ENSFR

Residency: BCLT Translation Residencies
2025-11-03
The BCLT residencies are designed to be a collaboration between the translators-in-residence and the BCLT, whose main activities focus on the promotion of literary translation both as a professional activity and an academic discipline. We will work with the chosen translators to shape the role in accordance with their individual interests and skills. The residencies give the translators the opportunity to explore an area of literary translation and language that fascinates them, as well as the precious time to translate in a supportive environment.
BCLT translators-in-residence will:

work with the BCLT in the School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing, UEA, for one day a week (excluding the Spring break), for four months, as follows, 1 February 2026 to 31 May 2026. The residencies can be flexible in terms of whether they are in-person on campus each week or virtually. However, we would expect each translator to come to campus at least once per fortnight (or equivalent) during the residency.
Contribute to the programme of public events offered by the BCLT, which includes literary translation workshops, as well as research seminars and symposia, in order to extend and enhance the BCLT’s programme, working in conjunction with BCLT staff.
Seek opportunities for engagement with research staff and graduate students within the School and Faculty more widely, as well as the community of literary translators on the MA in Literary Translation and beyond by organising readings and events related to literary translation.
Write one blog per month about the experience of the residency at the BCLT to be published on the NewWriting.net website

As translator-in-residence at the BCLT you may also be expected to:

Lead a student tutorial / workshop for the MA in Literary Translation students at UEA
Seek opportunities to work with the translation archive at the British Archive for Contemporary Writing, housed in the UEA Library

Person Specification
It is essential for each resident:

To be a practising literary translator, working with any language(s), based in the UK, and with a project currently in progress, preferably prose fiction
To have a keen interest in and enthusiasm for the process of translation and cross-cultural dialogue
To be able to work independently, as well as in a team
To have excellent communication skills (both verbal and written)
To have an interest in research in literary translation studies, with a focus on making a contribution to the BCLT’s research programme
To have an interest in the professional development of literary translators

It is desirable for each resident to have:

Some experience of leading workshops
Some experience of publishing written and online content

A stipend of £3,200.00 is available as remuneration for each residency, intended to cover any travel and accommodation costs incurred during the residency. There will also be a small budget to support developing activities. This stipend may be subject to tax.
How to apply
Please send the following documents:

your CV
a covering letter explaining why you are interested in becoming a translator-in-residence at the BCLT (no more than 400 words)
a proposal (not more than 300 words) outlining what ideas and activities you would plan to pursue during your time as translator-in-residence

Please send your application by 23.59 (GMT) on Monday 3 November 2025 preferably by email to: bclt@uea.ac.uk
Interviews are likely to take place online on Monday 8 December 2025.
Download full details of the BCLT Translators in Residence Scheme 2025/26

Event: Flash in Translation - online event - November 6th
2025-11-06 14:00 - 16:00 (Europe/London)
Come listen to the new flash fiction created by PesText festival members and ENSFR members!

Event: ENSFR Reading Group
2025-11-17 17:00 - 19:00 (Europe/Paris) | Zoom
The ENSFR Reading Group’s next meeting will take place on Monday 17th November at 5pm (UK time) on Zoom. We will be discussing the short story “Brokeback Mountain” by Annie Proulx.
Please email this address if you’re interested in joining and we will send you a Zoom link and more information: ensfrreadinggroup[at]gmail[dot]com

Event: In Conversation with the Founder of Dahlia Books
2025-11-24 18:00 - 19:30 (Europe/Paris) | Teams
The ENSFR is delighted to present an exclusive interview with Farhana Shaikh, the founder of Dahlia Books, a pioneering short story press championing diverse and underrepresented voices. Dahlia Books is a small independent publisher based in Leicester, UK which was established in 2010. They publish 2-4 books each year and build new audiences through their projects, The Asian Writer and Leicester Writes. Join us to discover the story behind the press, its mission to amplify diverse narratives through the short story, and the passion that drives its publishing ethos.

Competition Deadline: Inkspot Publishing’s Inaugural Short Story Competition
2025-11-30
From the competition website:
Following the sad demise of the Chipping Norton Literary Festival, Inkspot is picking up the baton and we’re looking forward to receiving entries from writers from far and wide.

Details

Judge: Kate Nash, Literary Agent
Sponsor: World Privilege Plus
Entry fee: £10 for stories up to 2,500 words. £15 for stories up to 5,000 words
Word Limit: 2,500 (£10), 5,000 (£15)
Deadline (Closing Date): 12 Midnight GMT, Sunday 30th November 2025
The shortlist will be announced on Friday 27th March 2026
Winners will be announced on Friday 10th April 2026.

Writers on low incomes are encouraged to email hello@inkspotpublishing.com and will be able to enter their stories for free. Proof of status may be required.

Enter here.

Competition Deadline: Fish Short Story Prize
2025-11-30
From the competition website:

Judge: Sean Lusk – Novelist and short story writer
Word Limit: 5,000
Closes: 30 Nov ’25
Results: 17 March ’26
Anthology Published: July ’26
Entry Fees: €24 / €16 subsequent entries. (Optional Critique €65)
Prizes:
Top ten stories will be published in the FISH ANTHOLOGY 2026.
1st: €3,000 plus 5 day Short Story Workshop at the West Cork Literary Festival.
2nd: €300 + Online Writing Course.
3rd: €300.
7 Honourable Mentions €200 each.

Enter here.

Competition Deadline: Chaotic Creators Magazine Short Story Contest
2025-12-06
From the competition website:

This competition is open to beginners, experts and anyone in between. The theme is romance.
The winner will receive a £50 cash prize (subject to increase if we receive more entries than anticipated), have their poem featured in the next issue of Chaotic Creators Magazine, and receive a free printed copy.
This is a fantastic opportunity to have your work published in a magazine. Please note that the entry fee for this competition is £10. Your support not only gives you a chance to get published but also helps us keep our platform running to support future artists.
We can’t wait to read your work!
Deadline for entry: 6th December 2025.
Enter here.

Event: Revisiting the 'Save Our Short Story' Campaign: A Retrospective Gathering
2025-12-09 18:00 - 19:30 (Europe/Paris) | Teams
The ENSFR invites you to a special event commemorating the legacy of the Save Our Short Story campaign — a landmark movement that rallied writers, scholars, and readers in defence of the short story form. Decades after its inception, this reunion brings together several of its original campaigners and literary advocates to reflect on its cultural impact and ongoing relevance.
The campaign was launched in 2002 by writer Margaret Wilkinson and rapidly attracted a broad coalition of advocates. With support from Arts Council England and the Scottish Arts Council, a research initiative was established to assess the condition of the short story in the UK. Book Marketing Limited (BML) undertook an analysis of publishing trends, sales data, and national patterns in reading and purchasing behaviour. Jenny Brown Associates led the following phase of research in 2003, conducting original studies including authors, literary agents, publishers, event organisers, and booksellers to explore prevailing attitudes toward the creation, representation, and commercialisation of short stories and collections.
Confirmed Speakers
Jenny Brown (Jenny Brown Associates, UK)
Moira Forsyth (former Director of Sandstone Press, Scotland)
Nicholas Royle (editor of Best British Short Stories)
And possibly more.
Join the Teams link here:
Revisiting the ‘Save Our Short Story’ Campaign: A Retrospective Gathering | Meeting-Join | Microsoft Teams

Event: Online Reading Group, 15th December 2025 at 5PM (UK time)
2025-12-15 17:00 - 18:30 (Europe/Paris) | Zoom
The last short fiction reading group meeting before Christmas will take place (via Zoom) on Monday 15th December at 5pm (UK time). During the meeting, we will be discussing Ines’ reading suggestion: the short story “Lost in the Louvre” by Lucia Berlin. You can access it from this link.
Our conversation will focus on the following key questions that Ines has selected:

In your opinion, what is this short story about?
Due to their restricted length, short stories often draw on intermedial and intertextual references to maximise their effect. Which authors, books and artworks are present as an influence in “Lost in the Louvre”?
What is the relationship between imagination and reality in this short story?
What is the role of death in this short story?
How is time represented in this short story?
What do we learn about the narrator-protagonist and her relationship to other characters?

Join Zoom meeting.

Competition Deadline: Globe Soup Open Short Story Competition
2025-12-16
From the competition website:

Our 2024 Open Short Story Competition is open to writers of all genres and styles. Whether you write sci-fi, historical, horror, or anything else, we want to read your story!
WORDS: 8,000 max (no minimum)
CLOSING DATE: 23:59 (UK time) 16th Dec, 2025
WINNER ANNOUNCED: 10th Feb, 2026

Enter here.

Competition Deadline: InterAct Stroke Support's Ruth Rendell Short Story Competition
2025-12-21
From the competition website:

Previously judged by the late thriller and murder mystery author, Ruth Rendell CBE – InterAct’s Short Story Competition is now named after her. The competition is more recently judged by Margaret Drabble DBE; biographer, novelist and short story writer.
The top 3 stories are shortlisted and performed by professional actors that work for InterAct. It is a biennial competition and the ceremony takes place at the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond.
The winner of the competition will be commissioned to write four further stories for InterAct Stroke Support over the course of one year, and will receive £1,000 in payment.
The next winner will be chosen by Head Judge Dame Margaret Drabble in an Awards Ceremony in 2026.

Enter here.

Call for Papers: CFP due date December 31st, 2025 Microfiction & Intertextuality, Thessaloniki, 7-9 October 2026
2025-12-31
The School of Philology and the School of Italian Language and Literature, the Faculty of Philosophy, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH) invite you to participate in the XIII International Conference on Microfiction, entitled “Microfiction and Intertextuality,” which they are co-organizing. The conference will be a joint in-person and remote event. The conference proceedings will focus on topics of interest to microfiction scholars around the world and will be held in Spanish and English.
The International XIII Conference on Microfiction will focus on various aspects, topics, techniques, and features of this genre, with particular emphasis on the phenomenon of intertextuality in literary discourse. Conference proposals are encouraged to address one or more of the following thematic axes, which reflect key intersections between microfiction and intertextuality, without, of course, being exhaustive:

Historical perspectives on the study of the relationship between microfiction and intertextuality.
Microfiction as an interdisciplinary field: current dynamics and critical perspectives.
Microfiction at the crossroads of genres: between poetry and prose.
National, transnational, comparative, synchronic, and diachronic approaches to microfiction.
Interartistic and intermedial studies in writing programs, interpretation, and the use of microfiction.
Intertextuality and digital technologies for writing, reading, and researching microfiction.
Microfiction and contemporary production: from intertextuality to hypertext? The future of microfiction.

Interested participants are kindly requested to send their proposals by December 31st, 2025, to the conference email address 13microfiction@gmail.com, filling out the attached form (in Spanish or English) with the following information: title, abstract of up to 300 words, thematic axis, brief CV. Presentations will be strictly limited to 15 minutes in order to maintain the schedule. Proposals may be individual and/or collaborative.
Please note the time difference, as the Conference will be held in the Europe/Athens UTC+2 EET time zone from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. (real-time sessions).
Notification regarding the acceptance or rejection of proposals will be sent within three months of the submission deadline (March 2026). Participation as a delegate and attendance at the conference are free of charge. The conference proceedings will be published digitally. The International Conferences on Microfiction have been held biennially since 1998, under the auspices of universities and other academic institutions, in various cities around the world.
To view the conference website, click here.

Competition Deadline: Henshaw Press January Short Story Competition
2025-12-31
From the competition website:

Deadline: 31 December 2025
Entry Fee: £6 per entry (additional fee of £14 for a critique)
Prizes: First prize: £200; second prize: £150; third prize: £50
Word Limit: 2,000 words

Enter here.

Event: Charles E. May’s Short Story Theories’ 50th Anniversary Roundtable
2026-01-12 18:00 - 19:00 (Europe/London) | Teams
Join us as we honour the enduring legacy of Charles E. May’s Short Story Theories (1976), a landmark work that reshaped how we read, teach, and think about short fiction. This special event marks the 50th anniversary of its publication; a moment to reflect on its impact and celebrate the vibrant community of short story scholars, writers, and readers it continues to inspire.

Speakers
Michael Basseler (Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Germany)
Michael Collins (King’s College London, UK)
Ailsa Cox (Edge Hill University, UK)
Andrea Marzocchi (University of Surrey, UK)
Join the Teams link here:
Charles E. May’s Short Story Theories’ 50th Anniversary Roundtable | Meeting-Join | Microsoft Teams

Michael Basseler is Academic Manager at the International Graduate Centre for the Study of Culture (GCSC), Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany. He has published widely on the (American) short story and short story theory, including his monograph An Organon of Life Knowledge: Genres and Functions of the Short Story in North America (2019), A History of the American Short Story (2011, ed. with Ansgar Nünning) as well as a book chapter on “Current Approaches to the American Short Story” (in Handbook of the American Short Story, 2022, eds. Erik Redling and Oliver Scheiding). Michael is a founding steering committee member of the European Network for Short Fiction Research.
Michael Collins is a Reader in American Studies at KCL and Chair of the British Association for American Studies. He is the author of two monographs, The Drama of the American Short Story and Exoteric Modernisms: Progressive Era Realism and the Aesthetics of Everyday Life and co-editor of The Cambridge Companion to the American Short Story (with Gavin Jones). He has published numerous articles in a range of journals, specifically (though not exclusively) focused on short fiction. Most recently, he has been working on topics relating to intelligence testing, The Panama Canal, and the American Civil Service in literature and culture.
Ailsa Cox is the world’s first Professor of Short Fiction. Her books include Alice Munro ;Writing Short Stories ; The Mind’s Eye: Alice Munro’s Dance of the Happy Shades with Christine Lorre; and Reading Alice Munro’s Breakthrough Books, in collaboration with Tim Struthers, Corinne Bigot and Catherine Sheldrick Ross. She has written extensively on other writers including Katherine Mansfield, Helen Simpson, Daisy Johnson and Jon McGregor, and is principal editor of the peer-reviewed journal Short Fiction in Theory and Practice. Her own fiction has been widely published, most recently in the mini-collection Precipitation.
Andrea Marzocchi is a PhD candidate in the School of Literature and Languages at the University of Surrey. His research focuses on the aesthetic of the sublime and the functions it performs in realist American short fiction: from opening dimensions of expansiveness to encoding the affects and power dynamics that characterize the contemporary world. Since May 2024, Andrea has been running a podcast dedicated to short fiction. The podcast is entitled A Small, Good Thing after a short story by Raymond Carver and it features interviews with writers, academics, publishers, and short story enthusiasts.

Residency: Writer in the Park Ljubljana Residency 2026, Open Call
2026-01-19
Ljubljana, a UNESCO City of Literature since 2015, offers two one-month residencies for writers at the Švicarija/Swisshouse Creative Centre, which is part of the International Centre of Graphic Arts.
Each residency lasts one month per applicant. The residency periods are April 1–30, 2026, and November 1–30, 2026. The dates are non-negotiable, but a shorter stay is possible if required due to travel arrangements. Extra nights cannot be covered by the organizer, though organizational assistance can be provided.
About the Residency:
Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, was named World Book Capital in 2010. After being designated a UNESCO City of Literature in 2015 – the first in the country – it joined a growing global network of cities, committed to actively promoting literature and reading culture, while engaging in activities that strengthen collaboration in the fields of writing and publishing.
Ljubljana boasts a vibrant art scene and offers an array of diverse literary events, ranging from alternative performances to major international festivals. This highly regarded residency, established in 2018, provides peace and quiet for uninterrupted writing, while also offering opportunities to actively participate in the city’s literary life.
The deadline for applications is 19 January 2026. For full details about the residency, including how to apply, click here.

Event: Online Talk, Elizabeth Gaskell’s Short Stories – An Introduction
2026-01-21 19:00 - 20:00 (Europe/Paris) | Elizabeth Gaskell House
Join popular speaker Elizabeth Williams for this intriguing introduction to a different side of Elizabeth Gaskell’s story-telling.
Better known for her classic novels, Elizabeth Gaskell was a prolific writer of short stories. Charles Dickens knew this and encouraged her to write for his literary magazine.
Works like the much-loved Cranford started as short stories. Others, like Libbie Marsh’s Three Eras and Lizzie Leigh, drew on themes of female friendship, industrialism and class relations that would later feature in novels such as Mary Barton or North and South.
So, where did Elizabeth Gaskell get her ideas from? What inspired her to write in this format and why did she cover so many genres?

Event: ENSFR reading group, January meeting
2026-01-26 17:00 - 18:30 (Europe/Paris) | Zoom
This year’s first short fiction reading group meeting will take place (via Zoom) on Monday 26th January at 5pm (UK time). Below, you can find information on how to join the online meeting room.
During the meeting, we will be discussing Paul’s reading suggestion: the short story “Butterflies” by Samanta Schweblin. It is a very short story at just a page long. You can access the short story, as well as a five-minute video of the reading of the story, from the links below:
Samanta Schweblin: Butterflies – Bookanista
Reading of Butterflies Video
Our conversation will focus on the following key questions that Paul has selected:
Q1) To what extent does the brevity of the story heighten the protagonist’s emotional intensity at the ending?
Q2) What symbolic role do the butterflies play within the narrative?
Q3) In what ways does the story construct or critique masculinity?
Q4) How is parenthood depicted, and what tensions or expectations surround it in the story?
Q5) How is Nature represented, and what thematic significance does it carry?
Q6) Does the story align more closely with gothic fiction, ecological writing, or family drama—or does it deliberately blend multiple genres? What might this hybridity suggest about the expressive power and intensity of the short story form?
Join the zoom here: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86043265746?pwd=[REDACTED]

Call for Papers: ENSFR Annual Conference, Artois 2026
2026-01-31 | University of Artois, Arras, France
In Different Shapes: The Short Story and Its Modes of Circulation in Magazines and Newspapers

10–12 June 2026 / 10-12 juin 2026/ 10–12 de junio de 2026
Laboratoire Textes et Cultures (UR4058), Université d’Artois
Invités d’honneur / Invited Speakers / Invitados de honor
Elizabeth Baines
Paul Delaney, Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin
Numerous studies link the birth of the short story to the most primitive myths (see, among others, Delaney, May). As a literary genre, the first examples appeared in the 19th century, although it must be acknowledged that the first buds were already visible in Boccaccio’s Decameron (1353), Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales (1387), and Cervantes’s Exemplary Novels (1613). In the 19th century, it seems that practitioners of this emerging genre moved away from Voltaire-style philosophical tales and fables, turning their attention to inner worlds and characters. The ordinary they are interested in mainly has two faces: one realistic, the other darker, often associated with the fantastic, the gothic, even horror. As Jonathan Daniel Wells explains, magazines in the United States were “modeled . . . after European journals like Graham’s Magazine and the Edinburgh review” (3). They were often meant to reflect life in specific region and, when circulated largely, to promote tourism. Some publications, such as Le Chat noir in France or the illustrated Madrid-based magazine Blanco y Negro in Spain, were intended, like the New Yorker some years later, to advertise cultural events and venues while publishing renowned artists and offering a platform for those trying to make themselves known.
Following the ideas initiated at the Leuven conference in 2017 on the short story, its contexts and co-texts, the 2026 ENSFR conference will be devoted to short forms appearing in magazines and newspapers. We will consider any story printed in such media but also stories that were solely published in magazines and newspapers (as opposed to stories that were later collected in book form), adapted into film or into longer works of fiction (as is often the case with “stories” that appear in the fiction section of The New Yorker, in Granta or in academic journals such as TriQuarterly). Panelists may also work on any short form to be found in magazines (commercials, letters to the editor, notes…) as well as illustrated stories—the illustrations providing yet another story to explore, as Stuart Sillars demonstrates and as suggested by the success in Spain of publications such as La Ilustración Española y Americana or, later, El Cuento Semanal. Writers often admit that some of their stories were inspired from actual events that they read about in the press, heard about on the radio… How are such news items turned into fiction? Are they made more sensational, more topical? How do readers respond to them? In the Spanish context, contributors may also examine how writers managed to adapt under Francoism to a constrained context marked by strong ideological control, as the magazine Ínsula did. Certain magazines target a specific audience, and it could be stimulating to reflect upon writers’ ability to please (at least on the surface) literary editors. What role do academic journals or journals closely connected to academic circles play as laboratories of the genre? Such publications also examine the dynamics of consolidation or emancipation of the tropes of the genre, while posing the eternal question of the tumultuous relationship between short stories and the publishing industry that differs from their relationship with the press. In the nineteenth century, stories were often referred to as “articles,” “tales” or “sketches” (see Goyet, and, among others, Monfort)—how does this influence our understanding of the texts? What are the differences between stories printed in magazines and those printed in newspapers? The conference will give us an opportunity to discuss magazine publication with several authors and critics (Elizabeth Baines, and Paul Delaney have confirmed their presence) and see how magazine and newspaper publication has evolved since its earliest forms.
Deadline for submissions (200 words and a bio statement): January 31, 2026. Send your proposal to caroline.lyvet@univ-artois.fr and gerald.preher@univ-artois.fr
Languages: French, English, Spanish
Conference fees: 80 euros (60 for doctoral students).

Bibliographie sélective/ Select Bibliography/Bibliografía selectiva
Aji, Hélène ; Céline Mansanti and Benoît Tadié. Revues modernistes, revues engagées. Rennes: PU Rennes, 2011.
Baquero Goyanes, Mariano, El cuento español en el siglo XIX, Madrid, CSIC, Instituto Miguel de Cervantes, 1949
Boddy, Kasia. The American Short Story since 1950. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 2010.
Casas, Ana, El cuento español en la posguerra. Presencia del relato breve en las revistas literarias (1948–1969), Madrid, Marenostrum, 2007.
Colin, Claire. L’Événement dans la nouvelle contemporaine. Paris : Garnier, 2018.
Corey, Mary F. The World Through a Monocle: The New Yorker at Midcentury. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1999.
Delaney, Paul, and Adrian Hunter, eds. Edinburgh Companion to the Short Story in English. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 2019. [chapter on ‘little magazines’]
D’hoker, Elke, and Chris Mourant, eds. The Modern Short Story and the Magazines, 1880-1950. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 2022.
Dietz, Laura. “Online versus Print: The Reputation of Literary Fiction Magazine.” Short Fiction in Theory and Practice 4.1 (2014): 7-21.
Ezama Gil, Ángeles, El cuento de la prensa y otros cuentos. Aproximación al estudio del relato breve entre 1890 y 1900, Zaragoza, Prensas de la Universidad de Zaragoza, 1992.
Godenne, René. Études sur la nouvelle de langue française. 1985. Genève : Slatkine, 2005.
Godenne, René. La Nouvelle française. Paris : PUF, 1974.
Goyet, Florence. La Nouvelle, 1870-1925 : Description d’un genre et son apogée. Paris: PUF, 1993.
Green, Fiona, ed. Writing for The New Yorker. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 2015.
Jacquelin, Evelyne, and Béatrice Ferrier, eds. Voix et voies du conte : Les mutations d’un genre. Arras: APU, 2019.
March-Russell, Paul. The Short Story: An Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 2009.
May, Charles E. The Short Story: The Reality of Artifice. New York: Twayne, 1995.
May, Charles E., ed. The New Short Story Theories. Athens: Ohio UP, 1994.
Monfort, Bruno. “La nouvelle et son mode de publication: Le cas américain.” Poétique 90 (Avril 1992) : 153-71.
Morris, Ian; Joanne Diaz and Jeffrey Lependorf, eds. The Little Magazine in Contemporary America. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2015
Sillars, Stuart. “The Illustrated Short Story: Toward a Typology.” The Art of Brevity: Excursions in Short Fiction Theory and Analysis. Eds. Per Winther, Jakob Lothe, and Hans Skei. Columbia: U of South Carolina P, 2004. 70-80.
Reynès-Delobel, Anne; Cécile Cottenet and Benoît Tadié, eds. Investigating Big Magazines, 1860-1960. Spec. issue of Journal of Modernist Periodical Studies, 10-2, 2020.
Stein, Lorin and Sadie Stein, eds. Object Lessons: The Paris Review Presents the Art of the Short Story. London: William Heinemann, 2012.
Tadié, Benoît, ed. Revues modernistes anglo-américaines : Lieux d’échanges, lieux d’exil. Paris: Ent’revues, 2006.
Valls, Fernando, Sombras del tiempo. Estudios sobre el cuento español contemporáneo (1944–2015), Madrid / Frankfurt, Iberoamericana – Vervuert, 2016.
Viegnes, Michel. L’Esthétique de la nouvelle française au XXe siècle. Berne : Peter Lang, 1989.
Viegnes, Michel. L’œuvre au bref, la nouvelle de langue française depuis 1900. Genève : Éditions La Baconnière, 2014.
Wells, Jonathan Daniel. Women Writers and Journalists in the Nineteenth-Century South. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2011.
Whitehead, Sarah. “Reader as Consumer: The Magazine Short Story.” Short Fiction in Theory and Practice 1.1 (2011): 71-84.

Comité d’organisation/Organizing Committee
Caroline Lyvet, Université d’Artois
Gerald Preher, Université d’Artois

Comité scientifique/Scientific Commitee
Jochen Achilles, University of Würzburg
Charlotte Arnautou, Université d’Artois
Michael Basseler, Justus Liebig University Giessen
Colette Colligan, Université d’Angers
Ailsa Cox, Edge Hill University
Elke D’hoker, KU Leuven
Solveig Dunkel, Université de Lille
Xavier Escudero, Université d’Artois
Xavier Lachazette, Le Mans Université
Xavier Le Brun, Université d’Angers
Laura Ma Lojo-Rodríguez, University of Santiago de Compostela
Caroline Lyvet, Université d’Artois
Cécile Meynard, Université d’Angers
Céline Pegorari, Université Paul Valéry Montpellier
Virginie Roche Tiengo, Université d’Artois
Gerald Preher, Université d’Artois
Patricia Rochwert-Zuili, Université d’Artois
Michelle Ryan, Université d’Angers
Jorge Sacido-Romero, University of Santiago de Compostela
Oliver Scheiding, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
Catherine Seltzer, Virginia Commonwealth University
Frédérique Spill, Université de Picardie Jules Verne
Peter Templeton, The Open University
Mikael Toulza, Université de Lille

Competition Deadline: Bristol Short Story Prize
2026-01-31
From the competition website:
We are delighted to announce that the Bristol Short Story Prize is once again open for submissions. We accept entries of up to 4000 words from any genre and from published and unpublished authors alike.
Enter by 31 January 2026 for the chance to win £1500 and publication in the Bristol Short Story anthology. All shortlisted entries will receive £50, be published in our print anthology and receive a free copy.
1st Prize: £1500
2nd Prize: £500
3rd Prize: £250
Deadline: 31 January
Enter here.

Competition Deadline: Ironclad Short Story Competition
2026-01-31
From the competition website:
The Ironclad Creative Short Story Competition is for both published and unpublished writers.
We aim to run four short story competitions each year.
Prize winning and shortlisted writers will be published in our April 2026 anthology.
We accept any length of story up to 6k words.
Deadline: 31 January
Enter here.

Competition Deadline: Parracombe Prize
2026-01-31
From the competition website:
Welcome to Parracombe Prize 2026. It’s the short story competition that started small and went global, now in its sixth year. With the Parracombe Prize, no writer gets overlooked. Every submitted story is read by a panel of judges, which includes published writers. Long listed entries are re-read twice more and those in line for publication are debated, dissected and discussed at length. A cash prize of £150 goes to the winning author, with a second prize of £50 and two £25 prizes also up for grabs. There’s a prize for local writers, too. Anyone living in the postcodes EX31 to EX39 is eligible for the £50 award.
Entry is open from 1 November 2025 to 31 January 2026. At just £5, we’ve kept the entry fee the same because we don’t want anyone deterred by cost. As far as content goes, it’s free choice. We’re not looking for themes or special subjects, only stories that come in at or below 2026 words. All profits are funnelled towards good causes in our small corner of Exmoor. The anthology of our 35 favourite stories will be launched at Parracombe’s annual arts and literary festival in May and will be available from this website, in our community shop and on Amazon.
Deadline: 31 January
Enter here.

Competition Deadline: Claret Press Short Story Competition
2026-02-01
From the competition website:

We’re looking for stories that reflect today’s politics. The deadline for entries is 1st February, 2026.

Deadline: 1 February
Enter here.

Competition Deadline: Writers' & Artists' Short Story Competition
2026-02-13
From the competition website:

Enter our free annual short story competition and be in with a chance of winning a place on an Arvon Residential Writing Week (worth £985) as well as seeing your story published on our site.
To enter, all you have to do is submit a short story (for adults) of no more than 2,000 words on the theme of play via our online competition form, and ensure that you have a (free!) account on our website. You can attach your entry in either txt, pdf, doc, or docx format, while you can add your contact details and a little bit of information about yourself and your writing experience in the ‘Covering letter’ field if you’d like.
The closing date for entries is midnight 13th February 2026, and the winner – along with two runners-up – will be announced on the blog pages of this site in March 2026.

Enter here.

Event: Materiality in the Short Fiction of Alice Munro: Special Issue Launch
2026-02-16 18:00 - 19:00 (Europe/Paris) | Teams
This launch event celebrates the publication of a new Short Fiction in Theory and Practice special issue which critically examines materiality in the short fiction of Alice Munro (1931-2024). Throughout her fourteen collections of short stories, Munro has shown a clear interest in how her characters’ inner life and perception of the world are defined by the material things most immediate to them, as exemplified in the epigraph, a well-known quotation from Lives of Girls and Women. In Munro’s work, materiality is central to an understanding of social, gendered and individual existence, as the two are interconnected. Material things nurture the imagination, where they stick and develop as significant, unfathomable images. They physically anchor characters in the here and now, but they also speak to mind and spirit. Whether they are kept or discarded, over time, they haunt the protagonist and lead on to chains of memories, repeatedly re-membered, and with variations. They may become symbols of something larger than themselves, but more often than not they remain images stored up in memory, as so many active links to the past that transform the perception of the present.
Link to join and watch the event:
Materiality in the Short Fiction of Alice Munro: Special Issue Launch | Meeting-Join | Microsoft Teams

The speakers
Corinne Bigot is Senior Lecturer in Postcolonial and British Literatures at the University of Toulouse Jean Jaurès, France. Her research interests include postcolonial (particularly Canadian) literature and the genre of the short story. She is the author of Alice Munro: Les silences de la nouvelle (2014) and the co-author, with Catherine Lanone, of Sunlight and Shadows: Alice Munro’s Dance of the Happy Shades (2014). She guest-edited a special issue of Commonwealth Essays and Studies called Alice Munro: Writing for Dear Life in 2015. She is the co-author, with J.R. (Tim) Struthers, Ailsa Cox and Catherine Sheldrick Ross of Reading Alice Munro’s Breakthrough Books (2024).
Ailsa Cox is the world’s first Professor of Short Fiction. Her books include Alice Munro (Northcote House 2003), Writing Short Stories (Routledge, 3 rd edition 2025); The Mind’s Eye: Alice Munro’s Dance of the Happy Shades with Christine Lorre (Fahrenheit 2015); and Reading Alice Munro’s Breakthrough Books, in collaboration with Tim Struthers, Corinne Bigot and Catherine Sheldrick Ross (EUP, 2024). She has written extensively on other writers including Katherine Mansfield, Helen Simpson, Daisy Johnson and Jon McGregor, and is principal editor of the peer-reviewed journal Short Fiction in Theory and Practice. Her own fiction has been widely published, most recently in the mini-collection Precipitation (Confingo 2025).
Christine Lorre is Professor of English at the University of Caen Normandy, France. She did her doctoral work on Canadian literature at the Sorbonne Nouvelle. Her research since then has focused on postcolonial literature and arts and is located in various areas where gender, the postcolonial, globalisation, cross-cultural transfers, and environmental humanities converge. Among other publications, she is the co-author, with Ailsa Cox, of The Mind’s Eye: Alice Munro’s Dance of the Happy Shades (Fahrenheit, 2015) and the co-editor with Eleonora Rao, of Space and Place in Alice Munro’s Fiction: A Book with Maps in It (Camden House, 2018). She is currently the President of the Société des Études Postcoloniales (SPEC; the French Society for Postcolonial Studies) and of the European Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies (EACLALS).

Event: A look at Ireland’s Basic Income for the Arts
2026-02-22 12:00 - 14:00 (Europe/Paris) | online
In this session, we’ll explore the Irish Income for the Arts programme, which has supported artists’ incomes and helped retain talent in the sector since 2022. The scheme has awarded a weekly payment of €325 for 2,000 artists selected at random. With the pilot scheme ending in February 2026, this will be an opportunity to explore how it works, the impact it’s had on artist and the cultural scene in Ireland, and to discuss what a similar scheme would look like in Wales.

The panel will include a representative from the Basic Income for the Arts Research Team at the Irish Government; an Irish writer, Elaine Garvey, who is a recipient of the scheme; and a changemaker from Wales. More details to be announced soon.
Language: Welsh and English, with simultaneous translation service

Event: Next Generation Short Story Awards
2026-02-26
The Next Generation Short Story Awards is a not-for-profit awards program open to authors writing original unpublished short stories (5,000 words or less per story) in English. Brought to you by the Next Generation Indie Book Awards (NGIBA) and Independent Book Publishing Professionals Group (IBPPG), the 2026 Next Generation Short Story Awards offers 30+ categories, and is open to all authors, even first-time authors, in the U.S., Canada or internationally.
The top short stories will be considered for a cash prize, gold medal, complimentary invitation to attend the annual NGIBA awards gala where you will be recognized if your story is a Grand Prize Winner, literary exposure, inclusion in an annual anthology, and recognition as one of the top short stories written this year!
The Next Generation Short Story Awards will honor and award 1 Winner and 3 Finalists in each of the 30+ categories and 3 Grand Prize Winners from all entries submitted this year. Winners and Finalists will receive the following:
Grand Prize Winners: $500 cash prize for 1st plus a trophy; $300 cash prize for 2nd; $200 cash prize for 3rd. Plus all Grand Prize Winners will receive a gold medal, complimentary invitation to attend the NGIBA awards gala, story and author bio published in the Anthology of Winners along with a complimentary copy of the Anthology of Winners.
Winners in each of 30+ Categories: $75 cash prize, gold medal, story and author bio published in the Anthology of Winners along with a complimentary copy of the Anthology of Winners.
Finalists: Story title and author name mentioned in the Anthology of Winners along with the Anthology of Winners available to purchase at half price. Beginning with the 2026 awards year, Finalists will be able to order medals.
Other Benefits: Exposure for a full year as a Winner or Finalist on the Next Generation Short Story Awards website, social media coverage, complimentary Winner or Finalist gold award sticker image to display on writers’ social media, potential literary acknowledgements and accolades.
The entry deadline date for the 2026 awards program is Thursday, February 26, 2026.

Competition Deadline: Edinburgh Short Story Award 2026
2026-02-28
From the competition website:

Open to writers worldwide, published and unpublished
For short stories on any topic up to 2,000 words
We welcome stories in all genres: literary, historic, crime, romance, realism, contemporary, humour and more.
Entrants can be any age over 16 years. Stories should be suitable for an adult audience.

Enter here.

Competition Deadline: Brick Lane Short Story Prize 2026
2026-03-02
From the competition website:

The Brick Lane Bookshop Short Story Prize 2026 is now open for submissions to writers from the UK and Ireland!
Submissions close at 5pm on Monday 2nd March
We are looking for original short fiction, between 1,000-3,500 words, from writers that have not been previously published.
Entry to the competition is £10.00 per story.
There are a limited amount of free spaces for writers on a low income, please email enquiries@bricklanebookshop.org to request one of these – they will be granted on a first come basis. We also ask that you let us know if you are a UK or Irish resident.
First Prize is £1,000, 2nd Prize is £500, and 3rd Prize is £250.
The twelve shortlisted stories will feature in the Brick Lane Bookshop Short Story Prize 2026 anthology, which will be released in October.
Prizes will also be awarded to some of our shortlisted writers, selected by our prize partners.

Enter here.

Event: Aldeburgh Literary Festival
2026-03-05 08:00 - 2026-03-08 17:00 (Europe/Paris) | Jubilee Hall, Crabbe Street, Aldeburgh, Ipswich, IP15 5BN, United Kingdom
The Aldeburgh Literary Festival was started in 2002 by John and Mary James of The Aldeburgh Bookshop. It has featured an extraordinary variety of talks, from the local to the global, the serious to the hilarious, the scientific to the philosophical. The Festival is proud to be located in Aldeburgh at the Jubilee Hall and we are delighted that our audience fills the streets of Aldeburgh with visitors and conversation in a winter weekend.

Residency: Korean–English translation residency (Norwich, 2026)
2026-03-09 | The National Centre for Writing
The National Centre for Writing, Norwich, is partnering with the Literature Translation Institute of Korea to offer a translation residency for one experienced literary translator working from Korean to English. The residency will take place at Dragon Hall in Norwich UNESCO City of Literature from Monday 6 July to Saturday 1 August 2026. The selected translator will have dedicated time and space to focus on their work in the inspiring and tranquil surroundings of Norwich.
The translator in residence will stay in the Dragon Hall cottage, located on our city-centre campus. The cottage includes a sitting room, study, kitchen and bathroom on the ground floor, with two bedrooms upstairs. A small terrace opens onto the Dragon Hall garden.
During the residency, the Korean translator will share the cottage with a literary translator from Singapore, offering an additional opportunity for informal exchange and connection.
What the residency offers
The translator in residence will spend their time developing the translation project proposed in their application. In addition, they will benefit from:
Mentorship: We will appoint a UK-based mentor — an experienced literary translator, possibly working in a different language combination — to provide peer feedback and advice on their work and career.
Networking: The resident will be introduced to local writers and translators through the Dragon Hall Social, our monthly literary networking event.
Professional development: The resident will have the opportunity to attend plenary sessions of the BCLT Summer School (online in 2026).
Writing opportunity: The resident will be invited to contribute a reflective piece to World, Meet Norwich.
We believe that this combination of focused time, mentoring and community is invaluable for literary translators.

How to apply:

If you are interested in this opportunity, please fill out the application form and return it to us with your resume. Please send your application to residencies@nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk with the subject title LTI Korea residency.
The deadline for applications is Monday 9 March 2026. We aim to notify the successful applicant by the end of March 2026.
