JUDGES

The Judges for the Sunday 12 May 2024 event on the theme of CHANGE or CHANGES are Ali Bacon and John Holland


We are open for your submissions and close on Sunday 24 March

Please Note -  Both judges read ALL stories submitted. All stories are judged 'blind' ie all stories are received by our administrator Christiane, who ensures that no personal information about the authors is passed on to our judges. 

Ali Bacon writes contemporary and historical fiction with a Scottish flavour. Her work includes award-winning short stories and novels. Ali's novel, In the Blink of an Eye (Linen Press 2018) was listed amongst the best Scottish fiction of that year. Her short story, Within these Walls, won the Bristol Short Story Local Writer Award in 2019. Ali is currently writing a novel about R.L. Stevenson.

Ali lives in Emersons Green in South Gloucestershire and has read six times at Stroud Short Stories, including at our Greatest Hits event at Cheltenham Literature Festival in 2016. She has also co-judged with John Holland on five occasions. 

Ali says she never fails to be amazed by the quality and variety of submissions to SSS.

X (formerly Twitter) @AliBacon


This event will be
John Holland's 21st as both SSS Organiser/Editor and judge.

John has now been running Stroud Short Stories for ten years. A former librarian, library campaigner and satirical gag writer for the BBC and Punch magazine, John started writing short fiction in 2012, taking over the running of SSS in 2014.

He has had more than 100 stories and flash pieces published in anthologies, magazines and online.

John has been lucky enough to have won first prize in five international short fiction contests, including InkTears Short Story Contest, Dorset Fiction Prize and To Hull and Back. He has been runner up, short listed, long listed, commended, etc in competitions over 60 times.

He has performed his stories at live lit events in London, Birmingham and across the south west.

John lives in Ebley in Stroud.

X (formerly Twitter) @JohnHolland52