We’re delighted to announce the inaugural Viridine Flash Prize! Enter your best flash fiction for the chance to win cash prizes and publication opportunities. 

 

We’re looking for the stories that challenge and move us, that combine masterful prose with the efficiency of language required by the flash form. We’re not limiting you to a genre or a theme. Go wild, surprise us! 

 

The Prize Structure

 

1st Place           £50 + publication

2nd Place         £30 + publication

3rd Place          £20 + publication

 

Shortlist            Publication

 

All shortlisted and winning stories will be published in a special edition print anthology, and each contributing author will receive a free copy. 

 

Shortlisted and winning entries will subsequently be promoted on our social media channels (Instagram and Bluesky).

 

The published anthology will be available in print only. The opportunity to purchase additional copies will be available, though these are likely to be limited.

 

The Specifics

 

You can enter one piece of previously unpublished flash fiction, 500-1000 words. We’ll be judging based on the following three criteria:

 

1.  Narrative integrity
   Does the piece tell a story? Does the story make sense? Are there plot holes or anomalies?
    

2.  Character depth and development
   Are the characters authentic and believable? Do they demonstrate complexity? Does any dialogue feel genuine?
    

3.  Mastery of language and literary techniques
   Is the vocabulary chosen with precision? Is the prose tight? Do the techniques employed, such as metaphor or structural choices, benefit the piece or serve as clunky distractions?

 

The Judging

 

Romy Morreo and Roger Niven (Viridine Literary Editors-in-Chief) will read every entry, judging each one against the criteria outlined above. They will first compile a longlist, then whittle it down to a shortlist. 

 

The top three winners will be selected from the shortlist, using the same criteria, by our very special guest judge, Lucy Flannery.

 

All entries will be judged blind.

 

All entrants will have the option to request free feedback on their work. 

 

The Timeline

 

Entries open                1st August - 30th September

Longlist                        7th October

Shortlist                        14th October

Winners chosen         31st October

Announced                  1st November

 

In the interest of maintaining entry anonymity the shortlist and winners will be announced simultaneously.

 

The Rules

 

• ONE entry per person.

• Entrants must be 18 or over.

• Submit one piece of flash fiction: 500-1000 words (hard limits).

• No simultaneous submissions.

• Entries must be previously unpublished.

• No genre or theme limits.

• Open to entries worldwide.

• Use of AI, either wholly or in part, is strictly prohibited.

• £1 entry fee. This goes towards the cash prizes and printing/shipping print copies of the resulting anthology.

• Entries must be submitted via Duosuma.

• We would strongly prefer entries to be in Times New Roman, 12 pt., double spaced. 

• No identifying information should appear anywhere within your entry document.

• Prize money will be distributed via Paypal (no alternatives).

• Entry fees are non-refundable.

 

The organisers reserve the right to disqualify any entries or entrants found to be in violation of the rules. 

 

ENTRIES ARE NOW CLOSED

 

Any questions? Send us an email at viridineliterary@gmail.com.