Stroud Short Stories is now accepting submissions for its event to be held on Sunday 19 April 2015 (earlier this year in line with Stroud’s Site Festival), the deadline for which is Saturday 21 March at 23.59. Ten stories will be selected from those submitted to be read by their authors at Stroud Valleys Artspace (SVA), John Street, Stroud, GL5 2HA at 8pm. It will be our ninth event.

For the two events last year the SVA sold out with 80 people packed into the venue.  Tickets for the April 2015 event will be available online in advance from the SVA/Site Festival website some time in March.

For the 19 April 2015 event we are again seeking stories from writers from across Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire.

Excitingly, we are also publishing an anthology of short stories from all eight events to date, and also the opportunity for the stories selected for the April 2015 event to be included.

We are greatly looking forward to reading your stories. 

Click on the tabs above or links below for more information.

How to Submit

Rules

Judges

Anthology

Our submissions email is  submissions.sss@gmail.com

Our general email is  stroudshortstories@gmail.com

Keep up to date on Twitter   Stroud Short Stories@StroudStories

Alice Jolly, who read her story Signing Off at October's Stroud Short Stories event, has won the £1,000 V.S.Pritchett Memorial Short Story Award 2014 with her story Ray the Rottweiler.

Congratulations to Alice from Stroud Short Stories.

Thank you to everyone who attended our sell-out event in October 2014. Stroud Short Stories will be back in April 2015 as part of  Stroud's Site Festival. And will open for short story submissions in January or February. 

If you want to join our email list contact me on stroudshortstories@gmail.com

Or follow us on Twitter @StroudStories

Stroud Short Stories Event Sunday 26 Oct at SVA

80 people crammed into the SVA to hear ten of Gloucestershire's most talented writers read their superb stories. Thank you and congratulations to these brilliant authors.

Here they are - in performance order -

Nimue Brown reads Imaginary Friends

Andrew Stevenson reads Barry Parry

Ali Bacon reads Preparing for Winter

Joe Eurell reads The Tigers' Ball

Jo Bousfield reads Public Transportation

Michael Amherst reads Erosion

Laurence Cotterell reads J

Philip Douch reads Trog and Kron Attempt to Re-fuel

Stephanie Smith reads The Handmaiden

Alice Jolly reads Signing Off

Photos by Tim Byford. Thank you, Tim.

Stroud Short Stories event 26 October 2014 

Doors 7.30 for 8.00 start. SVA, John Street, Stroud. £5 on the door.

Running Order and Authors'  Websites

Imaginary Friends  Nimue Brown  (Stroud)

https://www.facebook.com/nimue.brown

www.druidlife.wordpress.com
www.hopelessmaine.com

Barry Parry  Andrew Stevenson  (Nailsworth)

Preparing for Winter   Ali Bacon  (Emersons Green, South Gloucs.)

http://alibacon.com

The Tigers’ Ball  Joe Eurell  (Cheltenham)

www.joeeurell.co.uk/wp

Public Transportation  Jo Bousfield  (Stroud)

www.jobousfield.co.uk

Erosion   Michael Amherst  (Tewkesbury)

www.michaelamherst.com

J   Laurence Cotterell  (Cam)

http://the-re-view.org/author/laurence-cotterell/

Trog and Kron Attempt to Re-fuel  Philip Douch   (Stroud)

www.philipdouch.org.uk

The Handmaiden   Stephanie Smith  (Broadwell, Forest of Dean)

Signing off   Alice Jolly  (Stroud)

http://www.alicejolly.com/

http://unbound.co.uk/books/dead-babies-and-seaside-towns

http://www.independent.co.uk/biography/alice-jolly-9657774.html

BBC RADIO GLOS INTERVIEW AND STORY EXTRACT 24/10

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p028g81l

TIMING 1.16.51 to 1.30.27

Listen on iplayer to BBC Radio Gloucestershire interview with John Holland about Sunday's Stroud Short Stories event at SVA, John Street, Stroud. Doors 7.30 for 8.00 start. £5.

Hear Philip Douch read the beginning of 'Trog and Kron Attempt to Re-fuel' which will be one of ten stories to feature on Sunday.

Hear Friday's travel news too!

Stories Chosen for 26 October Event

SSS organiser John Holland writes –

Thank you to everyone who submitted stories for the eighth Stroud Short Stories event to be held on 26 October.  In May this year we broke our record with 33 authors submitting. This time we have doubled that with 64 authors submitting 82 stories! Yes, I was surprised. But also absolutely delighted. And even more so when I read the stories. Such wonderful imaginative tales, beautifully expressed and full of surprises. I am sad that I had to put aside some truly great stories. Thank you again everyone who submitted. You have all in a very real way contributed to the success of Stroud Short Stories. And if you have not been successful this time please try again for the May 2015 event. At the very least we can assure you of serious consideration of your work.

It was the first time that I had read the stories with no knowledge of the author's identity, something I think worked very well, and which will continue for all future SSS events. Great thanks and appreciation to Christiane Nicholson for her efficient administration.

Huge congratulations to the authors chosen to read at our 26 October event. I believe we have ten memorable stories, and a most enthralling public event in store. It's both a pleasure and an honour to showcase such talented writers and their work.

Here they are in (librarians') alphabetical order by title -

Barry Parry - Andrew Stevenson (Nailsworth)

Erosion - Michael Amherst (Tewkesbury)

The Handmaiden - Stephanie Smith (Broadwell, Forest of Dean)

Imaginary friends - Nimue Brown (Stroud)

J - Laurence Cotterell (Cam)

Preparing for winter - Ali Bacon (Emersons Green, South Gloucs)

Public transportation - Jo Bousfield (Stroud)

Signing off - Alice Jolly (Stroud)

The Tigers’ ball - Joe Eurell (Cheltenham)

Trog and Kron attempt to re-fuel - Philip Douch (Stroud)

I am looking forward to meeting the authors and also to hearing them read their wonderful work.

Our eighth SSS event will be held on Sunday 26 October at SVA (Stroud Valleys Artspace), John Street, Stroud GL5 2HA. Doors open at 7.30. Prompt start at 8.00. It’s £5.

Please come along.