OUR NEXT EVENT, THE HEAT IS ON 

+ OUR NEW ANTHOLOGY, SSS VOLUME FOUR 2022-2025

The next SSS event will be on Sunday 8th November 2026 starting at 7.30 at the Lansdown Hall in Stroud and will be part of the Stroud Book Festival. 

Submissions will open for all Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire writers on Sunday 16 August. 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'), insurrection, inflaming the senses, spicy food, cooking, 'hot gossip', hot-headed person, 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. 

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

The Rules and How to Submit are here.

SSS Writing Tips are here.

Information about the judges is here.

Additionally, it'll soon be time for us to publish our new anthology STROUD SHORT STORIES VOLUME FOUR 2022-2025 featuring 60 stories from our last 6 events by 40 Gloucestershire authors. 

We're currently formatting the new anthology and planning a Thursday 8 October evening launch (7.30-9.30pm - call in at any time) at the Stonehouse Court Hotel. The launch will be free to all. No ticket needed. Everyone welcome. Please come along. More information to follow.

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 

Ticket Information for 9 November 2025 ALL THIS USELESS BEAUTY + The Winning Authors and their Stories

TICKETS, priced at £12, for the Special 30th SSS event, All This Useless Beauty, are currently on sale from the Lansdown Hall website -

https://lansdownhall.org/stroud-short-stories-all-this-useless-beauty/

The event, part of the 2025 Stroud Book Festival, is on Sunday 9 November at the Lansdown Hall, Lansdown, Stroud, GL5 1BB. It starts at 7.30 (doors 7.30) and ends 9.45-10.00. There will be an interval and a bar selling alcoholic and non-alcohlic drinks including tea and coffee before the event and during the interval. When you book you can choose exactly where you sit.

Best to park in the Church Street Car Park and walk down the High Street to Lansdown.

This event will not be recorded.

HUGE THANKS to the 78 writers who submitted 112 stories on the theme of Beauty for our 9 November event All This Useless Beauty.

My co-judge this time, Ali Bacon, and I have announced the ten authors and their stories for the event. Here they are -

Hannah Glickstein - I Make Him Sick

Rod Gowers - 2050: A Conversation on Beauty

Simon Gowers - The Camberwell Beauty

Christine Griffin - The Rag-Rug Boy

Laura Kinnear - Mary

Rebecca Klassen - Egg

Poppy Lomax - I'll Keep all of my Useless Beauty to Myself

Ruth Pilston - Shrinkflation

Nikki Vivian - Lamello Zeta P2

Steve Wheeler - The Beautiful Couple

Sincere congratulations to these authors and thanks to them for submitting their brilliant stories to SSS. The stories range from the hilarious to the sad and poignant. There will be a sea voyage, a magnificent DIY tool, angels, a designer baby and, of course, an egg. It's going to be a great evening.

FIVE of the writers are new to SSS so will be the 137th, 138th, 139th, 140th and 141st writers to read at one of our events. Rod and Simon Gowers are brothers!

At the other end of things, Steve is reading for the ninth time and each of Hannah, Laura and Rebecca for the fourth time. It will be Ruth's second reading.

John

We are Closed for Submissions for our 9 November 2025 event ALL THIS USELESS BEAUTY. Here are the Important Selection Dates + Ticket Information

HUGE THANKS to everyone who submitted stories for our special 30th Event on the theme of beauty. 98 stories were submitted by 78 writers.

Here are the Important Selection Dates -

*Long List announced - Thursday 25 September

*Short List announced - Sunday 28 September

FINAL TEN announced - Wednesday 1 October

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

TICKETS go on sale from the Lansdown Hall website from Friday 3 October. ALL THIS USELESS BEAUTY is part of the 2025 Stroud Book Festival and takes place on Sunday 9 November at the Lansdown Hall at 7.30 (doors 7.00).

Seats are reservable so you can choose exactly where you sit. There will be an interval and a bar serving alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, coffee and tea before the event and during the interval.

Street parking is limited so the best bet is the Church Street car park then walk down the High Street or through Bank Gardens.

See you there!

John

We remain open for your submissions for our Special 30th Event ALL THIS USELESS BEAUTY at the Lansdown Hall on Sunday 9 November 2025. We close for submissions on Sunday 21 September at 23.59.

The theme is BEAUTY/BEAUTIFUL

It can be the beauty of anything - nature, landscape, people, children, love, writing, an object, a work of art or craft, architecture, the beauty of the accidental, a score or move in sports and games, day, a deity, the sky, a city or village, music, clothes, cosmetics, cosmetic surgery, beauty treatments/grooming, beautician, vanity, tattoos, health & beauty, animals, pets, inner beauty, hidden beauty, a beautiful friendship...you name it, you can use it in your story. 

NB Please remember that we are looking for STORIES, something with a 'narrative arc' to read to a live audience.

The title of the event is All This Useless Beauty based on the 1996 Elvis Costello song and the 1926 Maupassant short story.

As always it's free to submit.

OUR NEW VENUE is the Lansdown Hall in Stroud and the event will be part of the 2025 Stroud Book Festival. The Cotswold Playhouse was unable to offer us any dates that would allow us to be part of the Book Festival. Like the Playhouse, the Lansdown Hall has a seating capacity of 150.

KEY DATES - Submissions are now open but close on Sunday 21 September. The results will be publicly announced on Wednesday 1 October and tickets will go on sale on Friday 3 October from the Lansdown Hall website. If you're interested, please make a note of these dates.

We choose ten stories to be read/performed by their authors. We take both new and previously published stories of 500 to 1500 words. Under our legendary Rule 11 (now 12!), the authors who read at the Keep on Movin' event back in May are unable to submit to this event.

I am co-judging this time with short story author and novelist Ali Bacon who has read a number of times at SSS and won awards for her short fiction. Ali's novel The Absent Heart was published in March this year.

Link to info about the JUDGES is here.

Link to the Rules and How to Submit is here.

Link to Tips on Writing for SSS is here. This is essential reading!

John 

 

Pix of the Authors who read at KEEP ON MOVIN' on Sunday 11 May 2025

Thank you to everyone who bought tickets and came along to our event, Keep on Movin' on Sunday 11 May at the Cotswold Playhouse. Here are the authors who performed their brilliant stories at our 29th event. They are in the order in which they read.

Photography by Angela Fitch. Thank you, Angela!

Robin Booth - Paulie

Joel Levy - Remora

Stella Waller - Three Sisters

Steph Smith - Sea Shanty

David Goodland - Elvis and Billy and that Old Crab

Val Ockwell - Taking a Leap

Sophie Holland - Next of Kin

Sean W. Quigley - Making the Most of it

Jacob Parker - Neon Pizza

Jess Blatchley - The Year of Mud and Liquids

TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE to see/hear these Authors and their Winning Stories at our 11 May SSS event KEEP ON MOVIN' on the theme of Journeys

Tickets, priced at £12, are now on sale on the Cotswold Playhouse website -

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

The event is on Sunday 11 May 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. When you book your tickets you can choose your exact seat.

We often sell out so best not to leave it too late.

The event will NOT be recorded. 

It's going to be a great night. I hope to see you there.

HUGE THANKS to the 78 writers who submitted 112 stories on the theme of Journeys for our 11 May event Keep on Movin'.

My co-judge this time, Chloe Turner, and I have now announced the ten authors and their stories for our 11 May 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 tender, from the hallucinatory to the witty and humourous. It's going to be a great evening.

Jess Blatchley (Bishops Cleeve) – The Year of Mud and Liquids

Robin Booth (Brimscombe, Stroud) – Paulie

David Goodland (Nailsworth) – Elvis and Billy and that Old Crab

Sophie Holland (no relation) (Stoke Gifford, S.Gloucs) – Next of Kin

Joel Levy (Stroud) – Remora

Val Ockwell (Somerford Keynes) – Taking a Leap

Jacob Parker (Wotton-under-Edge) – Neon Pizza

Sean W. Quigley (Gloucester) – Making the Most of it

Stephanie Smith (Newnham-on-Severn) – Sea Shanty

Stella Waller (Longwell Green, S.Gloucs) – Three Sisters

Sophie and Stella are new to SSS and will be the 135th and 136th writers to read at one of our events. Everyone else has read/performed at SSS before - with Robin Booth reading for the 7th time. Steph Smith returns to us after an eleven year hiatus.

John 

We are closed for submissions for our 11 May event Keep on Movin' (on the theme of journeys). Here are the Important Selection Dates + Ticket Info

HUGE THANKS to everyone who has submitted stories for our Journeys event. We are now closed for submissions.

Here are the Important Selection Dates -

*Long List announced - Thursday 3 April

*Short List announced - Sunday 6 April

Final Ten announced - Wednesday 9 April

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

TICKETS go on sale from the Cotswold Playhouse website from Friday 11 April. Keep on Movin' takes place on Sunday 11 May at the Cotswold Playhouse 7.30 (doors 7.00)

This event will not be recorded.

My Tips for writing for SSS are here

The Rules and How to Submit are here

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

John 

Submissions are open for our 11 May 2025 event Keep on Movin' on the theme of Journeys 

Submissions close on Sunday 30 March.

Our 29th event Keep on Movin' will be on Sunday 11 May 2025 at the Cotswold Playhouse in Parliament Street, Stroud. 

The theme is JOURNEYS - that's journeys of all kinds. Obviously we want stories about physical journeys  (trains, boats, planes, cars, cycling, walking, running, etc) which can include outings, travel or holidays. 

But we also want you to write about metaphorical, or emotional, or spiritual, or experiential journeys ie a journey through life or part of life that represents some sort of change or progress. 

A journey short or long. You name it - if it's a journey of any kind you can write about it. 

It must, of course, be a short story. We are not looking for travelogues or memoirs.

Key dates -

Submissions close Sunday 30 March

Results announced Wednesday 9 April

Tickets on sale from the Cotswold Playhouse website from Friday 11 April.

The event is called Keep on Movin', the title taken from the ground-breaking 1989 song by Soul II Soul. 

I will be co-judging this time with short story author and novelist Chloe Turner. Chloe has read a number of times at SSS and won awards for her short fiction. Her novel Blue Hawk was published earlier this year.

Submissions are free as ever and we accept both new and previously published pieces. You may submit one or two pieces from 500 to 1500 words.

The Rules and Information on How to Submit are here.

My tips for writing for SSS are here.

Info on the judges is here.

Your story, if successful, will be included in our new anthology Stroud Short Stories Volume Four 2022-2025 due for publication in 2026.

Exciting! Chloe and I are looking forward to reading your brilliant stories! 

John

Pix of the authors reading at FAMILY AFFAIR on Sunday 3 November 2024

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'