Pix of the authors reading at FAMILY AFFAIR on Sunday 3 November 2025

Thank you to everyone who bought tickets and came along to our sell-out event, 'Family Affair' on Sunday 3 November at the Cotswold Playhouse. Here are the authors who read/performed their brilliant stories at our 28th event. They are in the order in which they read.

Photography by Angela Fitch. Thank you, Angela!

Rebecca Klassen reads 'Big Cat'

Ruth Pilston about to read 'Fossil Hunting'

Steve Wheeler (Steven John) reads 'Blueberry Muffins'

Helen Cornish Smith reads 'Grandma & a Law Concerning Bees'

Mark Rutterford performs 'Mick Jagger's Lips'

Gillian Metheringham reads 'Deep'

Nastasya Parker reads 'Calloused'

Archie Woolls reads 'Our Mother who art in Orbit'

Georgia Boon reads 'Erica'

Geoff Mead reads 'The Day Job'

Our event FAMILY AFFAIR at the Cotswold Playhouse on 3rd November has now SOLD OUT with over a week yet to go!

Thank you to everyone who has bought tickets. Every autumn SSS event in the last ten years has sold out in advance.

See you on the 3rd. It's going to be a cracker.

John

TICKETS NOW ON SALE + The Authors and their Stories for FAMILY AFFAIR

TICKETS priced at £12, for 'Family Affair' are now on sale -

https://www.cotswoldplayhouse.co.uk/whats-on

The event is on Sunday 3 November at the Cotswold Playhouse and starts at 7.30 (doors 7.00). There will be a bar and an interval. The seating is raked so you can see from wherever you sit, and we use a microphone.

The event will NOT be recorded. The autumn event always sells out so best not to leave it too late.

I hope to see you there.

THANKS again to the 88 writers who submitted 123 stories, a record number of submissions for a themed event. 

My co-judge this time, Joanna Campbell and I have taken the writers through a Long List and Short List process. And we have now announced the ten authors and their stories for our 3 November event.

Huge congratulations to these authors and thanks to them for submitting their brilliant stories to SSS. The stories range from the sad and beautiful to the witty and humourous. It's going to be a great evening.

Georgia Boon - Erica

Rebecca Klassen - Big Cat

Geoff Mead - The Day Job

Gillian Metheringham - Deep

Nastasya Parker - Calloused

Ruth Pilston - Fossil Hunting

Mark Rutterford - Mick Jagger's Lips

Helen Cornish Smith - Grandma and a Law Concerning Bees

Steve Wheeler - Blueberry Muffins

Archie Woolls - Our Mother who art in Orbit

Helen and Ruth are new to SSS and will be the 133rd and 134th writers to read at one of our events. Steve Wheeler (aka Steven John) is reading for a record 8th time!

John 

It's a Record! We are currently in the judging stage for the 3 November 2024 event Family Affair + Ticket Information

A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has submitted stories for our next event, Family Affair, to be held at the Cotswold Playhouse on Sunday 3 November 2024. Submissions are now closed.

We received 123 submissions for this event which is a record for a themed event and just 7 stories short of the record for all SSS events in our 14 year/28 event history.

For those writers who have submitted a story or two these are the Key Selection Dates. Please watch out for SSS emails on these dates -

*Long List (30-35 stories) - Wed 25 Sept

*Short List (12-20 stories) - Sun 29 Sept 

Final Ten (with authors' names) - Wed 2 Oct

*the S/L and L/L are emailed only to those writers who have submitted a story for this event. All announcements are by email.

TICKETS

Priced again at £12, tickets for the Family Affair event are on sale on the Cotswold Playhouse website from Friday 4 October.

The event takes place at the Cotswold Playhouse in Parliament Street, Stroud on Sunday 3 November at 7.30pm (doors 7.00). There will be an interval and a bar.

This is also the opening event of the 2024 Stroud Book Festival. Do come along. It's going to be a great evening of short stories.

This event will not be recorded.

John 

 

We are Open for Submissions for the 3 November 2024 event 'Family Affair' (on the theme of family) until Sunday 22 September. Here are the Important Selection Dates.

We close for submissions on Sunday 22 September at 23.59 (one minute to midnight).

Here are the important Selection Dates -

*Long List announced - Wednesday 25 September

*Short List announced - Sunday 29 September

Final Ten announced - Wednesday 2 October

Tickets go on sale from the Cotswold Playhouse website - Friday 4 October

Event takes place - Sunday 3 November at the Cotswold Playhouse 7.30pm (doors 7pm)

*Please note that only those writers who have submitted stories for this event will receive the Long and Short Lists

This event will not be recorded.

My tips for writing for SSS are here

The Rules and How to Submit are here

Please see earlier post (below) for more information about the theme and the judges.

John

We are now OPEN for your submissions on the theme of Family

The theme of our 28th event is Family and the event is named 'Family Affair', the title being taken form the Sly & the Family Stone 1971 classic funk track.

We are now open for your submissions. We close at the end of Sunday 22 September (ie at 23.59 one minute to midnight). Submissions are free as always. We accept both new and previously published stories.

The event will take place on Sunday 3 November at 7.30 (doors 7.00) at the Cotswold Playhouse in Stroud. 'Family Affair' is the opening event of the 2024 Stroud Book Festival.

As always, we will choose ten stories for their authors to read/perform to the Playhouse audience. Stories to appear in our next anthology (due 2026).

Tickets, priced at £12, go on sale on Friday 4 October from the Cotswold Playhouse website.

Family can mean anything - from two people to multiple generations.Try to think widely when writing for SSS and remember to check out my Writing Tips here.

Try to think beyond the domestic setting if you can. And please no stories about dead or dying children.

My co-judge will be the award-winning short story author and novelist Joanna Campbell. Info about the judges is here.

Info about the Rules and How to Submit is here.

Joanna and I are already looking forward to your brilliant stories.

John 

 And the Award goes to...

I am both delighted and humbled to let you know that at a special reception, at the Stonehouse Court Hotel last week, I won the Stroud News & Journal Community Award in the category Contribution to the Arts for my work with Stroud Short Stories. This coincided almost exactly with my tenth year running SSS.

I share this award with everyone who has attended a SSS event; anyone who has submitted a story; anyone who has read at a SSS event (that's 132 writers); with all the helpers and supporters including Stroud Book Festival; all my brilliant co-judges; with our administrator Christiane and, of course with Bill Jones who funded SSS back in 2011.

John 

Pix of the Sunday 12 May event 'Something Better Change'

Thank you to everyone who attended Sunday's event which was our 27th. Here are some snaps of the authors in action on the stage. They are in the order in which they performed.

Many thanks to Angela Fitch for these images.

Melanie Golding reads 'Yams'

Joel Levy reads 'The Changeling'

Jess Blatchley reads 'Variety'

Clare Hudman reads 'Deadwood Tom'

Philip Douch reads 'That Summer'

Claire Greenwood reads 'That Summer' with Philip Douch

Jacob Parker reads 'White Elephant'

Natalie Lee reads 'Dry Land Selkie'

Nick Adams reads 'In the Future you will have a Transmutation Box'

Robin Booth reads 'Ebb'

David Goodland reads 'Something to Fill the Void'

Tickets Now on Sale - Something Better Change 12 May + The Authors and their Stories

Thank you again to the 82 writers who submitted 110 stories for our change-themed event on Sunday 12 May at the Cotswold Playhouse. 

My co-judge this time, Ali Bacon, and I have now taken the writers through a Long List and Short List process. And we have now announced the ten authors and their stories for the event. 

Huge congratulations to these authors and thanks to them for submitting their brilliant stories to SSS. The stories range from the dystopian to the sad and beautiful to the witty and hilarious. It's going to be an amazing event.

Nick Adams - In the Future you will have a Transmutation Box

Jess Blatchley - Variety

Robin Booth - Ebb

Philip Douch - That Summer

Melanie Golding - Yams

David Goodland - Something to Fill the Void

Clare Hudman - Deadwood Tom

Natalie Lee - Dry Land Selkie

Joel Levy - The Changeling

Jacob Parker - White Elephant

TICKETS

Tickets, priced at £12, for 'Something Better Change' are now on sale from the Cotswold Playhouse website 

The event is on Sunday 12 May at the Cotswold Playhouse and starts at 7.30 (doors 7.00). There will be a bar and an interval. We usually close at about 9.45.

The Playhouse is lovely little theatre with a capacity of 150. When you book you can choose exactly where you sit. The seating is raked so you can see from wherever you sit and we use a microphone. 

This event will NOT be recorded. 17 of our last 18 events sold out in advance so best not to leave it too long.

I hope to see you there.

John 

Thank you for your Submissions + Announcement Date + Ticket Information

Many thanks to everyone who submitted stories on the theme of CHANGE for our 27th event 'Something Better Change' to be held at the Cotswold Playhouse on 12 May.

We received an above average number of submissions -110 in total from 82 Gloucs/South Gloucs writers. My co-judge this time, Ali Bacon, and I are considering the submissions and taking those writers who sent in stories through a Long List/Short List process.

On Wednesday 10 April we will announce the titles of the ten stories selected plus the names of their authors.

TICKETS, priced at £12, will be on sale from Friday 12 April from the Cotswold Playhouse website. It's probably best to buy early as tickets usually go very quickly and the event generally sells out in advance.

'Something Better Change' takes place on Sunday 12 May at 7.30. Doors are at 7.00. There will be a bar and an interval. We usually close at about 9.45.

This event will NOT be recorded.

The Playhouse is a lovely little theatre with raked seating so there's an excellent view for all 150 people. We use a microphone so again there is no issue with hearing from the back of the room. All seats are reservable so when you book you can select exactly where you wish to sit.

I hope to see you there.

John 

Submissions are now closed for our 12 May event 'Something Better Change'

Thank you to everyone who submitted their brilliant stories. The Selection Process Timetable is below. Good luck!

We are open for submissions for our 12 May event 'Something Better Change' on the theme of change. Here are the Important Dates for the Selection Process

The theme for the 27th SSS event is change/changes/changing. We close for submissions on Sunday 24 March at 23.59 (one minute to midnight).  

Here are the selection process dates -

Sunday 24 March - We close for submissions at 23.59 (one minute to midnight)

Thursday 28 March - *The Long List is announced

Sunday 7 April - *The Short List is announced

Wed 10 April - The Final Ten stories to be read at the event are announced - with authors' names

Friday 12 April - Tickets, priced at £12, go on sale from the Cotswold Playhouse website

Sunday 12 May - 'Something Better Change' event at the Cotswold Playhouse at 7.30 (doors 7.00)

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

The event will not be recorded.

Tips for writing for SSS here

Rules and How to Submit here

Please see the earlier post (below) for more information about the theme, the judges, etc

John