We had over 300 entries to our Flash Fiction competition on the theme of epiphanies. Stories covered topics like food, waste, nature, transport etc., and all in different ways captured that moment of transformation when the penny drops for a character and they suddenly see the world in a different way. We were so pleased with the quality of the entries that our longlist was around 60 stories and featured writers from across the world. From these, with help from our panel of judges, we selected the top eight.
We are delighted to report that first prize goes to The Last Plastic Fork by Bahora Shomurodova. This story is beautifully written, perfectly captures the spirit of an epiphany and signposts actions we can all adopt.
Now We Live like Animals by Nicola Wilks was a very close second. We loved that it shows a clear turning point where individual self -interest gives way to appreciating the value of community.
Below are the other runners up
Taming the Floods by Nazish Saad: Truly lyrical.
Maggie Green’s Epiphany by Alyson Hilbourne: Great fun with a lovely twist.
Do Bees Like Raving by Bryony Taylor: A quirky and unexpectedly sweet story.
Make Men Want It by Nicole Hartmann: This adopted a marketing lens which made it stand out from some others on the same theme.
On Trash, Exes and Things That Don’t Magically Disappear by Kelli Rose Pearson: We had several on the subject of waste, but this had a lovely take, and we enjoyed the analogy of the ex.
Pump Organ Epiphany by Jo Dickson: A quirky tale that I’m sure some of us will relate to.
Over the next few weeks we will be selecting stories from the longlist to include in a short anthology for our follow up short film competition. This is where filmmakers/animators can select from a list of the best flash fiction entries to create a short film. We also hope to create a longer anthology for the general public.
