Terms and conditions of entry:

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• The Robert Bucke Short Story Competition is only open to writers resident in Essex.

• Entrants must be over 18 years old.

• Family members or close friends of the judges will not be eligible.

• There is no limit to the number of entries any one entrant is allowed to make. Each entry must be sent in a separate email.

• Only short fiction pieces of up to 1,000 words, excluding the title, are eligible for entry. Entries over this length, or in other formats, will not be eligible.

• Submissions must be the writer’s own work (AI-generated entries are not eligible).

• Each entry must relate to the central theme Brief Encounters.

• All submissions must be written in English.

• Format your story in Times New Roman or similar font, Size 12, 2.0/1.5 spacing, using black font colour.

• Please supply your name and the name of your story in the body of the email and attach the story as a Microsoft Word .doc or .docx file.

• Stories will be judged anonymously, so please do not include any identifying information on the attachment. Attachments that include names or contact information will not be eligible. Your name and contact information should only be in the covering email.

• We are unable to offer personalised feedback for entries.

All entries must be submitted via email only to: enquiries@flitfest.co.uk

• We are unable to accept postal entries or hard copy entries. 

• The closing deadline is Midnight, GMT (23:59pm) on Tuesday 30th September 2025.

• Finalists will be notified and announced on or before Saturday 14th October 2025 on the Frinton Literary Festival website, and invitationss will beissued to the Afternoon Tea with Celia Imrie on Sunday 26th October

• By submitting, finalists agree to their shortlisted stories being published on the Frinton Literary Festival website.

Our competitions are run and judged internally. Our judging team is comprised of 3professionals from the literary world together with a guest judge.

 

Judges:​

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Gordon Wise: Gordon became a literary agent at Curtis Brown in 2005 but began working in the book industry in 1989 as a bookseller. He went on to be an editor and later, Publishing Director at companies including Pan Macmillan and John Murray/Hachette. Besides managing his own wide-ranging list of fiction and non-fiction clients, he has been Joint Managing Director of Curtis Brown’s Book Department, Agent of the Year at the British Book Industry Awards and President of the Association of Authors’ Agents.

https://www.curtisbrown.co.uk/agent/gordon-wise

 

Clive Brill: Clive was Head of Series Development for BBC TV Drama between 1990 and 1996, overseeing series such as Seaforth, The House of Elliot and Spender. He produced Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere with Lenny Henry and Crazy for a Kissstarring Mike McShane.

In Radio, he has worked on the soaps The Archers and Citizens and spent many happy years as the Commissioning Editor of Series and Serials for the BBC. He has produced hundreds of hours of award-winning drama and readings for Radio 4, including recently David Tennant’s Macbeth and Richard Wilson’s King Lear. Clive is also Artistic Director and Producer of Frinton Summer Theatre, an actor and the owner of Caxton Books.

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Deborah Klee: Deborah has written and published six novels. She is a Director of The Romantic Novelist’s Association, and hosts the podcasts and YouTube ChannelsCastaway Books and The Mindful Writer. 

 

Our special guest judge will be announced shortly.