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BSSA 2025 Open Now!

Our 2025 International Award opens today,Sunday, December 1st and closes on March 31st at midnight BST. Shortlist judges Lucy Luck and Liv Bignold from C & W Literary Agency. Read the interview with them here

First Prize: £1000
Second Prize £300
Third Prize £100
Acorn Award for an unpublished writer £100
£50 in book tokens for Local Prize

£9.00 per entry
Read the rules here
Enter here

Short list Judges are Lucy Luck and Olivia Bignold from C & W Agency

2024 BSSA Anthology of winning and shortlisted stories available soon.

One city, two literary colossi: Jane and Mary in Bath

Bath is well-known for its literary associations, the most famous being Jane Austen, who spent only a few years in the city and had a conflicted relationship with it. In a letter to her sister Cassandra, Jane wrote of her ‘happy feelings of Escape’ on leaving. That said, Bath is mentioned in all her novels and features most prominently in Persuasion and Northanger Abbey, where the heroine Catherine Morland declares ‘Oh! Who can be ever tired of Bath?’ Certainly not the thousands from all over the world who will gather here this year to attend the balls and events to mark the 250th anniversary of Jane’s birth.

Jane died in Winchester in July, 1817 and, in the same year in Bath, a very young Mary Shelley was writing the final draft of Frankenstein. The house where she lodged from 1816 to 1817, at No. 5 Abbey Churchyard next to the entrance to the Pump Rooms, has since been demolished with just a plaque to mark the significance of her presence in the city. We do not have a Mary Shelley festival in Bath ─ yet ─ but her contribution to literature cannot be underestimated. Frankenstein may well be the first science fiction novel and certainly its exploration of morality and ethics through science, using the framework of good Gothic horror, makes it a tour de force. And written by a woman too. The first edition was published in 1818 anonymously and it wasn’t until 1821 that Mary Shelley was credited as the author. Jane Austen suffered the same lack of recognition as her early works carried ‘By a lady’ in lieu of her name. In December 1817, five months after her death, Persuasion and Northanger Abbey, which is basically a parody of bad Gothic fiction, were published with Austen identified as the author.

Early 19th Century book lovers would be spoilt for choice in the offerings of that time and we’re delighted that Bath continues to champion literature through its many excellent independent bookshops especially Mr B’s who have continued to support our award, the local festivals and opportunities for writers.

Bath Short Story Award, in its fourteenth year, continues to attract an exciting range of talent from all over the world. Our current prize closes on March 31st and we’re looking for stories in any genre. All shortlisted stories will be published in our 2025 anthology.

Jane

Interview with Connor Donahue, the winner of our 2024 Award

Connor Donahue

Congratulations again Connor on winning our 2024 Bath Short Story Competition and thank you for agreeing to answer a few questions for our blog.

Our judge, Sophie Haydock, commented that this was a ‘surprising story’ and I really agree with her. Finding an unusual subject/perspective helps a story stand out. Can you tell us where you had the idea for ‘To Hail the Pale Horse Rider’?

It was surprising to me as well! I usually find my way into a story through some strong, arresting image that resonates with me in a very particular way and refuses to let go, and in this case it was a man sunbathing in an industrial park. I’d heard a true crime podcast describe a serial killer called The Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Row do this during his crime spree in Cleveland in the 1930s, and apparently bodies started showing up around that construction site shortly afterwards. I didn’t particularly want to write about a serial killer, but the image of a strange, grown man doing that was something that I couldn’t shake.

The rest of the story developed around that, a lot of it having to do with the way I was feeling at the time I wrote it. I had just moved to Belfast to pursue my master’s degree, had never lived abroad before, didn’t know anybody yet and was questioning my decision to take such a big step on relatively short notice. I’m extremely glad, now, that I did, but at the time I was feeling very anxious. Worrying a lot in a vague, lingering way that never seemed to fully touch—or crash—down, which is definitely a feeling that worked its way into this story.

Your winning story has so many layers and is very unsettling. Do you spend a lot of time drafting/editing? I’m really interested to hear about your process?

Yes, I do spend a good deal of time editing. I’d say it’s at least 50/50 versus the writing of the first draft, but often quite a bit more on the editing end.

The first draft is always strictly for me, with nobody else in mind, including the reader. This draft is unfit for human consumption and I would be horrified for anybody to see it. At this point I’m really just trying to get a sense of the story—its shape, who the characters are, what the meaning or meanings are underneath the plot. When I’ve finished, I’ll take a week or two away so that I can come back with fresh eyes for the second draft.

For the second one, I keep a reader in mind—usually a couple of people whose opinions I value and trust, and I’ll edit based on what I imagine they’d say. I also edit for grammar, syntax, spelling, etc. as I go along, so these drafts tend to be okay from a technical perspective and I can spend the later read-throughs focusing on other aspects of the story.

For the last part of the process, I’m mainly trying to get the whole thing to feel right on a gut level. It never ends up feeling 100% okay, of course. But when I get to the point where I’m spending a good chunk of time deliberating over single words or a comma versus a period, that’s usually a sign that I’m nearing the limits of my editing abilities and that the story is as ready as it’s ever going to be to ship out. This part can be anywhere from 10-20 read-throughs, at least, and might take a few weeks to a couple of months.

You said in your bio that you’re an aspiring novelist and you obviously clearly enjoy writing stories too. Do you write in both forms simultaneously? How do you know when an idea is better suited to a short story?

That’s something I’m still trying to work out at the moment, actually! As a rule, I work on one project at a time and see it through to the end before beginning something else. That’s what I’ve been doing with my book for the last six months or so, but there’s a contest coming up in April that I’d really love to submit something to. I’m considering taking a brief break to write something for that.

All my stories, really, have started as short stories. They stay that way when I can see all the way to the end—at least in a rough way, where I have a pretty good idea of what’s going to happen. But when they just keep going and new things open up, when new characters emerge and it’s not clear how things get worked out, that’s been a sign to me that there might be a bigger story to tell. Figuring out where the line is between these two is definitely still a work in progress.

What short story writers do you enjoy reading? Are there any you’d recommend?

Oh man, so many! Stephen King for sure—Full Dark, No Stars has some of my favorites from him. Shirley Jackson, Kazuo Ishiguro, and Flannery O’Connor are also right up my alley, and Carmen Maria Machado has an amazing collection called Her Body and Other Parties that I couldn’t recommend enough. Really, anything that’s dark and atmospheric and touches on murder either directly or indirectly as a function of plot is probably going to be catnip for me.

Finally, any advice for writers entering this year’s award?
I hardly feel qualified to be dispensing advice, but if I had any it would be to write whatever captures your interest and has done for some time. If an idea has been lingering for a while and won’t let go, then see where it leads, and don’t let fear or other people’s opinions enter the equation. Additionally, the books On Writing and The War of Art by Stephen King and Steven Pressfield, respectively, were both enormously impactful to the development of my writing practice. I’d highly recommend checking them out—they’re full of much better advice than I can give!

Our 2025 prize closes on 31st March. We look forward to reading your stories!
Alison

Karen Jones joins BSSA team

Karen Jones

Karen Jones is a flash and short fiction writer from Glasgow, Scotland. Her flashes have been nominated for Best of the Net and The Pushcart Prize, and her story “Small Mercies” is included in Best Small Fictions 2019. She has won first prize in the Cambridge Flash Prize, Flash 500 and Reflex Fiction and second prize in Fractured Lit’s Micro Fiction Competition. Her work has been Highly Commended or shortlisted for To Hull and Back, Bath Flash Fiction and Bath Short Story Award and many others. Her novella-in-flash When It’s Not Called Making Love is published by Ad Hoc Fiction and her ekphrastic novella-in-flash, Burn it All Down by Arroyo Seco Press She is an editor for National Flash Fiction Day anthology. Continue reading

BSSA 2024 Anthology now for sale!

Our BSSA 2024 Anthology is now for sale from our publisher Ad Hoc Fiction and will be available from Amazon soon.
Eighteen fantastic stories of 2200 words or under. A marvellous variety, showing what can be achieved with the short form.This time, we have a blue/green back ground for the anthology with its strking collage pictur4e of a building in Bath, created by artist and former BSSA winner, Ele Nash. Continue reading

Interview with BSSA 2025 judges, Lucy Luck and Liv Bignold

Our BSSA 2025 judges are Lucy Luck and Liv Bignold from Conville & Walsh Literary Agency,

Lucy Luck started in publishing as an assistant at Rogers, Coleridge & White before setting up her own agency in 2006. In 2014 she formally joined Aitken Alexander Associates and in 2016 she moved to C&W. Her authors have been listed for and awarded numerous prizes including the Rooney Prize, the Orange Prize, the Booker Prize, the Guardian First Book Award, the Irish Book Award, the Costa Novel Award, the Dylan Thomas Prize, the Gordon Burn Prize, the British Book Award Newcomer of the Year, the Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award, the EFG Sunday Times Short Story Prize, the Goldsmiths Prize, the Impac Dublin Literary Award, the Desmond Elliott Prize and the Encore Award.

Liv Bignold joined Conville & Walsh in May 2024 as assistant to Sarah Ballard, having previously spent two years at Curtis Brown supporting Alice Lutyens and, prior to that, Karolina Sutton. She has experience working on books that span all genres, and is enjoying getting to know Sarah’s exceptional roster of authors. Alongside her day-to-day workload, she provides editorial feedback to students enrolled on Curtis Brown Creative courses. Before deciding to pursue a career in agenting, she worked in Contracts at HarperCollins and in Rights at an educational publisher. She holds a first-class honours BA in English Literature from the University of Exeter.

We’re delighted that Lucy Luck and Liv Bignold from C & W Agency have agreed to judge our 2025 Award shortlist. They gave some great answers to team member, Alison Woodhouse’s questions below. Do read if you are thinking of entering our 2025 Award, open now for entries and closing March 31st 2025. Continue reading

Judge’s report 2024 : By Sophie Haydock

Sophie Haydock

Our big thanks to Sophie Haydock, award winning novelist and shortstory champion, for judging our Award this year and for her appreciation of the form, her general comments on the shortlisted stories and her individual comments on the winners. What great stories! We are looking forward to publishing all of them, the winners and the shortlisted, in our 2024 anthology.

Sophie’s Report Continue reading

Winners BSSA, 2024

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

Shortlist Titles, BSSA 2024

Many congratulations to the nineteen writers shortlisted in our 2024 Award. You are welcome to share that you are shortlisted on social media and elsewhere, but as judging is still in process, we ask you not to link your name with your story. Thank you. Final results out August 1st and posted on this website. Continue reading

Shortlist 2024

Many congratulations to all the writers on our 2024 shortlist. You can read judge Sophie Haydock’s general remarks on the list in her judge’s report. We’re looking forward to seeing all these wonderful stories in print in our 2024 anthology.

Sallie Anderson


Sallie Anderson, shortlisted with ‘Everything is Fine on Co-ordinated Universal Time’ is a bookseller living in Gloucestershire. Her stories have been listed and commended in a number of competitions, published in magazines and anthologies, and performed at events like Stroud Short Stories. She’s easily distracted from her own writing by reading and talking about stories and books.

Lynn Bushell

Lynn Bushell, shortlisted with ‘And Then When The War Was Over‘ started writing as a means of subsidising her work as an artist.Her stories have won prizes in The London Magazine and London Independent Story Prize competitions and reached the finals of the Fish Memoir, ChiplitFest and Yeovil short story competitions and she has twice been longlisted for the Commonwealth Prize. Her novel Painted Ladies (2019 Sandstone Press), about the artist Pierre Bonnard, featured in the Bonnard exhibition At Tate Modern. She lives partly in Suffolk and partly in Normandy, where she has a studio.

Finola Cahill

Finola Cahill, shortlisted with ‘What Are You After is a writer and musician from Co. Mayo, Ireland. Her poetry has featured in Propel, The London Magazine, the Honest Ulsterman, and others. She was the 2023 winner of the Waterford Poetry Prize and the 2024 winner of the Listowel Writers Week Single Poem Award. She is at work on her debut collection of poems and a longer work of fiction. This is her first fiction publication.

Debra A. Daniel

Debra A.Daniel, shortlisted with The House on Datura Street is Once Again For Sale has published two novellas-in-flash, A Family of Great Falls and The Roster (AdHoc Fiction), Woman Commits Suicide in Dishwasher (novel), and two poetry chapbooks, The Downward Turn of August and As Is. She’s a Pushcart and Best Short Fictions nominee. She won The Los Angeles Review short fiction prize, received the SC Arts Commission Poetry Fellowship, the Guy Owen Poetry Prize, and awards from the Poetry Society of SC. Work has been longlisted and shortlisted in many contests and has appeared in: Snow Crow, Legerdemain, LA Review, Smokelong, Kakalak, Inkwell, Southern Poetry Review, Tar River, and others.

Susan Elsey

Susan Elsley shortlisted with, ‘421 Words for Snow.’ lives in Edinburgh, Scotland and writes short and long fiction with a focus on people and places. Recent work has been published in Crannóg, Paperboats, The Storms, Fictive Dream, Postbox, and Northern Gravy. She won the Ennis Book Club Festival prize in 2024 and was shortlisted for the Alpine Fellowship Writing Award in 2023 and Moniack Mhor’s Emerging Writer Award in 2019. She is chair of a local literacy trust and has a background in human rights.

Emily Devane


Emily Devane, shortlisted with ‘Erratics’ is a writer, editor, teacher and bookseller from Ilkley, West Yorkshire. Her short fiction has been widely published in journals such as Smokelong Quarterly, Ambit and The Lonely Crowd. She has won the Bath Flash Fiction Award, a Word Factory Apprenticeship and a Northern Writers’ Award. Emily teaches creative writing workshops (@wordsmoor), co-hosts Word Factory’s Strike! Short Story Club and runs regular spoken word nights.

Ingrid Jendrzejewski

Ingrid Jendrzejewski,shortlisted with ‘As Yet Untitled’ studied creative writing and English Literature at the University of Evansville, then Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge. She currently serves as Co-Director National Flash Fiction Day (UK) and Editor-in-Chief of FlashFlood. She loves shortform writing in all its forms and has won awards such as the A Room of Her Own Foundation’s Orlando Prize for Flash Fiction and the Bath Flash Fiction Award. Her collection Things I Dream About When I’m Not Sleeping was a runner up in Bath Flash Fiction’s first Novella-in-Flash Competition. Find her online at www.ingridj.com and on Twitter @LunchOnTuesday.

Karen Jones

Karen Jones shortlisted with ‘Fair Days’ is a flash and short fiction writer from Glasgow. Her story ‘Small Mercies’ was included in Best Small Fictions 2019. She has won 1st prize in Cambridge Flash, Reflex, and Flash 500 and 2nd prize in Fractured Lit’s Micro Fiction Competition. She has been shortlisted for Bath Short Story Award five times. Her first novella-in-flash When It’s Not Called Making Love is published by Ad Hoc Fiction and her ekphrastic novella-in-flash Burn It All Down is published by Arroyo Seco Press. She is an editor for the National Flash Fiction Day Anthology.

Anna Linstrum

Anna Linstrum, shortlisted with ‘Diana Ball’ began acting professionally when she was fourteen before becoming a theatre director in her twenties, working for nearly two decades in new writing and musicals, in the West End and internationally, until a combination of the pandemic and late motherhood shifted her focus to writing. She has since had three plays broadcast on Radio 4, and her fiction has been shortlisted for The Alpine Fellowship Prize, The HG Wells Story Competition, and longlisted for the Fish Publishing prize as well as (twice) for The Bristol Short Story Prize. She is currently writing a stage play.

Emily Macdonald

Emily Macdonald, shortlisted with ‘Ring-Tin Tin’ was born in England but grew up in New Zealand. She lives in London and works in the UK wine trade. She has short stories, flash and micro fiction published in anthologies and online journals such as Fictive Dream, Flash Frontier, Free Flash Fiction, Raw Lit, Roi Fainéant and The Phare. Her collection of driving related stories, Wheel Spin and Traction, was published in November 2023.

Jay Mckenzie

Jay McKenzie shortlisted with ‘Jellyfish’ is the author of Mim and Wiggy’s Grand Adventure (Serenade Publishing, 2023). Her work has appeared at or is forthcoming in adda, Unleash, Bath Flash Fiction Anthology, Flash Fiction Magazine, The Ulu Review, Reverie, Roi Faineant and other publications. Winner of the Exeter Story Prize and others, she was shortlisted for the Exeter Novel Prize and the Commonwealth Short Story Prize. She is a nomadic Brit who has lived in Greece, Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea and Australia. She lives with her husband, daughter and too many cardigans. Find her at www.jaymckenzieauthor.com or on Instagram @jay_writes_books

Slawka G. Scarson

Slawka G. Scarso shortlisted with ‘First Anniversary’ works as a copywriter and translator. Her words have appeared in Gone Lawn, Ghost Parachute, Fractured Lit and Scrawl Place among others. Her debut novella in flash All Their Favourite Stories is available from Ad Hoc Fiction. Two of her stories are featured in the 2023 Best Microfiction Anthology. She lives in Italy. You can find her on X and Instagram as @nanopausa and on http://www.nanopausa.com