Stroud Short Stories

The Ten Stories and Authors for our 11 November 2018 event + Ticket Information

Thank you to everyone who submitted stories for our 17th event on 11 November. The total of 112 submissions from 85 Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire writers is the third highest in our history. Believe me, my co-judge, Debbie Young, and I had our work cut out. We really enjoyed the vast majority of the stories, and produced a Long List of 40 and a Short List of 18 before deciding on the Final Ten. All these lists have already been shared with the writers who submitted.

The competition was incredibly intense and the decisions did not come easily. In the end, the Ten we have chosen are possibly, in terms of contents/story lines, the most diverse range of SSS stories ever.

These are the stories you will hear on the night (in librarians' alphabetical order) -

Animate! - Zara Wick (Ruscombe, Stroud)
The Bread-Toast Continuum - Andrew Stevenson (Nailsworth)
Cargo - Stephen Connolly (Cirencester)
The Dress - Katie Witcombe (Cheltenham)
In Loco Parentis - Ali Bacon (Emersons Green, South Gloucs)
In the Clear Air - Clive Singleton (Nailsworth)
The Misty Aisle - Sarah Hitchcock (Stroud)
On Llamas and Feng Shui - Ken Popple (Stroud)
The Pewter Thimble - Amanda Staples (Staple Hill, Stapleshire)
What makes a Monster? - Sophie Flynn (Moreton-in-Marsh)

Huge congratulations to these authors. They will read their stories to what will be a packed house at the SVA (Stroud Valleys Artspace) on Sunday 11 November at 8pm (doors 7.30).

As always, the Ten includes authors new to SSS. This time there will be five! We welcome and congratulate Zara, Katie, Clive, Amanda and Sophie. Only two of the ten authors (Ali and Andrew) have read at SSS on more than one occasion.

The event is now called 'What Makes A Monster And Other Stroud Short Stories'. 

Ticket Information

The event is on Sunday 11 November at 8pm (doors at 7.30) at the SVA (Stroud Valleys Artspace), John Street, Stroud, GL5 2HA. There is a bar.

This event is part of the Stroud Book Festival. It will also be our last event at the SVA.

Tickets, priced at £8 (including the SVA's booking fee), are NOW on sale only in advance and only from the SVA website

Please note that some of the early tickets sold by the SVA say the event starts at 7.30. This is WRONG. In fact it starts at 8.00. 

Tickets always sell out in advance. Do not tarry. 

PLEASE NOTE - SSS does not sell tickets. All ticket enquiries to the SVA. 


Thank you again to everyone who submitted stories.

I hope to see you there.

John