Published quarterly on the last day of January, March, June and September
Prompt: None – Let your imagination run wild
No Entry Fee
Word limit: 500 words, excluding title
Deadline: April 15, 2022
Submissions: email to bffwritingcontest@gmail.com
Awards:
$200.00 first prize
$100.00 second prize
$50.00 third prize
$20.00 and publication on our website for shortlisted stories
Judge: Pamela Painter
It’s Here!
Our second print anthology, Branching Out: International Tales of Brilliant Flash Fiction is ready to ship. The brilliant stories in this collection—all 300 words or less—are an eclectic selection of gems that will inspire flash fiction writers everywhere.
Branching Out features the work of 67 authors from Australia, Canada, England, India, Ireland, Malta, New Zealand, Nigeria, the Philippines, Scotland, and the United States.
Selected from 350 international submissions, these unique tales will entertain you and inspire your own writing.
To order your copy, please donate $12 on our website Home Page by clicking the Donate button on the right hand side. If you have questions, or would like to confirm your order, please contact Dawn at bffnonprofit@gmail.com. (Please note that all book orders outside the USA will be subject to extra shipping charges.)
If you’d like a double dose of quality flash fiction, for a donation of $20 we’ll send you Branching Out and also a copy of our first print anthology, Hunger: The Best of Brilliant Flash Fiction, 2014-2019.
Your donations finance our nonprofit operations, and we deeply appreciate your financial support.
Our second print anthology is coming soon…
Brilliant Flash Fiction wants your best and most brilliant 300-word flash fiction stories for a print anthology set to launch autumn 2021.
Your story must be original and unpublished. One submission per author, please.
Theme: None. Let your imagination run wild. All genres accepted.
Word Count: 300 words or less
Deadline: May 14, 2021
Author Payment: One complimentary copy of the print anthology
Continue reading “CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS”
Write a Story in One Hour
Want a chance to have your original flash fiction published in our January 2021 issue? Invest an hour writing original flash fiction (200-1,000 words) based on a prompt given via Zoom.
Participate from anywhere in the world.
Eventbrite Registration Required. Go to: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/on-the-spot-writing-contest-tickets-121262313845.
This is a fundraising event. No entry fee is required, but a $10 donation to Brilliant Flash Fiction would be appreciated. Donations may be made on our website by clicking the Donate button.
Word limit: 200-1000 words, excluding title
Zoom call: 11:30 AM (Mountain Standard Time), Saturday, November 7
The Librarians’ Choice contest was held February 24-May 30, 2020, and evoked a bit of sadness that we can no longer wander the aisles of public libraries.
Contest Judges Anne Macdonald (based in the Poudre River Library District, Fort Collins, Colorado) and Molly Thompson (Front Range Community College Librarian, Larimer Campus, Fort Collins) chose a “Lost in the Library” prompt, and 192 international writers submitted a wide range of creative entries.
Brilliant Flash Fiction extends many thanks to the writers who participated, and a giant thank-you to the judges who volunteered their time to select three prizewinners. Continue reading “LIBRARIANS’ CHOICE – WRITING CONTEST RESULTS”
Prompt: Lost in the Library
No Entry Fee
Word limit: 300-750 words
Deadline: MAY 30, 2020
Submissions: email to bffnonprofit@gmail.com
Awards:
$100.00 first prize
$30.00 second prize
$25.00 third prize
Judges: Librarians Anne Macdonald and Molly Thompson
This writing contest was a lot of fun for the staff at Brilliant Flash Fiction. The entries were judged in-house and provided us with months of reading pleasure. We would like to thank the 350 writers who took the time to share their creativity and brilliance with us. Choosing a shortlist and three prize-winners was a difficult task.
First Prize: LIGHT THE DAMN FIRE by Eileen Malone
Second Prize: Calculus by Suzanne Freeman
Third Prize: Gustav Mahler’s Nipples by Laton Carter
Judges: Brilliant Flash Fiction staff
Theme: None!
First Prize: LIGHT THE DAMN FIRE
Assistant Editor Ed Higgins’ comments: As novelist and short-story writer Richard Harding Davis observed: “The secret of good writing is to say an old thing a new way or to say a new thing an old way.” Eileen Malone’s story carries the marks of both. The plot and plotting of the betrayed vengeful wife is, of course, a much repeated tale. Malone reinfuses this old nugget with a realism of setting as well as giving her protagnist-narrator a believable infusion of emotional hurt by a betraying husband. All of which sets the story up for the “new thing” twist on good ‘ol revenge. In the couple’s get-away cabin the wife sets alight the stuffed fireplace—but with the vent closed. Continue reading ““WOW US” – WRITING CONTEST RESULTS”
Prompt: None. Let your imagination run wild
No Entry Fee
Word limit: 300 words, excluding title
Deadline: SEPTEMBER 15, 2018
Submissions: email to
brilliantflashfiction@gmail.com
Prizes:
50 euro first prize (or equivalent amount in your currency)
25 euro second prize
15 euro third prize
Judges: Brilliant Flash Fiction staff
Continue reading ““WOW US” WRITING CONTEST!”
Prompt: Write a story based on Adam Kluger’s art displayed here
No Entry Fee
Word limit: 300 words, excluding title
Deadline: FEBRUARY 15, 2018
Submissions: email to
brilliantflashfiction@gmail.com
Prizes:
50 euro first prize (or equivalent amount in your currency)
25 euro second prize
15 euro third prize
Artist & Judge: Adam Kluger Continue reading “ART PROMPT WRITING CONTEST!”
Many thanks to Judge Charles Rammelkamp for choosing our contest theme and volunteering his time to select the three prizewinners. Thanks also to the 250 brilliant writers who entered this contest.
FIRST PRIZE: Andrew M Stockton, Sunday Lunch (Again)
SECOND PRIZE: Lesley Middleton, Little Joe
THIRD PRIZE: Mark Warren, The Cleaner
Judge: Charles Rammelkamp
Theme: Concealment
First Prize: Sunday Lunch (Again) by Andrew M. Stockton
Judge’s Comments: Sunday Lunch (Again) is like an oyster concealing a pearl. Just as the food smells are described as “invisible but powerful,” so is the secret of incest that’s only alluded to. Is it the daughter’s father? Her uncle? Both? All that’s certain is the shame and the “naked, remorseless memories” behind the sham of the family dinner.
Sunday Lunch (Again)
By Andrew M Stockton
Walking into cooking-smells, cabbage, the roast, food smells, invisible but powerful, making me salivate. “Hi, it’s me; your daughter’s home for Sunday lunch! Feed me!”
Dad’s laid the table, and the tablecloth is so bright and white it could warn ships about hazards. Wish I’d had such a hazard warning years ago. Mum checks the cutlery and moves the bottle of wine that uncle Danny bought to hide a small stain on the cloth. Continue reading “CONCEALMENT – WRITING CONTEST RESULTS”
BRILLIANT FLASH FICTION 