‘Eleven Stories’
‘Eleven Stories’
—SOLD OUT—
Eleven Stories collects the shortlist from our first short fiction prize into a limited edition risograph booklet ready for your reading pleasure.
Here’s what the magnificent Eley Williams has to say about our selection:
‘This brilliant shortlist celebrates everything that I value in literature — its demands, its affirmations, its possibilities. Linguistically playful, narratively deft: each story demonstrated the ways in which writing’s verve can thrill in the vein and trill on the ear. It was incredibly difficult to find winners: all of the writers’ entries were assured in their teetering, fiery in their freshness and bold in their complexity and should be congratulated and thanked.’
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‘Eleven Stories 2026’
.pdf + print edition (PRE-ORDER)
Eleven Stories, GIFTS, Literary Prize, Literature ‘The Desperate Literature Short Story Prize remains a beacon for experiment in times when this is both increasingly rare and increasingly vital’ —Joanna Walsh
‘so structurally inventive’ —Ottessa Moshfegh
Eleven Stories 2026 collects the shortlist from our ninth short fiction prize and is available in either:- PDF - €2.5
- PRINT + PDF - €11 / a limited edition copy and the PDF to boot. **shipping is temporarily suspended due to Trumps tarifs and new EU shipping laws. It will recommence in the autumn.
Spanning continents, Eleven Stories 2026 collects stories of wit and transformation, from the playful to the experimental, covering everything from personal grief and reparation to coming-of-age oddities, meditations on writing in the age of AI, metatextual friendships, (sacre)religious delvings and more... Including work by: Mimi Kawahara (WINNER), Emily Roese (RUNNER-UP), Eric Baker (RUNNER-UP), Katie Assef, Saad Bin Iftikhar, Imogen Clarke, Christian Emecheta, Jennifer Green, Esther Leaming (DL RESIDENCY PRIZE), L. J. de Pedro (EU SALON PRIZE), Alexandra Symons-Sutcliffe ABOUT THIS YEAR'S WINNING STORY:
‘devastatingly intimate...accomplishes something exceedingly rare.’ —Ottessa Moshfegh
PLEASE NOTE: for orders over 5 copies, please contact us at hello@desperateliterature.com
€2.50 – €11.00
‘Eleven Stories 2025’
.pdf + print edition
Eleven Stories, GIFTS, Literary Prize, Literature '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
€2.50 – €11.00
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‘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 2022’
Literary PrizeEleven Stories 2022 collects the shortlist from our fourth short fiction prize and is available in either:
PDF - €2.50 PRINT - €11 / a limited edition copy, numbered and stamped by our fine selves
The shortlisted stories were exquisitely written and completely delightful in their power to surprise and astonish in a remarkably few number of words. Reading these stories made me feel glad for the future of short stories and excited me for reading more. I hope other readers feel the same way - ANTON HUR
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
Here's what the magnificent Rachel Cusk and Niven Govinden have to say about our 2020 selection:
‘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 ‘I was bowled over by the power, inquiry, and humour of these stories. They shine brightly in the mind after reading.’ – Niven Govinden
€2.50 – €11.00