With details of the shortlisted writers and more:
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Well done again to all who made the longlist for this year’s First Chapter Competition. We’re read them all again and again and have our shortlist that our judge Louise Buckley will be reading and choosing the winners from.
Congratulations to the writers of the following novels and good luck for the final round!
Shortlisted Novels
Aliens All
In the Forest of the Monkey Puzzle Trees
Last Human Artists
Murder Under Wraps
Of Fire and Flesh
The Art of Deception
The Death and Life of Amelia Borgiotti
The Girl That Shouldn’t Exist
The Other Side of Glass
Windfall
We’ll be back with the results as soon as we can.
Ready to transform your writing journey?
WestWord isn't just another literary journal. It's a movement toward more mindful, meaningful storytelling that brings healing, peace, and unity to our divided world.
Join our writing community for just £14/month and unlock:
✨ Weekly 1-hour flash fiction writing Zoom sessions
✨ Monthly 1-2 hour craft workshops with replays
✨ Exclusive in-depth craft posts with deep insight and unique writing prompts
✨ Submissions to ALL themed editions and the annual WestWord Prize
From craft development to publication opportunities, membership gives you everything you need to grow as a writer.
Save £28 with annual membership — that's two months free — and makes each workshop, craft post, writing session and submission just £1.73 each!
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Upcoming workshops and submission opportunities
Dates for your diary
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Welcome to a roundup of the upcoming classes, courses and submission opportunities available at WestWord and The Mindful Writer.
Workshops
Writing Flash Fiction Against the Clock
Sunday 12th April 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM BST
Join Dreena Collins as she explores how constraining narratives to a specific window of time (an hour, a week, a decade) can paradoxically unlock new storytelling possibilities, create natural momentum and heighten tension that longer forms often struggle to achieve. Perfect for writers who want to sharpen their craft and experiment with structure.
Mindfulness for Neurodivergent Writers
Saturday 18th April 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM BST
Join Elly Marie, a neurodivergent writer and mindfulness facilitator, as she changes the rules for what mindfulness might look like for a neurodivergent mind. Explore mindfulness in a way that is designed to be flexible, movement friendly, and curiosity-based. Delve into specific techniques then adapt them to support your writing process.
The Body Remembers - Somatic Writing for Memory and Imagination
Sunday 19th April 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM BST
This workshop teaches you to access memory and imagination through physical sensation rather than purely mental recall, using breath awareness and body-based practices to unlock stories that live in your heart and bones. Learn techniques for tuning into the body’s wisdom as a source of creative material. Whether you’re crafting fictional characters or excavating personal memories, you’ll discover how paying attention to sensation opens pathways that thinking alone cannot reach.
Novel Building Blocks 5: Revision Strategies for Novel-Length Work
Sunday 3rd May 2026 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM BST
Learn vital methods to tackle the structural issues, character arcs, and pacing problems that come with working on a longer piece of prose. Developed to give writers a practical roadmap for transforming their draft into a polished manuscript. This workshop is included with a WestWord membership or you can pay as you go.
The Space Between Words — Writing Silence and Stillness
Sunday 17th May 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM BST
Some of the most powerful writing lives not in what is said but in what is withheld. The pause before a difficult truth is spoken. The thing left out of a memory. The sentence that ends before it reaches its conclusion. In the Tao Te Ching, the empty space inside a vessel is what makes it useful — and the same is true on the page. Through examples drawn from memoir, personal essay, and prose poetry, you’ll discover how what you choose not to say can carry as much weight as what you do — and how learning to trust that space transforms your writing.
Friday Flashing
Every Friday 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM GMT
Join Debbi Voisey for focused flash fiction development that will sharpen every aspect of your writing. Each session features a reading, associated writing prompts and a chance to take your flash writing to the next level. These sessions are included in a WestWord membership or you can pay as you go.
If you have your own idea for a workshop, get in touch.
Deadlines
The Mindful Novel Course
Work through story structure, character, narrative drive, relationships, world-building, and prose over the course of six months. This is not a race, learn to go slow and delve deep. Every exercise and prompt has been devised through the lens of a mindful writing practice. The course starts on 4th May but applications close on the 27th April.
WestWord
Submissions for the next edition of WestWord have just opened. You have until 31st May to perfect your stories on the theme of COMPASS. Pirate coves, vintage maps, an intense argument to the soundtrack of a SatNav… Direct your readers in any way you wish, navigate the murky waters of what it is to be human! Accepting short stories up to 3,000 words, flash fictions up to 1,000 words, and micro fictions up to 350 words. Submission fee: £5. Submit here.
Rolling deadlines
Hermit Haven
Send us your hermit crab stories (up to 1,000 words). We want compelling stories hidden in borrowed structures. School reports, crosswords, shopping lists, instruction manuals… any format you can imagine! Submission fee: £6. If you’re a member of the WestWord Community you now get one free submission a year included with your membership
Monthly Micro
On the first Monday of every month a prompt will be posted on the WestWord website. Post your 75-word response in the comments. Each month a story will be selected at random to receive a free ticket to an upcoming workshop.
Folktale Flash
Submit your stories (up to 400 words) inspired by folklore, myths, legends, fables and fairytales. Alongside traditional explorations of the genre we are keen to read your experiments, whether that is modern retellings, surreal approaches, or unexpected new twists.
Flash Focus
Two flash fictions (up to 750 words) are chosen each month for Flash Focus. All writers selected will also have an interview about the story that will run alongside it. There is no theme for this one.
Short Story Spotlight
For longer stories of up to 5,000 words. All those stories published will be accompanied by an author interview. There is no theme but we suggest reading previously published stories to get a feel of what we like.
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Hi story lovers!
It’s the first Monday of the month so it’s Monthly Micro time!
Here’s how it works:
It’s completely free. No submission fees, no Submittable forms to fill out.
It’s simple. I post a prompt on the first Monday of every month. You have a week to write a micro fiction (max 75 words) and drop it in the comments below the post (no sending them as a reply to the email as it won’t be read or included in the prize draw!). That’s it.
There’s a prize. The winner will be selected randomly from everyone who comments with a story. Everyone has an equal chance, whether it’s your first micro or your hundredth. The prize is a free ticket to the Zoom workshop of your choice (must be used within 3 months).
The winner of the March comp, selected by random number generator, is Ian who shared this story.
BANG ON TIME
Arriving at the station that evening, I could see my train pulling away. I looked up at the Live Departure Board. Apparently it was running bang on time. That’s perplexing, as I was ten minutes early.
I asked at the ticket office. There had been “temporary technical anomalies”. I lost my temper. I had missed my train. It was an hour till the next one.
Cursing, I checked my watch. It was ten minutes slow.
Congratulations Ian! You win a workshop and you can see what’s coming up here.
April Prompt
PARK
Write a micro fiction (max 75 words) inspired by this prompts and share it in the comments below.
What happens by the pond at night? What connections are made while the children play? This month, explore the places people pause, childhood games, and green spaces.
Deadline: Monday 13th April 2026
I’m really looking forward to seeing what you all create.
See you in the comments!
With love,
Amanda 💙
Ready to transform your writing journey?
WestWord isn't just another literary journal. It's a movement toward more mindful, meaningful storytelling that brings healing, peace, and unity to our divided world.
Join our writing community for just £14/month and unlock:
✨ Weekly 1-hour flash fiction writing Zoom sessions
✨ Monthly 1-2 hour craft workshops with replays
✨ Exclusive in-depth craft posts with deep insight and unique writing prompts
✨ Submissions to ALL themed editions and the annual WestWord Prize
From craft development to publication opportunities, membership gives you everything you need to grow as a writer.
Save £28 with annual membership — that's two months free — and makes each workshop, craft post, writing session and submission just £1.73 each!
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