Many congratulations to all the writers shortlisted in our 2025 Award. They reached the final seventeen out of 915 entries. Authors are listed alphabetically by surname. You can read our judges’ general report on all the stories here. All these brilliant stories will be published in paperback in our 2025 anthology later this year. We’re looking forward to seeing them in print.
Lauren Collett
Lauren Collett shortlisted with her story ‘Strings’, is a British writer of short fiction. Her work has been shortlisted for several prizes, including the Manchester Fiction Prize, and her stories have been published in Mslexia, The Stinging Fly and various anthologies of both short and flash fiction. In 2024 she won the Mslexia Short Story Prize. She is working on a story collection and a novel.
Malina Douglas
Malina Douglas shortlisted with her story, ‘We Are Europe’ is inspired by the encounters that shape us. In 2023 she was awarded first place in the Oxford Flash Fiction Prize and made the top three of the Leicester Writes Prize. Her suite of flash fictions was shortlisted by Defenestrationism and published on their website. Publications include the National Flash Fiction Day Anthology, Consequence Forum, WestWord Journal by Retreat West, Ginosko Literary, Typehouse and Because That’s Where Your Heart Is from Sans Press. She is an alumna of Smokelong Summer and is based in Tbilisi, Sakartvelo, where she runs weekly writing workshops. She can be found on BlueSky @iridescentwords.
Kathyrn Inns
Kathryn Inns, shortlisted with her story ‘Skin’ is a collector of myriad part-time employment while raising a small band of kids. Previous examples include museum services officer, animatronic dinosaur ranger, butterfly house assistant, exam invigilator and pickpocketing coach at a Dickensian literary festival. She is a Classical history obsessive whose passion for all things Greco-Roman drew her to distance learning, obtaining her MA in Classical Studies through The Open University. She enjoys visiting historical heritage sites and anywhere open, bracing and full of trees. She lives in Kent with her family and obscenely small dog.
Morwenna Lawson
Morwenna Lawson, shortlisted with her story, ‘Wheels’ typed two chapters of a novel on her mum’s Olivetti aged six. She went on to become a magazine journalist, covering an assortment of topics from holistic health to homes and food. She has tried her hand at astrology writing (Gemini) and was online editor for an events company in Singapore. Her short stories and poems are influenced by all of those eclectic roles. She has previously made it to the Long-Longlist of the Brick Lane Bookshop Short Story Prize and is currently halfway through an MA in Creative Writing at the Arts University Bournemouth. You can find her @wordfairy.co.uk
Rosaleen Lynch
Rosaleen Lynch, shortlisted with her story, ‘Waterghosts’ is an Irish community worker, teacher and writer in London, with work selected for the Wigleaf Top 50 2023, Best Small Fictions 2024 and Best of the Net 2024 and is currently researching the power of stories to promote social change.
Aislinn Kelly-Lyth
Aislinn Kelly-Lyth, shortlisted with her story, ‘Shelter’ lives and writes in London. Her short fiction has featured or is forthcoming in Fictive Dream, Rock and a Hard Place Magazine, and pendemic.ie. She was Highly Commended in the Costa Short Story Award 2020. She studied law at university, and works as a barrister.
Katie Oliver
Katie Oliver, shortlisted with her story ‘A Study in Evolution’ is a writer based on the West Coast of Ireland. Her debut short fiction collection, I Wanted To Be Close To You, was published in 2022 by Fly on the Wall Press, and her follow up collection, Ingrown, is forthcoming in 2026.
Ella Plevin
Ella Plevin, shortlisted with her story, ‘The Egg’ is a writer from London. Her short fiction has appeared in The Cambridge Review of Books and Somesuch Stories. She holds an MSt from the University of Cambridge and a BA from Camberwell College of Arts. She is also a contributing editor at Marfa Journal.
Jennifer Riddalls
Jennifer Riddalls, shortlisted with her story ‘What Would Dog Do’ is a frequent shortlistee and occasional winner of short story competitions. Scottish, but living in England, she shares her home with her husband, three boys, three cats, and a tortoise who thinks he’s the main character. Her dark stories tend to wander into the weird, the tender, and the slightly twisted.
Amy Jane Stewart
Amy Jane Stewart, shortlisted with her story, ‘My sister is making cocido’ is a writer from the Scottish Borders. She won the New Writing North & Word Factory Northern Apprentice Award in 2021, and the Mairtín Crawford Prize for Short Story in 2022. She holds an MA in Creative Writing from York St John University and is studying for a Creative Writing PhD at the University of Sheffield. In 2023, she received a grant from Creative Scotland to write her debut novel, Hex House, which is forthcoming from Titan Books in 2026. She is represented by Marilia Savvides at the Plot Agency.