Prize Submission 2025
Prize Submission 2025
€20 Single Entry (+ €10 every further entry)
The 2024 Desperate Literature Prize for Short Fiction
is NOW OPEN for submissions
Before you enter, please ensure that you are eligible to enter the prize and have read our ‘Eligibility & Conditions’ page for the details on all the prizes. If you have any questions, you can also consult our FAQs page.
Entries are limited to five pieces per person.
DEADLINE: APRIL 13th 2025 (23h59 CEST)
If you’d like to own previously shortlisted stories, with submission entry you can get a free .pdf copy of Eleven Stories 2024 and €2.50 off both the full pdf bundle (2018 – 2024) as well as the print edition of Eleven Stories 2024.
Just remember to add it to the cart at the time of purchase!
If you have any issues with the submission or uploading, we made an FAQs page to help out!
FILES ARE UPLOADED AFTER CHECKOUT
JUST SCROLL TO THE VERY BOTTOM OF THE RECEIPT PAGE
Please note:
in order to benefit from the multiple entry discount, all entries must be made at the same time.
‘Eleven Stories 2018’ PDF download
Literary PrizeEleven Stories 2018 collects the shortlist from our first short fiction prize and is available for a limited period in pdf format as a response to the lockdown measures put in place by the Spanish government.
All sales will be shared between Desperate Literature and the authors.
->ONLY €2.20 or €3.50 for both the 2018 and 2019 editions AVAILABLE HERE<-
PLEASE NOTE THAT FOR COPYRIGHT REASONS WE HAVE REMOVED JOANNA WALSH'S SHORTLISTED STORY FROM THE 2018 PDF.
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.’
€2.50
‘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!
We're proud to present what is one of our most marvellous collections to date, including musings on menial labour under capitalism, longing, displacement, dementia, end-of-the-world hedonism, the joys of hope, and so much more.
Including work by: Sukie Wilson (WINNER), Amanda Hildebrandt (RUNNER-UP), Richie Jones (RUNNER-UP), JL Bogenschneider, Lizzie Challen Hubbard, Heather Colley, D.P. Strickland, Shane Tivenan, Aled Turner, Preeti Vangani, and Richard Westley
ABOUT THIS YEAR'S WINNING STORY:
'From the first paragraph, ‘Leaving Night Country’ catches us with its incredible narrative voice. Wilson has a keen sense of music and rhythm. We are left with a sense of wonder.' — MEGAN MCDOWELL, 2024 Judge
PLEASE NOTE: for orders over 5 copies, please contact us at hello@desperateliterature.com
€2.50 – €11.00
Sold out
‘Eleven Stories’
Literary Prize---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.’
The Septuple Whammy: Eleven Stories 2018 – 2024
(the .pdfs)
Eleven Stories, Literary Prize Get 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:
‘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
€9.50