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Sudden Fiction Top 3

Sudden Fiction: Winners (Top 3)

Top 3 Sudden Fiction Winners

1st: Small Deceits by Fiona Dignan (England)
2nd: Boys on Film by Alan McCormick (Ireland)
3rd: Comrade Brunnhilde by Robert Tateson (Scotland)

What our judge, award-winning American novelist and short story writer, Tara Laskowski, had to say about the winners.

Winner: Small Deceits

I love the way this story unspools, seemingly about one thing but about so so much more. It’s subtle but heartbreaking. “Small Deceits” is a perfect title because it really is about how the smallest things can add up to something larger—whether that’s tiny failures that lead us to self-doubt, or the everyday gestures we do as mothers to show our love for our kids. This story manages to do a lot in less than 1500 words.

2nd place: Boys on Film

I loved the starkness of the writing in this flash piece. You have to read between the lines of this story to get the full, haunting picture.

3rd place: Comrade Brunhilde

This piece was a delightful surprise, constantly twisting and turning and keeping readers on their toes. I enjoyed the subtle humor, the confident tone, and, of course, the wonderful image of a cat and a baby in a cello case, keeping afloat.

Congrats to the winners who will be invited to attend our inaugural awards ceremony to accept their prizes. Along with the others on the shortlist, they will have their stories published in our 2023 anthology, which will be launched at the 2023 awards (date and place yet to be confirmed).

If you didn’t win this time, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and enter our Flash Fiction or Microfiction competitions, both deadlines set for 31st March 2023. The writers who make it to the ranks of the professionals are the ones who combine imagination, aspiration, determination and resilience.