Here come the Americans!

Recent competitions have seen some entries from the United States. Those American writers are following on from a proud tradition because it is widely acknowledged that it was a US writer who started the modern short story tradition.
Nathaniel Hawthorne, of Salem, Massachusetts, was the author of Twice-Told Tales, a book published in America in 1837 and one whose format excited authors more used to the traditional novel format.

Suddenly, they found themselves liberated from the need to produce works of epic length and took to the new format with gusto.

And why not? Short stories are a brilliant format in which to write, allowing you to take one fragment of life, a fleeting event and turning it into something compelling. Many of our entries demonstrate that skill beautifully.

We have had one or two queries recently relating to the rules for our monthly short story competition and whether or not they preclude stories which have been entered into/won other competitions. The answer is that we do not impose any such conditions - if a story wins two competitions then so be it - must be a good ’un!
John Dean