The Cambridge Prize for 2026 is open for entries.
Dates: July 1st – 31st August.
You’ll also find details of last year’s winners – as well as links to their work, at the bottom of the page.
In 2026, there will be an undisclosed prize fund for the three selected pieces of both Flash Fiction and Short Story categories. There is no entrance fee although there is a tip jar which is entirely discretionary.
This is in line with our ethos of de-commercialisation and the primacy of effort and attention. You can read more about these values in our Mission Statement.
The judge is the editor & author Rupert Dastur.
Terms and Conditions
Please read the rules for submission below before entering the Cambridge Prizes.
- The competition is open from 1st July 2026 00:00 BST to 31st August 2026 24:00 BST.
- Short Stories must be in English and be between 1,001 and 2,500 words in total.
- Flash Fiction must be in English and be between 100 and 1,000 words in total.
- Entries should be the sole work of the author. We do not accept translation.
- Entries should be 12pt, a regular font, and at least 1.5 spaced.
- Please put the title and word count on the first page. Please number the pages.
- Your work must not have been previously published online (incl. blogs, journals, websites) or in print (incl. magazines, books, journals).
- Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but please let us know if your work is accepted elsewhere.
- Please submit as a Word Doc or DocX. We do not accept PDF files.
- We do not accept work submitted with links. Please do NOT send work this way.
- Please save the name of your work as the document name. Please don’t add things like ‘TSS’ or ‘short story’ or ‘final’ – this makes our admin more time-consuming.
- Please only submit ONE short story and / or Flash Fiction.
- The decision of the judge is final. We do not enter into correspondence about decisions.
- We do not wish to see stories that are gratuitously violent, sexual, or prejudiced.
- Entrants must be aged 21 years or over.
- Winners will be notified by email by the end of September. Please sign up to the newsletter to keep up to date with news.
- Sending us your work is an acknowledgement that you have read, understood, and accept the Terms and Conditions.
Thank you and good luck.
The Cambridge Short Story Prize 2025
First: Astley, Tom – King of the Maudlin Seam
Second: Watson, Stuart – Broke, Broken, Broker
Third: Beard, Alan – What Days Are Like
The Cambridge Flash Fiction Prize 2025
First: O’Dwyer, David – Pick
Second: Griffo, Megan – The River
Third: Redgate, Jamie – Normal Person
*
Shortlist for the Cambridge Short Story Prize 2025 (authors are listed alphabetically, by surname)
Astley, Tom – King of the Maudlin Seam
Beard, Alan – What Days Are Like
Booth, Robin – To Visit My Mother, One Last Time
Gardner, Frankie – A Certain Place
Kelleher, Damian – Liberty Leading the People
Love, Tim – Ending It All
Ludmerer, Nancy – An Anniversary Visit
Macdonald, Emily – Black and White in the Hurunui
Parr, Marilyn – Tiny Fears
Watson, Stuart – Broke, Broken, Broker
Shortlist for the Cambridge Flash Fiction Prize 2025 (authors are listed alphabetically, by surname)
Cottom, Chris – Sunday Dad
Griffo, Megan – The River
Kaul, Ash – The Death of a Jokebook
Morris, Sherry – The Hunger Moon
O’Dwyer, David – Pick
O’Halloran, Gill – The Puffin
Redgate, Jamie – Normal Person
Shannon, Sandra – Uprising
Toland, D. Spencer – A Piece of Tofu
Turner, Sherri – This Time Last Year
***
The Cambridge Short Story Prize 2024
First: A Particulalry Subjective Experience – Brian R. Quinn
Second: Quarry – C J Garrow
Third: The Vale Cemetery – Ahana Banerji
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The Cambridge Flash Fiction Prize 2024
First: Next Exit – Emily Rinkema
Second: Words and Sayings I’ve Actually Heard Spoken Out Loud During my Sixty-years on this Planet Arranged so as to Illustrate the Toxic / Lethal / Invisible Continuum they Help Perpetuate – Jan Kaneen
Third: Pretty Ghosts – Frances Gapper
*
Shortlist for the Cambridge Prize for Short Stories (arranged alphabetically by author)
The Vale Cemetery – Ahana Banerji
Ebb – Robin Booth
Maud Cross, Augur – T. Eleanor Fuller
Circling – Joanna Garbutt
Quarry – C J Garrow
When We Were Young – Malcolm Heyhoe
A Particularly Subjective Experience – Brian Quinn
In Enemy Territory – Caitlin A. Quinn
Waterford Crystal – Dave Wakely
Todd – Emma Williams
Shortlist for the Cambridge Prize for Flash Fiction (arranged alphabetically by author)
Confetti Letter – Chris Cottom
A Cheater’s Guide to Falling in Love – Rachel Fung
Pretty Ghosts – Frances Gapper
Recital: Repeat from Memory – Linda Grierson-Irish
Words and Sayings I’ve Actually Heard Spoken Out Loud During my Sixty-years on this Planet Arranged so as to Illustrate the Toxic / Lethal / Invisible Continuum they Help Perpetuate – Jan Kaneen
Under a Night Sky in January – David Mathews
Drunks – Emma Neale
Primitive – Jo Withers
Next Exit – Emily Rinkema
Tangible and Touchable (between the inside and the outside) – Malin Stahl