Green Stories is running a flash fiction competition for stories under 500 words on the theme of ‘epiphanies’. Deadline 27th August 2025.
The writing competition invites writers to submit a story about transformation, when a moment of epiphany causes one or more characters to change for the greener.
The transformative realisation could relate to any attitude or behaviour with environmental implications (e.g. food, travel, consumption, gardening, cleaning, etc.), or the story could focus on the benefits of any greener alternative (e.g. environment, health, status, spirit, soul). We call it fiction, but you can write about any personal epiphanies too, using storytelling techniques to give it drama and emotion.
A link for submission will be available a month before the deadline.
See below for a sample story.
Judging and Prizes
Our team of judges will pick the best stories.
£300 prize for the winning story plus £100 prize for 7 runners up. Stories are invited in the following categories:
Categories
- Transport
- Home and garden
- Food
- Nature
- Consumption/waste
- Activism (e.g. campaigns, protest, or internal activism e.g. within a school or business)
- Other
If we get sufficient high-quality entries, an anthology of the best stories will be published by Habitat Press (subject to individual author agreement).
Terms and Conditions
- To enter the Flash Fiction Competition, submit an original unpublished short story written in English on the theme of epiphanies plus a paragraph explaining how the story inspires greener behaviour.
- Stories must have a maximum word count of 500 words.
- The deadline for submissions is 27th August 2025.
- Open to all adults (18+) of any nationality.
- Submissions will be judged on creativity, literary merit and how well they meet the theme criteria.
- There is no entry fee, but all entrants must purchase at least one book from the Green Stories project as a guide to competition criteria (entertaining fiction that showcases green solutions).*
- Green Stories books must be purchased from https://habitatpress.com/shop/.
* This helps to share the work of other eco-fiction writers, giving entrants the opportunity to read examples that successfully fulfil the Green Stories brief. It also provides a small barrier to entry which helps prevent our judges from dealing with entries that don’t meet the criteria.
Sample Story
Slow TravelWe’re interrupted by a knock at the door. Tom gets up to see.
He returns holding out a book.
‘I’ve always fancied Switzerland,’ says Tom. ‘We could fly into Zurich and then go walking in the mountains. It will be lovely in spring.’
‘Or we could go by train?’ I suggest.
We pour over timetables and shake our heads.
‘No,’ he says eventually. ‘It takes twice as long.’
I take it and read out the title, ‘Epic train journeys?’
The cover shows a train winding its way through a valley between mountain ranges.
‘It’s from the neighbour,’ he explains. ‘It’s a thank you for looking after her rabbit.’We turn the pages, delighted. We imagine watching the world go by out of the window, lulled by the rhythmic clickety clack of the rails. The romance of the train.
‘There’s so many epic journeys,’ Tom sighs. ‘I want to do them all.’
‘How about this one?’
I point to a journey across France and Switzerland.
He shakes his head.
‘It’s only five hours,’ he says. ‘Too short.’
This short story reframes slow travel, so it is seen as positive rather than negative and encourages us to use rail transport rather than flying.
FAQs
Q. How do I submit?
A. A link to submit will be provided a month before the deadline.
Q. Does my story have to explicitly mention climate change or the environment?
A. No. But you do need to write in a sentence or two how it can inspire greener behaviour. For example, in the sample story, climate isn’t mentioned at all, but it showcases the delights of train travel which has a lower carbon footprint.
Q. Can I submit more than one story?
A. Yes but you must purchase one book for each entry. So if you submit two stories, you must purchase two books.
Q. Does it matter if the story is published on a website?
A. As long as no one else has copyright over the story other than you, it is fine to enter.
Q. What if I have purchased a book previously?
A. We need you to purchase a book direct from us using the link provided so we can match entries to purchases.
Q. Do I have to agree to my story being in the anthology?
A. No you don’t. We will contact all those whose stories are suitable with details of what it means to be included in the anthology, but you don’t have to agree to be eligible to win.
Future Opportunities
If we can secure sponsorship, we hope to follow this with a short film competition where filmmakers/animators can select from a list of the best flash fiction entries to create a short film, and credit the original writer. We’d love film schools to get in touch if interested.
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