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Novella-in-Flash Award 2026: Judge: Jude Higgins

Jude Higgins is a writer, writing tutor and events organiser and has stories published or forthcoming in the New Flash Fiction Review, Flash Frontier, FlashBack Fiction, The Blue Fifth Review, The Nottingham Review,Pidgeon Holes, Moonpark Review, Splonk, Fictive Dream, the Fish Prize Anthology, National Flash Fiction Day anthologies and Flash: The International Short Short Story Magazine among other places. She has won or been placed in many flash fiction contests and was shortlisted in the Bridport Flash Fiction Prize in 2017, 2018 and 2023. Her debutflash fiction pamphlet The Chemist’s House was published by V.Press in 2017. Her micro fictions have been included in the 2019 and 2020 lists of Best Flash Fictions of UK and Ireland and she has been nominated for Best Small Fictions 2020, Best Microfictions, 2023, a Pushcart Prize, 2020 and Best of the Net, 2022. Her story ‘Codes To Live By’ was selected for Best Micro Fictions and was longlisted for Wigleaf in 2022. Her story ‘Spinning’ is published in Best Microfiction 2024. She founded Bath Flash Fiction Award in 2015, directs Ad Hoc Fiction, the short-short fiction press, co-runs The Bath Short Story Award, founded and directs the Flash Fiction Festival, UK, organises reading events and teaches flash fiction sessions online. Her full collection, ‘Clearly Defined Clouds’ is available from Ad Hoc Fiction

The 2026 Award

The 2026 Novella in Flash Award, this year judged again by me, Jude Higgins, is now open and will close on October 31st 2025. Results out in January 2026. If you are writing/or thinking of writing a novella-in-flash, here’s some information and FAQ’s. To help write and understand the form, we recommend reading Unlocking the Novella-in-Flash: From blank page to finished manuscript Michael Loveday’s multi-award-winning guide on the subject. Read in Full

Q & A with Mairead Robinson, 1st Prize winner, February 2024

Read Jude’s spring equinox interview with first-prize winner Mairead Robinson to find out, among other very interesting things about her writing, how she wrote her stunning winning flash selected by our 26th Award Judge Susmita Bhattacharya. You’ll also find links to more of her brilliant stories, and you can try out writing flash to all permutations of the colour ‘yellow’, Mairead’s prompt for a spring-based flash fiction now the celandines, daffodils and primroses are out. Earlybird discounted entries for our 27th Award finish on April 14th. Final deadline 2nd June. Judge Michelle Elvy Read in Full

27th Award Judge, Michelle Elvy

We’re delighted to have Michelle Elvy back to judge the single flash fiction award again in the year that she is also judging the Fish Flash Fiction prize. Michelle judged our Novella-in-flash award in 2021 and 2022 and she first judged BFFA in June, 2016, when she selected Sharon Telfer as the first prize winner, for Sharon’s amazing historical flash fiction Terra Icognita. Read more about Michelle’s latest projects and writing services below and tips for writing great flash. Read in Full

Pilar García Claramonte February 2024 Highly Commended

Four Conditions of the Heart

by Pilar García Claramonte

-0-

Doctors are avoiding the zero conditional. No-one tells me, “If a brain is deprived of oxygen for twelve minutes, it never recovers fully.”

You sleep. I watch. We share this arctic cubicle with the beep and whirr of machines. One shivering certainty rises stark-naked with your in-breath and falls in time with your chest: If you die, I die. If you die, I die.

-1-

Fourteen days since you collapsed on our kitchen floor. Doctors use the first conditional daily now: “If your partner doesn’t wake soon, we’ll need to make decisions.”

Your first conditionals were much easier.

If I promise coffee in bed forever, will you marry me?

If it’s a girl, we’ll name her Daisy.

If we retire next year, we’ll grow old by the sea.

-2-

It’s been thirty-two days. I hold your hand in one hand and write, with the other, the probable results of hypothetical situations. The complexity of the second conditional, scribbled on the back of hospital leaflets, is my foothold through this labyrinth.

If you woke, you would live significantly impaired, physically and mentally.

If you lived, you would not manage to breathe on your own.

At the end of the day, I scatter scraps of leaflets amongst binned paper cups. Acrid coffee coats my tongue across the dark drive home.

If you spoke, I know what you would tell me to do.

-3-

I tackle the third conditional in the classroom. The hardest of the four.

“You have to imagine the probable result of something unreal, impossible, something that didn’t actually happen,” I explain.

I write on the whiteboard: If, eighteen months ago, he had lived …

I pause, marker pen in the air. “In this conditional, there’s often a sense of regret.”

I wipe the board and start another sentence.

About the Author

Pilar García Claramonte wishes that she had discovered the joy of creative writing much earlier in life. Now retired, she spends her time between the Kent coast, Oxford and the Basque Country, where she was born, trying to make up for lost time, aided and abetted by some great teachers and writing buddies. She was also highly commended in the June 2023 Bath Flash Fiction Award

Susmita Bhattacharya’s judge’s report, Feburary 2024

Our big thanks to Susmita Bhattacharya for being our 26th Award judge, and for her close reading and excellent comments on the amazing stories she selected.

Comments:
Judging for the Bath Flash Fiction has been an absolute treat, but it’s also been quite stressful! I’ve enjoyed reading all the stories, and I didn’t mind reading them multiple times. I actually enjoyed all my train travels these past couple of weeks because I carried these flash fiction pieces with me and they kept me company wherever I went. But it was stressful to choose the three winners and the two highly commended. I had no problem choosing some of them, but with a couple of them, I really, really had to ponder about which one would make it.

I’m in awe of the flash fiction pieces I read, the idea, the crafting of the story, the structure and how these stories got such a variety of reactions from me. A sharp intake of breath, a few tears, a nodding of the head, a smile. When I read the winning story for the nth time on the train, and wiped my tears, the person sitting opposite looked at me uncomfortably. I so wanted them to read the story and cry with me.

All the entries are such excellent pieces, so congratulations to everyone who made it to the longlist, then the shortlist and then the winners, of course. And congratulations to everyone who wrote a story and submitted it. And congratulations to everyone who wrote something. Read in Full

February 2024 Round Up

Another leap year and another BFFA Award completed. Thank you all those who entered. 34 countries this time and 1010 entries.

Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Latvia, Macedonia, Malaysia, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Zambia

As usual, there was a flood of stories near the end and a lot of writers picked up the Last Minute Club Badge on the final day, February 5th. Someone said it was the colour of a Cadbury’s Caramac bar. Tasty!
We appreciate everyone for submitting, early or later. Read in Full

February 2024 Award Short List

Many congratulations to all twenty authors who have made our 26th Award short list selected by our judge, Susmita Bhattacharya.

While it fine to share that you are on the shortlist, please do not identify yourself with your story until the final results are announced, at the end of February. Thank you.

Read in Full

Launches of The Weather Where You Are and Flash Fiction Festival anthology, Vol 6

The weather where we were at the launch of BFFA Volume eight was stormy, but the party in St James Wine Vaults, Bath, where we launched both anthologies was wonderful. Seventeen people came to read. We heard winning, shortlisted and longlisted stories from The Weather Where You Are by Sara HIlls, Mairead Robinson, James Ellis, Mark Barlex, Kathryn Eldridge-Morris, Nick Havergal, Lotty Talbutt, Alison Woodhouse and Sophie Hampton

Stories in the Flash Fiction Festival Anthology Vol Six, were read by authors Michael Loveday, Kathryn Aldridge Morris, Grace Palmer, Jude Higgins, John Wheway, Damhnait Monaghan, Diane Simmons, Sara Hills Cole Beauchamp, Sara Hills and Anna M Wang. So many brilliant stories in both anthologies and it was so good hearing them read out loud.

As you can see from these lists some authors had a story in both anthologies and read them both and Mark Barlex read two of his stories which were listed in different rounds of the 2023 BFFA Awards.

We had a cake (pictured above ) with a cover showing part of the cover of each anthology to celebrate, along with wine and snacks. There was also a raffle of festival anthologies and other Ad Hoc Fiction books plus two bottles of Argentinian red wine kindly donated by Cole Beauchamp.

The twenty sixth round of BFFA is being judged this month and the new Award will open March 1st. Everyone longlisted in this and the other two awards in 2024 will be offered publication and a free copy of the book when it is printed at the end of the year. Everyone coming to the 2024 Flash Fiction Festival will also be able submit stories to be considered for publication in the seventh (violet coloured) edition of the rainbow series of Festival anthologies.

Booking for the 2024 Flash Fiction Festival weekend we sponsor, 12-14th July is open now. More details at flashfictionfestival.com

February 2024 Long List

Congratulations to all the authors who have made our Award long list and huge thanks to all who entered.

Author names are yet to be announced, so while it is fine to share that you are on the long list, we do ask that you do not identify yourself with your particular fiction at this stage.

Important
We receive many many entries, and occasionally some entries have the same title. We are in the process of sending an offer of publication email to all authors on the long list. Please do not assume you are on the long list unless you have received that publication offer. If in doubt, contact us.

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February 2024 Last Minute Club Badge!

The Last Minute Club is open! Our 26th Award closes today, Sunday 4th February at midnight. Prizes £1000 first, £300 second, £100 third prize £30 for two runners up. One entry £9.00. Two entries £15.00, Three entries £18.00. Anthology publication offer for all fifty longlisted in our 2024 BFFA Anthology. Up to 300 words. Judge Susmita Bhattacharya from the Uk. Read her judge’s interview here. Results out by end of Feb. Enter here.

Here is the last minute club badge that John at Ad Hoc Fiction created again for the 26th Award. Green and pale brown Anyone entering today should get one with their entry confirmation.

Read in Full