Category Archives: Short Story Competition

Social isolation connects winners of 2024 Short Story Competition

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Dilys Lovell has won the 2024 Shooter Short Story Competition with her remote island tale, “The Bunker”, while Richard Garcka has come runner-up with his crime fiction, “Sphinx Wheels Fright”. While Lovell’s story revolves around a girl struggling with her beautiful yet isolated existence, Garcia’s protagonist is set apart on the mental plane by his unusual aptitude for numbers.

Shooter’s readers and contest judge, editor Melanie Sykes-White, appreciated Lovell’s vivid description of her setting and handling of the central conundrum for her main character, who is torn between safety and experience of the wider world. Lovell, a teacher living in Glasgow, has previously published short fiction and poetry in Passages North, Carve Magazine, Rust & Moth, Scribble, Potato Soup Journal, and elsewhere. Her short story collection Moon over Water will be published in 2025. 

Garcka achieved second place in the competition with “Sphinx Wheels Fright”, a police detective fiction revolving around an intriguing battle of wits. Garcka, a retiree who writes across various genres, has had short stories published by AudioArcadia, Arts Quarter Books, Michael Terrance Publishing, Cranked Anvil, Bandit Fiction and Spellbinder.

In addition to the contest winners, three shortlisted writers gained honourable mentions: Ronan Ryan for “I Have Never Complained About Pain”, Matthew Hurt for “Bubbles”, and Sofie De Smyter for “Q&A”.

Both “The Bunker” and “Sphinx Wheels Fright” are available to read on Shooter’s website, while Lovell’s story also appears in the Autumn/Winter 2024 issue of Shooter, which is themed “Coming of Age”. Print copies of the magazine can be ordered at the Subscriptions page.

The 2025 Shooter Poetry Competition is now open to submissions, while the 2025 Shooter Short Story Competition will open mid-year. Until then, prose writers are welcome to submit flash fiction and non-fiction to the monthly Shooter Flash contest on a rolling basis. General submissions for Shooter’s Spring/Summer 2025 issue will open to all in the new year.

In the meantime, happy reading, and happy holidays from Shooter Literary Magazine!

Unsettling Tales Scoop 2023 Short Story Awards

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Alice Gwynn has won the 2023 Shooter Short Story Competition with her eerie, twisting tale, “The Ones Who Came Before”, while Edward Barnfield has come runner-up with his dystopian fiction, “Isolation”.

Shooter’s readers and judge, editor Melanie White, appreciated Gwynn’s atmospheric tale for its evocative descriptions and skilful handling of plot twists in a story with deeper undercurrents of identity and loss. Gwynn, a British ex-pat who lives in New Hampshire in the US, said via email that a trip to the UK last year inspired her piece, which is set in the grounds of an ancient castle. Gwynn writes flash fiction and poetry as well as short stories, and has previously published work in Prachya Review, Grey Sparrow Journal, Consequence Magazine, Wilderness House Literary Review, and elsewhere.

Barnfield achieved second place in the competition with “Isolation”, a subtle dystopian fiction with creeping menace that contest readers found particularly convincing. Barnfield, a researcher living in the Middle East, has had work published by Roi Fainéant Press, Ellipsis Zine, The Molotov Cocktail, Third Street Review, Galley Beggar Press, and others.

In addition to the contest winners, two writers gained honorable mentions for their stories: Bethany Wren, for “Rosemary, Patron Saint of Honey”, and Joe Wheelan, for “Unravelled”.

Both “The Ones Who Came Before” and “Isolation” are available to read on Shooter’s website, while Gwynn’s story also appears in the Autumn/Winter 2023 issue of Shooter, which is themed “The Unknown”. Print copies of the magazine can be ordered at the Subscriptions page.

The 2024 Shooter Poetry Competition will open early in the new year, while the 2024 Shooter Short Story Competition will open mid-year. Until then, prose writers are welcome to submit flash fiction and non-fiction to the monthly Shooter Flash contest on a rolling basis. General submissions for Shooter’s Spring/Summer 2024 issue will open to all in the new year.

In the meantime, happy reading, and happy holidays from Shooter Literary Magazine!

Witch trials inspire 2022 story comp winner

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Lynette Creswell has won the 2022 Shooter Short Story Competition with “Malkin Tower”, a tale inspired by the Pendle witch trials of 1612.

Shooter’s competition readers and judge, editor Melanie White, were quickly caught up by Creswell’s suspenseful storytelling and vivid 17th-century setting. In an email, Creswell wrote, “I felt compelled to write the story after hearing the true events of Jannet Devices, a local nine-year-old girl who in the 17th century sent ten innocent souls to their deaths.”

Creswell, who lives in Lincolnshire, has published several fantasy and romance novels (including Sinners of Magic, the first of a trilogy), as well as a children’s book, Hoglets’ Christmas Magic. Her story “A Slice of Cake” won the Society of Women Writers and Journalists’ short story competition in 2019.

Dean Gessie came runner-up in Shooter’s story competition with “Nobody Knows How Much You Love Him”, a tale about a child’s illness skilfully interwoven with metafictional allusions. Gessie, a Canadian author and poet, has won numerous international awards for his writing, including this year’s Aesthetica Creative Writing Award for poetry. His short story collection, Anthropocene, won an Eyelands Book Award in Greece and the Uncollected Press Prize in Maryland, USA.

One story also earned an honourable mention this year: Jeremy Smith’s “Pulpit Politics”, for its deft handling of topical immigration themes. Smith, a charity administrator who lives in London, has been published recently in Popshot Quarterly.

Both “Malkin Tower” and “Nobody Knows How Much You Love Him” are available to read online, and “Malkin Tower” will also appear in Shooter’s forthcoming Out West issue. Congratulations to this year’s winning writers!