Short story competition

The short story competition is now closed.

If good fortune ever restored me to my native country, to relate my travels hither, as I resolved to do, everybody would believe, that I said the thing that was not, that I invented the story out of my own head.

Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels

This October marks three hundred years since the publication of Gulliver’s Travels. To celebrate, the theme of this year’s writing competition is ‘Travels’. So many of our stories involve travels and travelling – from Homer’s Odysseus wending his way home via sea monsters and strange islands, to Samantha Harvey’s astronauts, orbiting Earth. Often, stories follow the hero’s journey, but sometimes they also leave us stranded on islands and by roads. What about those occasions where we receive travellers, whether from nearby towns or distant planets? Travelling can teach us about who we are; it can turn us into someone new. We can travel through time, as well as space, travel out of our bodies and into our minds. So, where will you take your readers?

Stories can be in any genre, with a maximum of 1500 words.

Writing competition categories

This competition is open to all staff and all students, with 3 categories: 

• Staff
• Postgraduate
• Undergraduate.

Prizes

Students

The winner and runner-up of each student category will have their story published in the University’s festival anthology later this year, and will also be given the chance to feature in an event at the annual Liverpool Literary Festival, 16-18 October 2026.

• Winner: £100 book voucher and a weekend pass for the Liverpool Literary Festival
• Runner-up £50 book voucher and a weekend pass for the Liverpool Literary Festival

Staff

• The winner and runner-up of the staff competition will receive weekend tickets to the festival.

Judging panel

The panel of judges for the competition includes:

• Dr Danny O’Connor, Colm Tóibín Lecturer in Creative Writing, Department of English
• Professor Greg Lynall, King Alfred Chair in English Literature, Department of English
• Eleanor McAdam, University of Liverpool PhD candidate and 2024 ‘Postgraduate’ category winner.

Closing date

The closing date for entries for the students and staff competition is Friday 4th September 2026, at 11.59pm.

• Please read the terms and conditions before submitting your entry
• Submit all entries to staffandstudentcomp@liverpool.ac.uk
• Entries should align with the theme ‘travels’ and should not exceed 1500 words.

We look forward to reading your entries!