Please tell us about your journey as a writer from writing short stories to flash? What is the appeal and do you consistently operate in the shorter form now? 
  I had been relatively successful in short-story competitions but I became interested in writing flash fiction after completing an MA at Bath Spa university in 2012. I was writing a novel there, which I never finished. At the same time, with a colleague, I ran courses and events for writers with Writing Events Bath. We invited Tania Hershman an exponent of the short-short form to come and present an evening on flash and I was hooked. Soon, after beginning to experiment with flash fiction, in 2013, I was highly commended in the Fish Flash Fiction Prize and that gave me further encouragement. I then decided there was scope for running another international competition focussing on flash fiction. And I founded the

Bath Flash Fiction Award in 2015, a three times a year international award

which meant I totally immersed myself in flash fiction and started writing prolifically in the form. The appeal for me is in the opportunity to experiment and to find different ways of layering meaning into stories of very few words. There is also a wonderful community of flash fiction writers world wide and that is also very appealing to me.

• • Your recent collection Clearly Defined Clouds has earned effusive praise from other writers and it has been described as ‘wise and playful ‘and ‘drenched in humor, ache and delight’. It’s a remarkable collection with a range of themes and inspirational starting points from classical myths, nursery rhymes, the Spanish Civil War and so much more which then get twisted to shift the perspective. Do you know how you’ll use the material at the outset or does the ‘flash’ just spark while you write?

• • • Thank you for your kind words about my collection. When I write flash fiction, I often begin with word prompts and take inspiration from their odd juxtapositions. Although we haven’t done this so much recently, my husband

    John Wheway

who primarily writes poetry and I exchange five or six words in the evening and write a first draft in the early morning, We are both good at giving each other feedback and do this over breakfast for these first drafts, then work on them extensively later. I never usually know where I am going with a flash when I begin a new one, although outside events and my concerns and preoccupations will worm their way into the narrative.

• • Your last blog post on this site was about titles. Clearly Defined Clouds is the title of one of the flashes and gave its name to the collection as a whole. Could you tell us why you chose it?

• I was looking at the sky one bright day through sunglasses. There were many of those fluffy white clouds which through the darkened lenses looked much more defined and separate than when I looked without wearing the glasses. The character in my entirely fictional story is going through a break-up, not of her choice. She, like me, looked at the sky through sunglasses at the end of the piece. I wanted to indicate, without spelling it out, that she accepts the separation from her former lover, and might even like being separate better. I chose

Clearly Defined Clouds as a title for the collection because I hoped, within the 75 stories, readers might clearly recognise many truths about their own lives.

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  • You founded Flash Fiction Festivals UK in 2017 and now it’s an important event in the diary of flash fiction writers across the world. This year’s festival takes place over the weekend July 18th to the 20th at Trinity College, Bristol, UK. Please tell us something about how the festival has grown and what to expect.

I ran the first festival in 2017 in Bath with the support of an Arts Council Grant. After that, it moved to a Bristol (with a two year hiatus because of Covid) because accommodation was available at Trinity College and Friday evening events were added. It is a very popular event entirely devoted to very short fiction and what I like about it is that many people have made lasting friendships and are also able to meet their oniine flash fiction friends. The weekend is very intensive with the weekend package allowing writers, experienced or new to the form, to attend seven workshops out of a choice of over 30, read and listen to flash fiction, enter the Pokrass Prize, a festival mini contest, sing karaoke in the bar (very popular), visit the bookshop, socialise in the grounds and generally have fun with friends or make new ones. Booking is now open for this year’s event and you can find out all the details on the festival website

• • • • • • Bath Short Story Award closes at the end of this month, 31st March. What tips would you give to writers planning to enter the award.
    • If you haven’t begun your story yet, I like this tip. Write down five ideas about a story relating to something of concern or interest to you. Do not choose your first idea.
    • When you think you have finished your short story, look back at your first paragraph and maybe consider deleting it. The real story may begin in the second. Think about deleting the last paragraph too. And then find a title that travels far beyond the words.
  • Interview by Jane, March 2025