Flash Fiction Judge’s Report Q2 2025

Judge’s report by Debbi Voisey

I want to say a big thank you to everyone who submitted a flash to this round of Flash 500. I was really excited to be judging for the first time. But honestly, you all made my job really hard. Thanks for that!

There were so many wonderful stories, and all so skilfully written that my first couple of read throughs identified at least a dozen stories to go through to my own shortlist. Which doesn’t help when you only have to choose three. It’s a testament to the talented writers currently writing and submitting flash. I had to sadly leave behind many fantastic stories, but they will stay with me. A recurring theme in the list was personal identity – either the loss of it, the fight for it, or trying to figure it out and be seen.

There were some very clever uses of form and style, including breathless paragraphs, and stories in the form of lists, instructions, or written project outlines.

My favourite stories are always those that move me and pull hard at my emotions. Often this comes from sources you wouldn’t expect, like just seeing the sublime way a story is put together. Two stories that jumped in and out of the top 3 a few times were All the Invisible Things, which gave me goosebumps with its quiet menace, and Is It Pronounced Shrewsbury or Shrewsbury, which was both funny and sweet, and the title made me laugh out loud because of course I said Shrewsbury the same each time and the concept of its pronunciation on paper is comically ridiculous! These stories kept their places in my top 5.

A title that really stood out for me was the magnificent: The Origins of the Tradition of Comfort-Aprons: Testimony of Catherine, spinner, age 43 (a wonderfully written, thought provoking story of women being silenced and kept down), and another that caught my eye was How to Scoop a Dead Bird from the Ground Without Falling Apart. I love titles that settle you into a story before you even start to read.

Many congratulations to the winners, shortlisted and longlisted authors, and to everyone who sent in their work.

First Place: Ways to say that thing you’ve never said

Another one of the great titles that mentally places you right where you need to be to enjoy this wonderful one sentence flash about all the things a lover can do to avoid saying those three little words. I liked the fact that I didn’t really know if some of these things had already been done (I like to think so), and the mention of things so fantastic they could never happen added to the sense that I wanted this person to just get on with it and to stop with the avoidance! It was a lovely change to have a story of love that had no snags, no underlying pain or menace, just happy memories and a longing for it all to continue. A really uplifting flash with just the right amount of humour. Loved it!

Second Place: I Search Her Eyes for Rivers

What I loved most about this story was its simplicity, which made its impact all the more emotional. A poignant story about loss and grief that deftly hints at underlying familial issues. The title is gorgeous, and is echoed near the end, along with a killer last sentence/last four words that had me weeping. Grief can be a complicated beast.

Third Place: Lucille Ascends

This displayed such a skilful use of language and form, with each sentence perfectly constructed from the echo of the last. The saintly and very dissatisfied Lucille takes a dramatic bow out of her humdrum life with a husband who takes her for granted, and she leaves a mark that will last forever. It has a lovely, dream-like quality and some beautiful language.