We received nearly 450 entries for our competition this year, and the standard was amazingly high. Choosing just 10 winners was incredibly difficult, but the judges managed it in the end.
So, without any further fanfare, the winners - and their stories - are...
First Prize: 'A Handful' by Tim Stevenson
Second Prize: 'Spinning' by Oliver Barton
Third Prize: 'X' by Amy Mackelden
Highly Commended:
'Lost For Words' by Andrea Mullaney
'My Grandad was Roy Rogers' by Anouska Huggins
'Dot to Dot man' by Alison Wells
'Slather' by Clare Kirwan
'The Gradual Discovery of Loss' by Eva Holland
'All Light' by Alan Beard
'India' by Joanna Campbell
Congratulations to all of them!
Category: News
Funding Thanks!
Hello everyone,
Well, our crowd-sourced fundraising experiment ended yesterday and, while we didn't hit out target, we're still really pleased and grateful to everyone who helped out by either donating directly or simply spreading the word and helping others with spare cash to find us.
Our specific thanks need to go to our sponsors who were, in no particular order:
Kylie Grant, Anouska Huggins, Pete Domican, Angela Williams, Nuala Ni Chonchuir, Jonathan Pinnock, Patrick Prinsloo, A E Peters, Sarah Logan, Joanne Selley, Alison Wells, Eva Lyne, Karen Storey, Carys Bray, Tracey Upchurch, Ninette Hartley, Andy Lavender, William Kelly, Martin Palmer, Duncan Smith, Danielle McLaughlin, Helena Mallett, Jill Phillips, Laura Huntley, Tim Stevenson, Anna-Louise Hecks, Polly Robinson, Elaine Borthwick, Judith Kerr, Duncan Kerr, Joanne Key, Cath Barton, Waseem Hussain, Rachael Dunlop, Cathy Bryant, Susi Holliday, Sarah Snell-Pym, Pauline Masurel, Kevlin Henney, Adam Horovitz, Sal Page, Shirley Golden, Carlie Lee, Diane Simmons, Stella Turner, Jen Hamilton-Emery, Vanessa Gebbie and Sarah Salway.
A huge thanks to these Patrons of the Arts!
Depending on how much was given, some will get their names emblazoned on the website and in this year's anthology. Some will get that and also receive a copy of the anthology when it happens. Some will get all of that plus a bespoke story pamphlet written by yours truly. The remainder get our heartfelt thanks and (in my best Robert Robinson voice) THIS round of applause!
The money we hoped to raise would have paid for this year's anthology and also a new shiny website for the day. If you Arts Council look on us with favour then the latter may still happen, but we feel that the anthology is more important and so the £725 we did raise will be earmarked for that purpose. We will be opening submissions for the anthology quite soon, so do keep your eyes open.
That's it for now, except for me to once again add my thanks to you all. National Flash-Fiction Day is a labour of love for me, but some of things we do actually require money, and you have helped enormously. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Until next time, all best wishes.
Calum Kerr
Director of National Flash-Fiction Day 2013.
Micro-Fiction Competition 2013 – The Longlist
Hello all,
Pleased to announce that we now have our longlist for the Micro-Fiction competition. The judges are whittling it down to the winners and so I don't want to reveal who wrote which story, but here is a list of the authors who made it to the top. Congratulations to them all!
Oliver Barton
Alan Beard
Joanna Campbell
Stephen Carragher
Donald Chegwin
Amber Dodd
Lindsay Fisher
Glenys Grey
Kit Haggard
Eva Holland
Susan Howe
Anouska Huggins
Clare Kirwan
Debbie Kinsey
Chelsea Covington Maass
Amy Mackelden
Pauline Masurel
Andrea Mullaney
Jo Norris
Tim Stevenson,
Pete Walsh
Barbara Weeks
Alison Wells
Selina Siak Chin Yoke
Bulletin – 6th February 2013
Dear All,
Hello and welcome to the first bulletin of 2013.
We are now getting underway for another great National Flash-Fiction Day to be held, this year, on 22nd June.
The website at http://
We also want you to start thinking about events for the day, as we want to make it even bigger and better than last year. Contact us with the details of your events and we'll list them on the website. If you have any questions or suggestions, email us here.
We already have some writers, organisations and events which we will be adding to the website soon, but if you would like to add anything, please send that over as well.
In other news, FlashBang, the crime competition, is also now live, and you can get all the details of their competition over at http://flashbangcontest.
If you have other, flash-related events you would like us to share, send those over too.
And, that's about it for now. We're just getting started, but it's time to start looking forward to June (and not just for the chance of some warm sunshine!) and thinking about how to celebrate this tiny form that brings so much joy.
So, please spread the word about our competition, our website, our facebook page and NFFD in general, and I look forward to hearing from you.
All best
Calum Kerr
Bulletin – 3rd October 2012
Well, hello there, and how are you?
Keeping well I hope, now that the evenings are drawing in and winter is looming over the horizon.
Here in NFFD Towers we are using the cold outside as an excuse to seclude ourselves in darkened drawing rooms and start plotting for next year's Flash-Fiction Day, and I thought I would bring you up to date on current developments.
First, just to let you know, the plan at the moment is to make it Saturday 22nd June next year, the shortest night in the northern hemisphere (yes, I know I got it wrong last time), and the shortest day in the southern. This will help us to tie the globe together to make it an international event. (And a 36 hour long one, at that!)
Speaking of which, I am in talks with the organiser of New Zealand's day to hook up with them, but we want more than just our two countries involved, so, if you are somewhere else in the world (Ireland, USA, or Australia, South Africa, France, or Peru, Portugal, Japan, Jersey or wherever) and want to join in with the 2013 day, we'd love to hear from you.
We've also been talking to the Arts Council of England about next year, and they're keen to help us out again, which is great news. It will allow us to make the day even bigger and better for 2013, improve the website and repeat some of our triumphs, like the anthology and the story cards. In order to help us with our bid to the Arts Council, it would be great if we can include some indication of our support. We don't need any definite plans at the moment, but a statement of intent to join in would be great. So, if you ran an event this year - a reading, a competition, a slam, a flash-mob, whatever - we'd love for you to join us again. If you didn't, but would like to for 2013, then we'd be delighted to have you on board too. Please get in touch so we can register your interest.
We'd also like your help to get in touch with those organisations who might be able to help, or who would like to be involved. So, if you are part of a writing community, work for or with an arts organisation, have a publisher who might be interested in promoting their flash-fiction titles, are on friendly terms with a librarian, or whatever, we'd appreciate it if you could either ask them to get in touch with us, or send us their details so we can contact them directly. We managed to reach a huge number of people this year, and spread the flash word, but we could do a lot better, and with their help we hope we can do so.
Additionally, in order to raise the money that all of this costs, we will shortly be launching a crowd-funding project, and it would be great if you could keep your eyes peeled for that and spread the word to help us reach our target.
And what are we offering in return. Well, you remember how much fun NFFD was this year, don't you? Imagine that but... you know... more!
However, we thought you might need something to jog your memory, so I'm pleased to be able to announce that we are running another of our FlashFlood pop-up journals. Submissions open today, and close next Wednesday, 10th October, at 23.59 (BST). The journal will run next Friday, 12th October, from midnight to midnight. We had a huge response to this in May, so let's see if we can do it again! Send your best flash-fictions (max. 500 words, limit of 3 stories per author) to flashfloodjournal@gmail.com
And, if that's not enough, here are some other things you need to know about:
- There's a flash-slam in Warwick tomorrow (4th October) so do go along if you can: http://warwickwords.co.
uk/index.php/whats-on/events/ 444-flash-slam
- A display of flash-fiction books is working its way around South Glos libraries as part of the Discover festival: www.southglos.gov.
uk/discover.
- Spry is a new journal in the USA with a flash-fiction only section is looking for your stories: http://sprylit.
submittable.com/submit
- The successors to my flash365 project, Mrs Flash365 (Kath Kerr) and Son of Flash365 (Chris Bissette) are over the 150-story mark and will hit the halfway point at the end of the month. Please have a read, leave some comments, follow, share, like the Facebook page or follow them on Twitter. Your support is what keeps them going.
- The NFFD anthologies, Jawbreakers and Kissing Frankenstein are still available, and if you haven't got them already, why not? They're great!
- NFFD projects 1000 words and Flashpoints are still up and running, and looking for your work.
And finally, on a sadder note, we heard last week that Brian George, whose story 'Chemoids' was included in Jawbreakers, passed away at on the 23rd September. I'm sure you'd like to join us in sending out condolences to his wife, Chris, and to his family and friends, and to express our thanks for the pleasure his writing brought while he was with us.
So, that's it for this time. Lots for you to think about, get involved with, and lots of 'yes, I want to join in and so do all of my friends' emails to send us. We'll be waiting!
Until next time, take care.
Calum
--
Calum Kerr
Director, National Flash-Fiction Day
NFFD Report
I just had to write a roundup of the day for the Arts Council. I was amazed to re-explore all that went on, and thought you might like a read. So here it is!
The intention for National Flash-Fiction Day (NFFD) was to encourage writers, publishers, readers and the general public of the UK to engage with the form of flash-fiction in a diverse range of ways through print, spoken-word performances and online.
At the time of making the original bid a number of events were already organised, all of which took place, but in the time between the bid and the actual day on 16th May, a large range of extra activities emerged.
Physical events took place in Edinburgh, Carlisle, Leeds, Hartlepool, Manchester, Liverpool, Abergavenny, Cardiff, Shrewsbury, Derby, Oxford, Trowbridge, Winchester, Southampton, Brighton and Dublin. These included reading/open mic events, workshops, flash-mob-flash-readings, slams, exhibitions and competition finals.
Eighteen competitions were run to coincide with the Day, including events in USA, New Zealand and Australia, with many announcing their results on 16th May itself. Another five have also been created, inspired by the day, with deadlines to come during the year. Many of the competitions provided prizes, and all have involved some sort of online publication, physical presentation on the day, or publication in printed anthologies. In many cases this publication was not limited to a small number of winners but has seen the publication of dozens of the entries. The top three pieces from most of the competitions are also being gathered together for publication in a free e-book which will shortly be released by NFFD, entitled I Can Show You The World and other stories.
In the southwest of England a group was created by Rachel Carter especially for the Day, called Flash-Fiction South West. The results of their competition were turned into a print anthology entitled Kissing Frankenstein and other stories. This group will continue beyond the day running flash events and competitions and creating publications.
Likewise, the Once Upon a Time competition, run in the UK by Susi Holliday and in the USA by Anna Meade, having collected 88 flash-fiction fairy tales, will soon be available as a print anthology.
NFFD itself also created an anthology which came to be titled Jawbreakers after the submitted story from Jen Campbell. This featured a number of paid commissioned pieces, including Tania Hershman, Vanessa Gebbie, David Gaffney, Jonathan Pinnock, Valerie O’Riordan, Simon Thirsk and Jenn Ashworth. It also included freely donated work by Ali Smith and Ian Rankin, as well as over thirty pieces gathered by an open call for submissions. As a result of the way it was put together this book now features writers at all stages of their careers, from those seeing their work in print for the first time, to established names, and everything in-between. It is now available in paperback from the NFFD website, as a print-on-demand edition from CompletelyNovel, and as an e-book from all branches of Amazon. The book was launched at the Southampton event on 16thMay, has had a subsequent launch event at Blackwells in Manchester on 8thJune, and further events are currently being planned to be held in Foyles in Bristol and London later in 2012. It is also currently stocked in Waterstones in Brighton.
In addition to the print anthology, NFFD organised a number of online publishing opportunities for writers. These started, in the build-up to the day, with prompts being provided through Facebook, Twitter and the NFFD blog, to which writers had just a few days to respond. The resulting pieces were published on our NFFDFlashes blog. Pieces created at NFFD workshops were also uploaded to this blog.
In the week leading up to the Day, we opened up worldwide submissions for a ‘pop-up journal’ called FlashFlood, also hosted on a blog. Seven editors took a day each to read and approve submissions, resulting in 144 pieces being posted on the 16th May, one every 10 minutes from midnight to midnight. The editors have subsequently agreed to make this publication a regular one throughout the year, on a 3-4 monthly basis.
On the day itself, a four hour window was devoted to writing and publishing stories on a blog entitled The Write-In. Over 200 prompts were provided by a number of volunteers and were uploaded for writers to respond to as many as possible in the time allowed. All submitted pieces were then posted. This produced over 100 pieces of flash-fiction from all over the UK and the world. The prompts have been left-online for writers and workshop facilitators to use.
Additionally, a number of online projects were set-up, initially in support of the day but with the intention of continuing on afterwards, as well as FlashFlood, these included 1000words (providing images as prompts for stories) and Flashpoints(site-specific writing).
As well as producing new work, NFFD sought to promote the existing work of flash-fiction writers. As such, the website has expanded to over 150 pages, featuring profiles of more than 70 writers (64 from the UK and 9 internationally) with samples of their work and links to their publications, blogs, websites etc. This includes both high-profile and the unknown writers making no discrimination between them, and has helped to create a real community of flash-fiction writers. The site also includes pages for 18 magazines/websites/publishers, video clips of writers reading their work and links to flash-fiction e-books,
On the day itself, we were also able to promote the e-book publications of our writers with Jawbreakers and eight individual e-book collections being provided for free download on Kindle throughout the day. This resulted in the download of approximately 1200 e-books. We were also able to provide a copy of the Brisbane-produced pamphlets compiled by Photocopier Press for the day on the NFFD website, which is still freely available.
We were pleased to secure a wide range of press coverage including articles in local and national papers including The Guardian, interviews and features on BBC Radio Solent and BBC Radio Bristol and coverage on BBC Radio 4’s iPM programme. Added to this, we received a huge amount of coverage on websites and blogs – both personal and professional.
The response to National Flash-Fiction Day was over-whelming, with the majority of the activities listed above being organised and run by volunteers who were simply happy to be involved in such an exciting event. As a result of the day flash-fiction has raised its profile in the general consciousness, and it has been commented by the people involved that they feel as though flash-fiction writers have finally come together in a community of their own. With this now formed, moving forward to other events and publications is now easier and more likely.
Also, as a result of the day, there has been a lot of interest internationally. As commented above we had events and publications created to coincide with our day occurring in Ireland, USA, Australia and New Zealand, and NZ are now holding their own NFFD on their shortest day, 22nd June, for which we will be hosting another online writing event. In addition we received expressions of interest from France, Portugal, Cyprus and Hong Kong. As such, plans for next year are to make the UK’s NFFD part of an International Flash-Fiction Day.
With that in mind, we are very much looking forward to making this year’s Day an annual event, with many of the volunteers who were involved this year making plans for 2013 already. The aims of the Day have not just been met, but greatly exceeded, with hundreds of writers seeing their work published, performed and publicised, and the general public being made aware of the form through print and broadcast media as well as in person. The enthusiasm generated for flash-fiction, in the writing community and beyond, has been much larger than our expectations. In this respect, this year’s event has created a bedrock on which future years can build.
NFFD Blog Roll
Following the events of last Wednesday - for which another hearty thanks should go to you all! - lots of people have been writing about what happened, what they did, where they went, and what they wrote. So, I thought they should be gathered together for you all to read. I'm sure this isn't exhaustive, but it's not a bad selection, I'm sure you'll agree!
Don't forget, as well, the two special blog publications that came out from NFFD Central - FlashFlood, our 24 hour journal (http://flashfloodjournal.blogspot.co.uk/) and The Write-In which took place on the day (http://thewrite-in.blogspot.co.uk/) and, of course, the flashes which have been produced before,on and since the day on our Flashes blog (http://nffdflashes.blogspot.co.uk/).
Blogs, Articles and Website features (in no particular order):
By Thresholds Admin
In celebration of National Flash Fiction Day, 16th May, THRESHOLDS has teamed up with some of the UK's best-known writers of the form to bring you a selection of fantastic flashes – stories to read in just a few minutes, that will stay with you ...
THRESHOLDS
(INTER)NATIONAL FLASH FICTION DAY | Every Day Fiction - The ...
Today — May 16, 2012 — is the first ever National Flash Fiction Day… and International Flash Fiction Day as well, since this special day has quite naturally ...
www.everydayfiction.com/
Tom Conoboy's Writing Blog: National Flash Fiction Day
National Flash Fiction Day. Today is National Flash Fiction day. So write a flash. Her's some prompts: Posted by Tom Conoboy at 7:00 AM. Labels: writing craft ...
tomconoboy.blogspot.com/.../
Spies, lies and pies: National Flash Fiction Day
National Flash Fiction Day. It's today, apparently. If I'd had more planning and not been at work so much, I might have tried my hand at a story especially for ...
spiesliesandpies.blogspot.com/
I call it research...: National Flash Fiction Day
I love a good flash, me. Tiny complete micro stories of up to about 500 words. David Gaffney, a brilliant writer of flash fiction, writes about it here in the Guardian .
icallitresearch.blogspot.com/.
National Flash Fiction Day « Pete Denton – Writer
Today is National Flash Fiction day in the UK. I must admit that I had never heard of Flash Fiction until last year. When my writing group were talking about ...
petedenton.wordpress.com/2012/
National Flash Fiction Day « Brainstorms & Bylines
Do you write flash fiction? Lucky you! Today is National Flash Fiction Day (U.K.)! In honor of the holiday to celebrate writing small, I've compiled a round-up of ...
barbaratyler.wordpress.com/
National Flash-Fiction Day « Vanessa Couchman
Tomorrow, 16th May, is National Flash-Fiction Day (NFFD) in the UK, celebrating this short story form. What is flash fiction? A very short but complete story, ...
vanessacouchmanwriter.
Subtle Melodrama Book Reviews: National Flash Fiction Day
Happy National Flash Fiction Day! Isn't that exciting? It is! But what even is flash fiction? As far as the submission guidelines I've seen are concerned, flash fiction ...
www.subtlemelodrama.com/.../
Flash Fiction: Conversion - Flash Fiction - National Flash Fiction Day ...
Conversion - Flash Fiction - National Flash Fiction Day UK. Accessing the county water treatment facility proved far easier than he'd thought. Adding the contents ...
lisavooght.blogspot.com/.../
It's the first ever UK National Flash Fiction Day (and lots of lovely free ...
Hello — and today is the first ever EVER UK National Flash Fiction Day — three cheers for Calum Kerr! So, what's happening today? The quick guide to NFFD ...
marthawilliams.org/2012/05/16/
It's National Flash Fiction Day!* « worcesterpoetsasylum
It's National Flash Fiction Day!*. *In the UK. BUT! It's a great excuse to bust out yer pencil and write up some 500-word goodness, right? Right! You can also ...
worcesterpoetsasylum.
National Flash Fiction Day « CMStewartWrite
(Inter)National Flash Fiction Day Press Release from Annie Evett of Raging Aardvark: What do Hemmingway, Kafka, Chekov and Lovecraft have in common ...
cmstewartwrite.wordpress.com/
Chris Bissette: National Flash Fiction Day
It's the first National Flash Fiction Day. Hurrah! This has been a long time in the making for everyone involved, and it's great to have watched it all come together ...
www.chrisbissette.com/2012/05/
Ganymeder » Blog Archive » National Flash Fiction Day: (text ...
National Flash Fiction Day: (text & audio) Dust and Dime Novels. *Click here for audio. Dust and Dime Novels. by Catherine Russell. The boy sat beneath the ...
www.ganymeder.com/.../
Announcing our top 5 #FlashFiction contest finalists!
May is National Short Story Month, and today Flash Fiction gets its day. (Visit the National Flash Fiction Day 2012 website for more info.) We decided to celebrate ...
www.
National Flash Fiction Day | Jocelyn Rish
Today is National Flash Fiction Day (NFFD), which is a day to celebrate the art form of the very short story. I love writing flash fiction - it's a fun challenge to create ...
www.jocelynrish.com/content/
National Flash Fiction Day | THRESHOLDS
In the spirit of debate as we approach National Flash Fiction Day, THRESHOLDS asked STEVE WASSERMAN to take a close look at Flash. Was he blinded by ...
blogs.chi.ac.uk/
Happy National Flash Fiction Day! « The Pygmy Giant
Happy National Flash Fiction Day! … especially to the winner of our competition: Joy Manné! Enjoy her story and flash responsibly today.
thepygmygiant.com/2012/.../
Flash-fiction competition winners announced
Journal Live
by David Whetstone, The Journal TODAY is the first National Flash-Fiction Day, a special day to celebrate all that is short and sweet – and fashionable – in ...
Manchester writers read to passersby on 'flash fiction' day
Manchester Evening News
Members of a Manchester writinggroup are reading their work to unsuspecting passersby today to celebrate the first ever National Flash Fiction Day.
VANESSA GEBBIE'S BLOG: NATIONAL FLASH FICTION DAY!
By Vanessa Gebbie
NATIONAL FLASH FICTION DAY! Happy First-Ever National Flash Fiction Day! The story goes like this. A couple of years back I was due to give a talk at the NAWE conference, on flash fiction writing. It struck me that so many of the writing ...
VANESSA GEBBIE'S BLOG
National Flash Fiction Day « Thing of the Day
By mluvit
National Flash Fiction Day. by mluvit. Today is National Flash Fiction Day. Also known as Microfiction, this form of creative writing involves composing very short stories of no more than 750 words or so: http://
Thing of the Day
A flash day! | Merc's World - writing & ruminations
By Merc
Today is Flash Fiction Day! It started out as National Flash Fiction Day in the UK, but so many flash fiction writers wanted to scramble aboard and so there are events going on all over the place. There are masses of free stories flashing over the ...
Merc's World - writing & ruminations
not exactly true: Happy...
By Valerie O'Riordan
National Flash-Fiction Day, dudes - but I'm just a teeny bit more excited about the launch of my chapbook, Enough, which is also today! I'm celebrating by, eh, feeding the baby porridge and paying my National Insurance bill. Oh, hell, yeah.
not exactly true
Strictly Writing: What's my motivation?
By Derek
Consider this slice of Flash Fiction* (which I will now hastily make up to order)... He watched the fly... As today is National Flash Fiction Day, allow me to introduce Kissing Frankenstein & Other Stories by Flash Fiction South West. You can also ...
Strictly Writing
Flash Fiction Day – Competition Winner! « The Lancashire Writing Hub
By mikeyaddict
Flash Fiction Day – Competition Winner! We are pleased to announce the winner of our Flash FictionCompetition. Thank you for all the fabulous entries which made picking a winner a very difficult task. In total we received seventy five entries ...
The Lancashire Writing Hub
National Flash Fiction Day: Five Shorts To Help You Celebrate ...
In the UK, today marks its first annual National Flash Fiction Day. Flash fiction, a term coined around 1992, is also known as micro-fiction. Though there's no hard ...
www.clutchmagonline.com/.../
Stuck in a Book: National Flash Fiction Day
As the clock has just ticked past midnight, I'm afraid you've just missed National Flash Fiction Day... If case you don't know, flash fiction is, essentially, very short ...
stuck-in-a-book.blogspot.com/.
National Flash Fiction Day & Jawbreakers | dan powell – fiction
It's National Flash Fiction Day and Jawbreakers, the official collection, is available now. It includes commissioned pieces from well-known writers including Ali ...
danpowellfiction.com/.../
National Flash Fiction Day! | 1889 Labs
National Flash Fiction Day! By mer. Posted May 16, 2012. 296 words. Support the author of this article by liking it on Facebook! Most Popular Posts The End is ...
1889.ca/2012/05/national-
National Flash Fiction Day | Vapour Trails
National Flash Fiction Day The internet tells me it was National Flash Fiction Day yesterday, in the UK. Well, it's flash fiction day here on Vapour Trails today.
theknockingshop.blogspot.com/.
Leda and the Swan: National Flash Fiction Day « Tale Spinning
She's also the one who let me on that there was a National Flash Fiction Day. There are many others out there, and it's been a pleasure finding them, bit by bit.
stuartnager.wordpress.com/.../
this is not the six word novel: Look! It's National Flash Fiction Day ...
There's a whole load of flash fiction up today at the pop-up FlashFlood magazine. You can also purchase 'Jawbreakers,' the National Flash Fiction Day ...
jen-campbell.blogspot.com/.../
National Flash Fiction Day – An Announcement «
This Wednesday, 330 Words will be taking part in a very special event with Manchester writing group Flashtag (in association with the marvelous National Flash ...
330words.wordpress.com/.../
Tania Writes: Happy National Flash Fiction Day - And A Giveaway!
Labels: book giveaway, flash fiction, flash fiction anthology, flash fiction collection , flash fiction slam,national flash fiction day, oxford, sudden fiction, sudden ...
blog.taniahershman.com/.../
National Flash Fiction Day Clive Martyn
What do Hemmingway, Kafka, Chekov and Lovecraft have in common? They all wrote Flash Fiction, short-short stories. The most poignant captured in just 6 ...
www.clivemartyn.com/?p=356
Flash Fiction Gets Its Day | D. Thomas Minton
I bet you didn't know it's National Flash Fiction Day. I'll forgive you, especially if you don't live in Britain. It is, after all, the first time flash fiction has been honored ...
dthomasminton.com/2012/05/16/
Happy National Flash Fiction Day | 21st Century Writer
Call it micro or call it flash, it's all fiction pared down to the bare essentials. Today marks the first-ever celebration of the flash genre in which 150 words or fewer ...
www.mscottfiction.com/
Wanted: your flash critique
The Guardian
... who were too deeply engrossed in an old-fashioned book to be following the week's literary news, Wednesday was our first National Flash Fiction Day.
Words & Fixtures: Reading to Manchester
By Sarah-Clare Conlon
Reading to Manchester. Some videos of me performing on National Flash-Fiction Day... ...at Cornerhouse. ... I write flash fiction, edit anthologies and organise spoken word events with the FlashTag collective. I also perform as part of Les ...
Words & Fixtures
(Inter)National Flash Fiction Day Press Release from Annie Evett of ...
While there is nothing new about the short-short story, National Flash Fiction Day is being celebrated for the first time in the UK and has been adopted around ...
cmstewartwrite.wordpress.com/.
Melanie Writes: Happy National Flash Fiction Day!
Happy National Flash Fiction Day! Today is National Flash Fiction Day in the UK! The event has become somewhat international, but the organizers are mainly ...
www.melanieconklin.com/.../
National Flash Fiction Day Contribution - BULLISH INK | BULLISH INK
Bare As Bones Standing along the shore at the edge of the cove, Simona sees the mainsail fluttering in the breeze above the cool blue of the...
www.bullishink.com/.../
The Picador Book Room · May 16th is National Flash Fiction Day (in ...
May 16th is National Flash Fiction Day (in the UK but, with the internet, isn't everything local?). We're celebrating this feisty genre with a short, original piece from ...
picadorbookroom.tumblr.com/...
Expose Yourself! Celebrating Flash Fiction Day | Black Balloon ...
While not technically a celebration of pervy exhibitionism, Flash Fiction Day can still be a grand opportunity to expose yourself...to good writing. If you're in the ...
www.blackballoonpublishing.
Hurray for (Inter) National Flash Fiction Day - Writing.ie - Guest Blogs
On National Flash Fiction Day here more about events and competitions in the form. National Flash Fiction Day takes place today May 16th. Last week I ...
writing.ie/.../hurray-for-
National Flash Fiction Day | Joanne Phillips – a writer's journey
Happy National Flash Fiction day to all you writers out there. In the spirit of the day, a very short post indeed. Check out the competitions pages for May and June ...
https://joannegphillips.
Stories in your pocket: how to write flash fiction | Books | guardian.co ...
It's National Flash Fiction Day on Wednesday – the first one ever – and it's an exciting day for me and many others who specialise in this particular truncated ...
www.guardian.co.uk/p/37hb8/tw
Yearning for Wonderland: National Flash Fiction Day and ...
HAPPY NATIONAL FLASH FICTION DAY! Although this is a UK based website, National Flash Fiction Day (#NFFD on Twitter) has gained traction worldwide.
yearningforwonderland.
Pam's Writing Exploits: Happy National Flash Fiction Day!
Happy National Flash Fiction Day! May 16 is apparently National (and International?!) Flash Fiction Day, so happy flash fiction day! To find out more click here.
pamgriffin.blogspot.com/.../
Happy National Flash-Fiction Day! Today's a big... | A Butterfly Mind
Happy National Flash-Fiction Day! Today's a big day for me … First, I'm announcing the 1000words stories chosen for inclusion in the National Flash- Fiction Day ...
abutterflymind.tumblr.com/.../
Flashtag celebrate National Flash Fiction Day – People's History ...
Enjoy this short fiction performance to celebrate National Flash Fiction Day ... As part of National Flash Fiction Day, Wednesday 16 May, the innovative Flashtag ...
www.phm.org.uk/.../flashtag-
4'33” 60 Second: Flash Fiction contest/ results « Creative Writing ...
By writingcomps
Thanks again – and happy National Flash Fiction Day! To submit a story, visit ... to like this post. This entry was posted on 20 May 2012 at 9:48 pm and is filed under Fiction Contests, Flash Fiction, Helpful Links, Literary Events, Uncategorized.
And last, but not least, some links from the Edinburgh event:A full reader list at http://underword.co.uk/
Pictures at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/
and a review at: http://www.
Thank you and Goodnight!
Well, that about wraps it up for this, the first ever National Flash-Fiction Day. I'm back from a wonderful launch at the Southampton Central Library where we had brilliant readings from Vanessa Gebbie, Sara Crowley, Tim Stevenson, Natalie Bowers, Gail Aldwin, Holly Howitt and, at the last minute, Bob Jacobs and Brendan Way. Massive thanks to them and everyone who helped out and who turned up!
I've seen on Facebook and Twitter that you have all been having great flash-fun today at various events up and down the country (and around the world!) and I look forward to catching up with them over the next few days. If you ran an event and would like to send us a blog post about it, maybe with piccies, we'd love to run it!
Thank you to everyone who has done anything for National Flash-Fiction Day. It has been truly amazing and you are all, individually and collectively, wonderful people.And thank you to the Arts Council who allowed us to do Jawbreakers and those wonderful cards and posters.
And a personal thank you to my fiancée Kath, for all her help and support. It wouldn't have been possible without her.
I will be adding new content to the site in coming days and weeks, updating blogs and generally catching up on the things that have gone by the by in recent days. Oh, and shipping out copies of Jawbreakers (still available to buy!) And we will be back with competitions, events and all kinds of flash-goodies throughout the year. Because, of course, we're building towards NFFD 2013 now!!
So, well done everyone, thank you again for all you have done. I'm off to sleep for a week now, but I'll see you soon.
All the very best
Calum Kerr
Director, National Flash-Fiction Day 2012.
The Winners of the FFW Flash a Famous Phrase Competition
As our contribution to National Flash Fiction Day 2012, run by director Calum Kerr, Flash Fiction World held a competition for stories built around a famous phrase. The response was fantastic and FFW thanks all entrants for their participation.
There were some superb entries, but as usual they had to be whittled down to first, second, and third. So, without further ado, here are the winning entries:
1st
Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation by Lorna Louise Hutchison.
Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation by Lorna Louise Hutchison.
2nd
The Day The Music Died by Iain Pattison.
The Day The Music Died by Iain Pattison.
3rd
Every Picture Tells a Story by Francesca Burgess.
Every Picture Tells a Story by Francesca Burgess.
Congratulations to Lorna, Iain, and Francesca. I will be in touch with you at the weekend.
The winning stories, with judge's reviews, will be available to read on Flash Fiction World soon!
Once Upon A Time Flash Fiction Contest – WINNERS
Firstly, we’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who entered and promoted the #OUATWRITING contest. We had 88 fantastic entries and it was a huge struggle to pick just 3 of these as our winners. We had everything from evil Cinderellas to sci-fi to modern day tales and it was a delight to read them all… hence why we decided to publish them all in an anthology which will be available as a paperback and eBook very soon!
So without further ado, the winners of the contest are:
GRAND PRIZE
Oliver Barton– ‘Pink Bells’
AWAKE PRIZE PACKAGE for ‘Best Adaptation’
Angela Readman– ‘A Mermaid in Texas
TWIXT PRIZE PACKAGE for ‘Best Original’
McKenzie Barham– ‘I can show you the world’
We’d also like to remind you of the winner of the mini-comp…
#FANFAV (voted for by the fans via Twitter votes)
Cory Eadson– ‘Three Simple Words’
Well done to you all!
As well as the individual prizes, the 3 main contest winners will be published in the National Flash Fiction Day Winners Anthology, which will be available soon – details to follow.
The winner of the GRAND PRIZE is published below for your immediate enjoyment…
Pink Bells
Oliver Barton
The pair progress laboriously along the path in the park. He leaning on a stick, each step a pain, she almost bent double, hand in his. She clutches a paper bag. They sit carefully on a bench, very close, avoiding the damper spots. In front of them stretches a sea of pink bells.
It is nine in the morning, and the bag contains croissants. Gertie hands one to Arthur. They nibble in silence, flakes fluttering like confetti.
While a blackbird sings and sparrows edge towards the crumbs, Gertie extends a bent finger towards a plaque half-submerged in the flowers.
‘What does it say?’ she asks.
‘I don’t know,’ he says, because it is several feet away and his eyes aren’t too good.
With a groan, she gets to her feet and shuffles towards it. Bent as she is, she still can’t make it out. She retrieves a pair of spectacles hanging round her neck, and peers closer.
Arthur hears her saying something, but his hearing is not too good either. He sees her move forward among the flowers. As she does, she shrinks, smaller and smaller, until she vanishes into the pinkness.
Two sparrows squabble over a croissant crumb and fly off, startling Arthur. He struggles to rise. With his stick, he moves the blooms aside so that he can see the plaque clearly. He expects something like the name of the business that has sponsored this bed, but it simply says ‘Come in. Make yourself at home.’
So he steps into the sea of flowers, and at once the pink bells inflate and grow until they are several times his height. The scent is overwhelming, the chime of the bells deep and sonorous. He walks towards Gertie and the others, praying that it doesn’t rain. A raindrop the size of a settee would be unsettling. But, he thinks, they must have ways of dealing with that.
Back on the bench, a little breeze sweeps the paper bag off into a graceful dance, an homage, an obeisance, and all is still.
*
Winners will be contacted via email about their prizes.
Thanks again to everyone who entered - we hope you had as much fun with the contest as we did! Make sure you visit us at Yearning for Wonderland and SJI Hollidayfor more information about the anthologies.
Sprinkles of fairydust,
Susi & Anna
(Dark Fairy & Fairy Queen)