PIX & A REVIEW OF OUR 8 NOVEMBER 2026 EVENT 'THE HEAT IS ON'

Thank you to everyone who bought tickets and came along to last Sunday's fabulous sell-out event. 

There is an author statement and a short review of the event by Jason Jackson at https://jasonjacksonwriter.substack.com/ 

It's easy to access. If you don't immediately want to subscribe to Jason's substack just click on No Thanks, then, on the next page, click on 'Stroud Short Stories - The Heat Is On'. 

Many thanks to Jason.

Below are the authors who read their brilliant stories - in the order in which they appeared on stage.

The event was part of the Stroud Book Festival.

Thanks to Ed Holland for the snaps.

David Goodland who read From Reds to Heaven

Sophie Loose who read Exchange

David Crane Embers who read Decategorised

Georgia Boon who read Without Summer

Mark Rutterford who read Wearing Underwear for the First Time This Week

Steph Smith who read The Ecdysiast

Lizzie Golds who read Untethered

Jason Jackson who read Nine Hundred and Eighty-two Degrees

Philip Douch who read Michael

Robin Booth who read Nightjars

John 

SOLD OUT!

The Sunday 8 November Stroud Short Stories event, THE HEAT IS ON, has sold out. All 135 seats are taken at the Lansdown Hall.

Thank you to everyone who has bought a ticket. It should be great night.

John

TICKETS REMAIN ON SALE + The Authors and Stories for our 8 November event THE HEAT IS ON

TICKETS for THE HEAT IS ON, priced at £12, are still on sale from the Lansdown Hall website 

Ticket sales here. If booking on your phone, do swipe left or right to see all available seats! The Lansdown booking system can be misleading!

Please note that the Lansdown Hall adds an additional 75p booking charge.

The event, which is part of the Stroud Book Festival, takes place at Lansdown Hall in Stroud on Sunday 8 November at 7.30 (doors 7.00). There will be a bar serving drinks, tea and coffee before the event and during the interval.

A record breaking number of authors (93) submitted stories for our 31st event. My co-judge Joanna Campbell and I have now considered the 109 stories. These are the authors who will read their stories at our event -

Georgia Boon - Without Summer

Robin Booth - Nightjars

Philip Douch - Michael

David Crane Embers - Decategorised

Lizzie Golds - Untethered

David Goodland - From Reds to Heaven

Jason Jackson - Nine Hundred and Eighty-two Degrees

Sophie Loose - Exchange

Mark Rutterford - Wearing Underwear for the First Time This Week

Steph Smith - The Ecdysiast

Huge congratulations to these authors. The competition was intense. It's going to be a great evening of short stories.

Very many thanks to Joanna Campbell for her brilliant judging. 

The brand new SSS anthology Stroud Short Stories Volume Four 2022-2025 will also be available to buy at the event. Priced at £12 for 312 pages/60 stories by 40 Gloucestershire authors. See our anthologies page.

The event is dedicated to the SSS mainstay Simon Piney (1949-2026)

John

We will be announcing the authors and stories for our 8 Nov 2026 event THE HEAT IS ON on 7 October

A HUGE thank you to everyone who submitted stories for our 31st event. We are now closed for submissions. A record number (93) of writers submitted this time, sending us 109 stories. 

The writers and stories to read/perform at our 8 Nov event THE HEAT IS ON will be announced on this website and on social media on Wednesday 7 October.

THE SELECTION TIMETABLE

Thursday 1 Oct - *Long List announced (titles only) by email

Sun 4 Oct - *Short List announced (titles only) by email

Wed 7 Oct - THE AUTHORS & THEIR STORIES announced to all and added this website

* The L/L and S/L are announced only to those writers who submitted stories for this event, and are by title only to maintain author anonymity

THE HEAT IS ON

This event takes place on Sunday 8 November at the Lansdown Hall in Stroud. The ten winning authors will read their stories. Start time 7.30; doors 7.00. There will be a bar open for drinks, tea and coffee before the event and during the interval. The event is part of the Stroud Book Festival and is dedicated to the late Simon Piney, a SSS regular. 

TICKETS
Tickets, priced at £12 go on sale from Friday 9 October on the Lansdown Hall website 

THE HEAT IS ON - WE ARE OPEN FOR YOUR SUBMISSIONS FOR OUR 31st EVENT UNTIL 27 SEPTEMBER AT 23.59

+ 

OUR NEW ANTHOLOGY SSS VOLUME FOUR 2022-2025 - LAUNCH 8 OCTOBER

The next brilliant SSS event, The Heat Is On, will be on Sunday 8th November 2026 at 7.30 (doors 7.00) at the Lansdown Hall in Stroud and will be part of the Stroud Book Festival. 

Submissions are open for all Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire writers until Sunday 27 September at 23.59. As always, it is free to submit your stories. 

The theme is HEAT/HOT. I thought of the theme on a rather chilly day in June. Now we're all fed up with the heat. But your story doesn't have to be about a sunny day or a heatwave. Think of the theme as widely as possible. For example, you could write stories about fire, temperature, holidays, climate change, anger, an attractive ('hot') person or thing, passion, pressure, high stress ('the heat is on'), heat of the moment, insurrection, inflaming the senses, spicy food, cooking, 'hot gossip', hot-headed person, in hot pursuit, carrying a gun ('packing heat'), an illegal package or contraband, 'hot property', taking the heat out of a situation, etc etc. I'm sure you can think of more.

We are looking for well-crafted and engaging stories which will entertain, excite and inspire an audience. The dark, ironic and funny are very welcome.

Submissions close on Sunday 27 September. We will select 8 to10 stories for their authors to read at the event. The autumn SSS events has sold out in advance for the last 12 years, so you will almost certainly be reading to a capacity audience. 

I am delighted to say that my co-judge this time will be award-winning short story author and novelist Joanna Campbell. 

The stories selected will be in our anthology Stroud Short Stories Volume Five 2026-2029 to be published in 2029-2030.

Under SSS rules, those writers who read at our last event (All This Useless Beauty, Nov 2025) may not submit this time.

The event will not be recorded.

The Rules and How to Submit are here.

SSS Writing Tips are here.

Information about the judges is here.

TICKETS, priced at £12, go on sale from Friday 9 October on the Lansdown Hall website lansdownhall/whatson

THE SELECTION TIMETABLE

Thurs 1 Oct - *LONG LIST announced by email

Sun 4 Oct - *SHORT LIST announced by email

Wed 7 Oct - THE WINNERS (the writers who will read) announced by email and then on this website

*The L/L and S/L are announced only to those writers who submitted stories for this event, and are by title only to maintain author anonymity

The event is dedicated to SSS regular, the brilliant Simon Piney, who so sadly died in August 2026. 

It'll soon be time for us to launch our brand new anthology STROUD SHORT STORIES VOLUME FOUR 2022-2025 featuring 60 stories from our last 6 events by 40 Gloucestershire authors. It will be at the a launch for £12, the same price as previous anthologies. 

The launch will be on Thursday 8 October from 7.30-9.30pm at the Stonehouse Court Hotel. Just call in at any time between those hours.The launch will be free to all. It will be an informal evening. No ticket needed. Everyone welcome. The bar will be open. Please come along, enjoy a chat and perhaps buy a copy. 

The anthology will not be available before the launch.

John

Author pix from the November 2025 event ALL THIS USELESS BEAUTY

Here are the authors who read/performed in front of an enthusiastic audience at our recent sell-out event at a new venue, the Lansdown Hall. Thank you to everyone who bought tickets and came along to support local authors. 

We were delighted to be part of the Stroud Book Festival. 

The authors are in the order in which they read/performed. Snaps by Ed Holland. Thank you, Ed.

Mark Rutterford who hosted the event

Steve Wheeler
The Beautiful Couple

Hannah Glickstein
I Make Him Sick

Nikki Vivian
Lamello Zeta P2

Christine Griffin
The Rag-Rug Boy

Simon Gowers
The Camberwell Beauty

Laura Kinnear
Mary

Poppy Lomax
I'll Keep All of My Useless Beauty to Myself

Author Rod Gowers with co-reader Natalie Lee
2050: A Conversation on Beauty

Ruth Pilston
Shrinkflation

Rebecca Klassen
Egg

The 9 November 2025 SSS event All This Useless Beauty has now sold out.

Thank you to everyone who has bought tickets for our sell-out 30th event, All This Useless Beauty, at the Lansdown Hall in Stroud on Sunday 9 November.

Starts 7.30. Doors 7.00.

See you there.

John