.pdf + print edition
€2.50 – €11.00
‘Generous, soulful distillations. A tasting flight of prosaic kerosene. Each story ignited a flare in a forsaken corner of my mind. I can’t wait to experience more from these voices.’
—Henry Hoke
‘Wonderful: some very subtle, intimate and beautiful, others wildly imaginative and deeply thoughtful.’
—Ottessa Moshfegh
Eleven Stories 2025 collects the shortlist from our eighth short fiction prize and is available in either:
DON’T FORGET: YOU GET €2.50 OFF ENTRY TO THE 2026 PRIZE…
- PDF – €2.5
- PRINT + PDF – €11 / a limited edition copy and the PDF to boot.
**shipping is by Spanish postal service and doesn’t carry tracking, which can be added for €15 on demand via email!
One of our most exciting selections yet, our 2025 shortlist covers a spectrum of experimental and boundary pushing fiction.
From a Faulknerian river story to the lushest, queerest body horror — from cross-country feminist malaise to cross-border love — prophets, mothers, labourers — a tedious apocalypse, post-capitalist hope — these eleven stories are brimming with magic, longing, and humour.
Including work by:
Shastri Akella (WINNER), Swithun Cooper (RUNNER-UP), Alisha Dietzman (RUNNER-UP), Chloe Agar, Sohini Basak, Shelley Hastings (EU SALON PRIZE), Miguel Arroyo, Matthew Kinlin, Iseult de Mallet Burgess, Fox McGlasson, and Juan Fernando Villagómez (DL RESIDENCY PRIZE)
ABOUT THIS YEAR’S WINNING STORY:
‘Tender… and haunting’ —Ottessa Moshfegh
PLEASE NOTE: for orders over 5 copies, please contact us at hello@desperateliterature.com
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Complete the look
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€10.00The Full Whammy:
Eleven Stories, Literary Prize
Eleven Stories 2018 – 2025
(the .pdfs)€10.00Get the bundle of all seven current editions of Eleven Stories in .pdf format, bringing together the shortlist from our seven previous short fiction prizes.
Don't forget, you get €2.50 reimbursed if you enter the prize, just use the promotional code in the receipt!Only the best in contemporary experimental fiction...
ABOUT THE COLLECTIONS:
‘Generous, soulful distillations. A tasting flight of prosaic kerosene. Each story ignited a flare in a forsaken corner of my mind. I can’t wait to experience more from these voices.’—Henry Hoke, 2025 Judge
‘Wonderful: some very subtle, intimate and beautiful, others wildly imaginative and deeply thoughtful.’—Ottessa Moshfegh
‘There is such energy in these stories. Such pulse!’ —Tiffany Tsao, 2023 Judge
‘Reading these stories made me feel glad for the future of short stories.’ —Anton Hur, 2022 Judge
‘In these rich and vibrant stories, the language surprises and delights. From surreal mouse proposals to the catharsis of visible grief, via the uncertainty of memory and perception, each of these stories creates a new, engrossing reality while shedding light on our own.’ —Natasha Brown, 2022 Judge
I loved reading the shortlist selection which realizes the Desperate Literature team’s ambition to reimagine and diversify contemporary writing. The stories represented are inquisitive, irreverential, critical, and fully committed to their respective creative projects. I’ve never been more hopeful for the future of fiction, and the Desperate Literature Prize plays no small part in this.’ —Waidner, 2021 Judge
‘I thoroughly enjoyed reading these submissions, which surprised me with their honest poise, their integrity, and their understated adherence to the values of literature. In the hands of some of these writers, the story form was brought to bear on the modern scene in new and astute ways.’ —Rachel Cusk, 2020 Judge
'The 2019 Desperate Literature Short Fiction Prize has once again produced a memorable collection of diverse, dynamic short stories. It was a joy to read.' —Claire-Louise Bennett, 2019 Judge
‘The 2019 Desperate Literature Prize has produced an incredibly impressive shortlist of stories. It’s an exciting, powerful and original selection. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.’ —Holly Faulks, Literary Agent at Greene & Heaton
*PLEASE NOTE THAT FOR COPYRIGHT REASONS WE HAVE REMOVED JOANNA WALSH'S SHORTLISTED STORY FROM THE 2018 PDF.YOUR DOWNLOAD WILL BE AVAILABLE IN THE RECEIPT PAGE AFTER PURCHASE
Additional information
| product: | The 2025 .pdf download, THE PRINT EDITION |
|---|


Bookland Passport
Literature, Rare items
All about Bookland:
Bookland is a country you reach through reading, through talking about books with your friends, and through hanging out in your local bookshop. Though we issue passports for Bookland, the territory it encompasses spans the entire known world, plus quite a few as yet unexplored dimensions, and also exists across the totality of the Temporal Realm. Bookland's National Motto is LIBRI SINE TERMINO, which can translate two ways, either as "Books Without Borders" or "Books Without End". All indie bookshops are unofficial Embassies of Bookland, and any can become an Official Embassy simply by issuing passports which can be supplied by emailing the mysterious Secretary to the Grand High Ambassador of Bookland. Citizens of Bookland don't need documentation to prove their status... but it sure is fun! 

The Raffle / Sorteo
Literature???? SORTEO de VERANO ???? ???? THE SUMMER RAFFLE ????
NOW CLOSED MARIANA ENRIQUEZ FIRMADO /SIGNED
En nuestro sorteo de verano podrás ganar una copia firmada de Nuestra parte de la noche una libreta de DESPERATE LITERATURE y un totebag de tela para llevarlos contigo!
€2/billete Fecha limite: 1 de septiembre Envío Internacional por correos incluido*
"La herencia, el deseo de pervivir, la paternidad, el horror, lo íntimo y lo político. Una novela libre y osada, hechizante y genial."
For our summer raffle you can win a signed copy of Nuestra parte de la noche a DESPERATE LITERATURE notebook and a totebag to carry it all about!
€2/ticket End date: September 1st Worldwide shipping by post included*
*shipping is uninsured and untracked (though you can pay for tracking!) available wherever the Spanish correos can ship! THE WINNER Elena Espada


‘Eleven Stories 2019’
Literary PrizeEleven Stories 2019 collects the shortlist from our first short fiction prize into a limited edition risograph booklet ready for your reading pleasure.
Only the best in contemporary experimental fiction...
Here's what the magnificent Eley Williams and Claire-Louise Bennett have to say about our selection:
'The 2019 entries revealed all the seething, the subtle and the searing possibilities of the short story -- it was a pleasure and privilege to celebrate them all' - Eley Williams
'The 2019 Desperate Literature Short Fiction Prize has once again produced a memorable collection of diverse, dynamic short stories. It was a joy to read' - Claire-Louise Bennett
‘The 2019 Desperate Literature Prize has produced an incredibly impressive shortlist of stories. It’s an exciting, powerful and original selection. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.’ - Holly Faulks, Literary Agent at Greene & Heaton


‘Eleven Stories 2024’
.pdf + print edition
Eleven Stories, Literary Prize Eleven Stories 2024 collects the shortlist from our seventh short fiction prize and is available in either:
- PDF - €2.5 (which can be recouped against entry to the 2025 prize!)
- PRINT + PDF - €11 / a limited edition copy and the PDF to boot. **shipping is by Spanish postal service and doesn't carry tracking, which can be added for €15 on demand via email!

