The Henshaw Press Short Story Competition

The DECEMBER competition is NOW OPEN!

See below for details - 2,000 words, any subject, send to hobeckbooks@gmail.com

Closing date 31 December 2023! Good luck!

These are the winners of the September competition!

WINNER:Saturday Morning by Genevieve Flintham 

SECOND PRIZE:Flo by Sarah Loxton

THIRD PRIZE:The Boy and the Mermaid by David Longstaff

Prizes in the competition are:

1st Prize £200, 2nd Prize £100, 3rd Prize £50

The entry fee is £6 and the fee for a critique is £14

We now offer a proof reading service

If you are concerned about the presentation of your story do read our writing tips and our guides to presentation on the Story Presentation Page, before submitting your entry.

Competition Rules

1. Entries must be a fictional short story of up to 2,000 words on any theme.

2. Entries must be double spaced and page numbered with the title on each page.

3. All entries must be the original work of the author, must not have been published before the date of submission and must be accompanied by the author's name, address and telephone number which must be included on a separate page or within  the body of the e mail

4. The author's name must not appear as a title or in the body of any page other than the author information page.

5. Entries received after the closing date will not be considered.

6. Do keep a copy of your entry, manuscripts cannot be returned.

7. The judges’ view is final and no correspondence will be entered into in connection with the award of the prizes.

8. Prize-winning stories will be published on this site.

9. Entries may be made by email as a Word document  (pdfs cannot be accepted), or by post. We prefer email.

10. Winning entrants will be offered the opportunity to have their stories included in the next Henshaw Anthology.  It is intended to produce our next anthology when there have been sufficient prize-winning stories.

11. Receipt of all entries will be acknowledged by email or by post where no email address is available. Please remember to check your junk box.

12. Entrants must be aged over sixteen. If you are sixteen or under do have a look at our Young Writers page.

13. Entries must not be generated using AI technology. Any AI-generated entries will not be considered for any competition prize.

Each entry by post must be accompanied by a cheque for £6 payable to Hobeck Books and sent to:

The Henshaw Competition

c/o Hobeck Books

4 Norbury Manor Barns

Manor Drive

Norbury

Staffordshire

ST20 0RL

Entries by e-mail should pay the appropriate fee using the button below and send their story separately to:
hobeckbooks@gmail.com

For an extra £14 the judges will provide a critique (of any story entered into the competition) after the results of the competition have been published. Please, where possible, send your stories to us by email. It is much easier for the judges and the critique writers to read them and gain an overall view of the story.