‘He still looks like a normal human in front of her, albeit with a well-fitted coat, suited to his frame, to his needs. What does he do in summer, she wonders, what does he do in changing rooms? What does he do in bed? What if he rolls over and kills it?’

Miriam Needham Fiction 12th November 2025

'Swallows are everywhere. Golondrinas, I say to myself and remember the day on the balcony when Pilar taught me that word. She used to praise them for eating the mosquitos in summer. The balcony, with its view over the town and valley, the factories and slaughterhouses, el río Cinca, and its dry tributary el río Sosa. High on the hill above us, the castle.'

Eamon McGuinness Fiction 8th October 2025

‘She did not like to think of Barbie all alone. How sad that would make her. Mother had cried and cried when Father did not come home. But he would. And when he came home, he would ask about his watch.’

Ellen Flanagan Fiction 18th September 2025

'And so she took off, curving round the cliffs of Sully Bay. She kept going, tumbling over the boundless, silver sea, flying farther than she’d been in years. Finally, summoning the courage to fish again, she swooped, and she dove—but she failed.'

Thomas Morris Fiction 3rd September 2025

Gregor Montgomery, she said, sweeping her palm to behold the clouds. He was the one who set that night sky alight. 

Rory Gleeson Fiction 14th August 2025

I remember hearing the screams of the jumpers as I gathered greasy paper plates and empty crisp packets. The lake stays cold all year round, colder than the sea, so even in the middle of a heatwave the water is a shock. People shriek as they plunge and they shout when they surface.

Juliana Adelman Fiction 2nd July 2025

‘They wait at the lights. The way he presses the button on the pedestrian crossing is slow and deliberate. She shivers. If he was her husband, he would put an arm around her, rub briskly up and down her back to warm her up. But he is not her husband.’

Claire Gleeson Fiction 5th June 2025

‘He knows his brother is driving. The two of them are in their mother’s car and his brother is next to him. He rests his head against the passenger window and closes his eyes. There are bumps in the road. His head bangs against the window but there is no pain.’

Grahame Williams Fiction 9th April 2025

“The children step forward one by one, and say, ‘I’m special because…’ and one by one they fill in why with brave, loud voices. They’re too young to hide who they are. The people watching them know them better than they’ll ever know themselves.”

Seán Farrell Fiction 6th March 2025

‘From inside this hell, in this dazed state of terror, I write to you about my adventure yesterday, offering a testimony of defeat from a man who longs for a hot bath like the ones he used to take before the war.’

Yousri Alghoul Fiction 7th January 2025

For this month’s story, Nuala O’Connor takes inspiration from Elizabeth Bowen’s 1925 short story, ‘The Parrot’.

Nuala O’Connor Fiction 8th November 2024

This month’s story is co-authored by Eley Williams and Nell Stevens. It’s from Duets, a new anthology of co-authored stories, published this month by Scratch Books.

Eley Williams and Nell Stevens Fiction 3rd October 2024

A new story by Lucy Sweeney Byrne from her second collection of stories, Let’s Dance, which will be published next month by Banshee Press.

Lucy Sweeney Byrne Fiction 11th September 2024

'As she flew through the sky in the white clouds, Fatma agonised over the expectations placed on her. She thought about all the cars she was expected to bring back to her village, and the promises she had made to find people jobs – as if she could create opportunities in Bahari!'

Dennis Shonko Fiction 6th August 2024

A new short story from Wendy Erskine, written in 48 hours as part of our Great Big Giant Short Story Experiment.

Wendy Erskine Fiction 4th July 2024

‘Normally I hate swimming in the ocean, everything about it scares me deeply; but after a few drinks I dive in fearlessly, with abandon and hope.’

Alena Lodkina Fiction 5th June 2024