Announcing the LONGLIST

Here are the longlisted stories!

Photo by Paico Oficial on Unsplash

We are delighted and honoured to bring you the seventy stories that made our longlist for the Frazzled Lit Short Story Award 2025!

Each of these stories moved us, challenged us, or touched us in some way, or were delivered in such an unusual and compelling voice that we had to include them. Some, we went back to read again and again.

There is so much more we could say, but let’s take a look at the list!

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The Frazzled Lit Short Story Award 2025 LONGLIST

• A Creaking Ship Of Hope

• A Fate Like Gallus'

• Amelia

• Amy's Mom

• An herbarium, to press and preserve words no longer

• Barbed Wire

• Basslines of War

• CATFISH

• Cock Of The Walk

• Counting Down The Days

• Dog Person

• Dugout

• EXPERIENCE SHARING ACTIVATED

• Fade

• Finding Voice

• Finisterre

• Flesh + Bone

• Fluent

• Found Worthy

• Front Row Seat

• Gluebag

• God Speed

• Hangman

• Home

• How To Scale A Fish

• Hush Money

• Hymn of the Voiceless

• Invisible Measures

• It Depends On How You Look At It

• June Bank Holiday

• Last Days

• Let Us Not Admit Impediments

• Lice-free

• Limbo Nights

• Linger

• Madame Joy

• Menwith Hill

• Miriam and Edgar

• Modus Transvectio

• Mr. Ho's Long Shadow

• Nothing Settles

• Once Upon a Time in Suburbia

• One Another's Forever

• Silfra

• Slasher Dream #2

• Steaks

• Such wonders

• That'll Teach Him

• The Banana Factory

• The Bunker

• The Canal

• The Green Angel

• The Lost Language of Home

• The Man in the River

• The Observable Universe

• The Tribe Of Wounds

• The Unwanted Visitor

• The Wee Hours

• There is a Light

• This is the Thing

• Those of Us That Created Them

• Touching Life Lightly

• Triptych

• Twilight of the Gods

• Virtual Reality Is a lonely Place

• Walk in the Park

• What do Superheroes Do When It's the End of the World

• What I said to the journalist...

• Young Enough

• Ziva

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Huge congratulations to the writers of these stories!

If you didn’t make the longlist, we can assure you that it was not because your story didn’t work or was not as good as the stories on the list. Our selection is entirely subjective, and we were hugely impressed by every story we received. The competition was very close, so please know that we valued your work, and are sure you will find the right home for it very soon!

Watch out for the announcement of shortlisted and highly commended stories, coming on August 3rd!

Well done to all!