Quay Words Flash Fiction Competition

If you’re aged between 10 and 18-years, send us your Flash Fiction, 250 or 500-word story on the theme of ‘Trading Places’. There are two age categories – 10-14 years and 14-18 years – with cash prizes in each category of £200, £100 and £50, plus the chance to be published and to perform your work at Exeter Custom House.

We are looking for your inventive story, with a maximum word count of 500 words in the 10-14 year age-category and 250 words in the 14-18 year age-category.

We chose the theme ‘Trading Places’ because it opens up all sorts of possibilities. It invites us to think about other people’s lives and to put ourselves in their shoes. It echoes the trading past of Exeter Custom House on the Quayside where Quay Words is based. It links to the idea of a place, which might be a landmark historic building like Exeter Custom House, or might be the front room of your own home. We hope it frees your imagination to roam far and wide, exploring possibilities in much the same way as trading ships once sailed the globe from Exeter Custom House, linking Exeter to the whole wide world.

Last year’s winners were presented their prizes by renowned poet, and Radio 4 comedian Matt Harvey and they all had their work published in the Quay Voices #2 anthology. You can buy it here

Closing date: Sunday 28 May 2023, midnight.

Find out more

The picture is of the former first prize winner, Eva Reid, shaking the hand of the poet, Matt Harvey. Photo credit: Genoveva Arteaga Rynn.