Read the Shortlist!

Nov 9, 2025

You can now read entries from the shortlist for the Michael Round Prize! This includes the entries which came first and second. The results were officially announced at our meeting on 10 November.

Winner: We only Had One Religion (Hashmi-Al-Haseeb Faisal)

We Only Had One ReligionDownload

Second Place: Sniggery Wood (Stuart Wilks-Heeg)

Sniggery WoodDownload

Missing (Celia Gatward)

MissingDownload

Why Don’t You Just Keep Going (Benjamin Graham)

Why Don’t You Just Keep GoingDownload

Dust to Dust (Katie Weatherford)

Dust to DustDownload

Austentatious Dames (Fay Dickinson) has been retained for possible publication elsewhere.

And the Winner is…?

Oct 26, 2025

Judging in the Michael Round Prize is now complete, and all entrants have been sent an email letting them know (if you entered and haven’t heard, get in touch at the same email you used to enter).

But who has won?

The result will be announced at a special meeting on 10 November, where the entries that won first and second places will be read. Not to be missed – put it in your diary! (10 November, not December!)

Intimate without Cringe

Oct 2, 2025

Hey look, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. We’ve all had problems when our stories require us to write about, well… sex. Myself, I find that the narrative either slips towards a biology text, or towards one of the less successful Carry On films. That’s if I can get any words down at all. I find myself suddenly approving of the Ancient Greek idea that all the action in a drama should take place off stage, and just be mentioned. Show don’t tell? Maybe not this time.

It’s OK: help is at hand. Natali Simmonds, who knows a thing or two about literary intimacy, has some helpful advice in Writer’s Digest.

Judging

Oct 1, 2025

The Michael Round Prize 2025 is now closed. Thanks to everyone who took part.
The competition, which was free to enter, is for pieces of fiction up to 1,200 words long, and is dedicated to the memory of our late and much-missed Chairman. The competition attracted more than 270 entries from 37 different countries. Thanks to our hard working panel, the judging process is already well in hand and we will announce the results at our November meeting.