Do You Have a Short Story Inside You? If So, Get Writing To Win a Prize

Published on: 4 Sep, 2025
Updated on: 6 Sep, 2025

Paper Moon, the new Guildford bookshop, is running the competition in conjunction with The Guildford Dragon NEWS.

Entries have already started arriving for our short story competition, which we are running in conjunction with Paper Moon, Guildford’s new independent bookstore. A prize worth £100 is up for grabs, so get writing.

The competition coincides with the Guildford Book Festival, running from September 14 – October 23.

The Prize

The winner will receive £50 in book tokens donated by Paper Moon, based in Jeffries Passage, and £50 in cash from The Guildford Dragon NEWS.

The winning entry will be published in The Dragon.

Competition Guidelines

The Guildford Dragon-Paper Moon Short Story Competition is open to all genres and styles of fiction. Whether your passion lies with mystery, romance, science fiction, fantasy, literary fiction, or any other genre, we want to hear your story.

The competition is open to everyone living in Surrey. Writers of all backgrounds and levels of experience can take part. Whether you are a student, a working professional, a parent, or a retiree, if you have a passion for storytelling, you are welcome to participate.

The Rules

• Stories should be no more than 1,500 words
• Age requirement: 16 years and above
• Language: All stories must be fictional and submitted in English
• Originality: Stories must be original, unpublished (including on personal blogs or websites) and not under consideration elsewhere
• Submission format: Entries must be typed, double-spaced, and emailed as a Word document or PDF attachment
• Entry fee: There is no entry fee. Participation is free
• Number of entries: Each participant may submit only one story
• Copyright: Authors will retain full copyright of their work
• Pen names: You may use a pen name for publication purposes, but please provide your real name when submitting your entry
• Address: The Surrey postal address at which you live must be provided
• Finally, we want to see human creativity at work – not AI.

How to Submit

To enter the competition, please email your story to guildford.dragon@gmail.com with the subject line “Short Story Competition Entry.” In your email, include your full name, age, contact details including your full postal address, and the title of your story. Entries will be judged anonymously so please do not put your name on the story itself.

Deadline: All entries must be received by midnight on October 1, 2025.

Judging

Alice Fowler

The competition will be judged by:

Alice Fowler, an award-winning writer of short stories and longer fiction. Her debut short story collection, The Truth Has Arms and Legs, was published in July 2023 by Fly On The Wall Press, an independent press based near Manchester.

Alice is a contributor to the Guildford Dragon. Her website: www.alicefowlerauthor.com

David Reading

David Reading, began his journalism training with the Surrey Advertiser in 1965 and worked at various newspapers around the South before settling in Ash.

He is the co-author of the collection of short stories The Kindness of Time, published in 2022 by Red Socks Publishing.

David is also a reporter and sub-editor for The Guildford Dragon.

Jack Mountford

Jack Mountford, owner and manager of Paper Moon in Jeffries Passage, off Guildford High Street.

Winner announcement: Winners will be announced in the Guildford Dragon on October 16, 2025. All entrants will be notified by email regarding the outcome of their submissions.

Your entry

To help you get started, here’s a prompt, referring to the renowned author Kazuo Ishiguro, who was brought up here, on how you may wish to begin your story:

“Ishiguro thought Guildford an exotic place but…”

But that’s just one idea. You may have some of your own.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about the competition, please contact us at: guildford.dragon@gmail.com

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