Current Competition - SW TED JONES SHORT STORY TROPHY COMPETITION 2026

Theme: The Midnight Treat

Word Count: 1600 - 1800 words Max

Judge Bio:

Based in Aylesbury, Bucks, Morgen Bailey ~ Morgen with an E ~ is a freelance editor, author (of novels, short stories and writing-related non-fiction titles), tutor, mentor, WI/U3A speaker, podcaster, blogger, competition judge and former Writer’s Forum magazine Competitive Edge columnist. Most recently she is the founder of ‘Self-Pub Fest’, a quarterly non-profit book festival celebrating self-published authors (virtual and in-person – see https://self-pub-fest.co.uk). Her website is https://morgenbailey.com/, and she is morgenwriteuk on social media. Like her, her blog, https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com, is consumed by all things literary.

Thoughts From The Judge

I’ve been fortunate enough to have judged a variety of short story competitions over the years, including the HE Bates, Flash 500 and BBC Radio 2, and I currently run a free monthly 50-word (exactly!) competition (before that a 100-word so I’m even tougher these days). Those closest to the theme tend to fair better but it’s all too easy to write a story on the most obvious plot, and I often find several similar stories. It’s the judge’s job to be impartial. Should something be ‘too close to home’ they must set that aside. For me, it’s about how I feel at the end of the story. That doesn’t mean that the ‘successful’ stories all have to have a ‘wow’ reaction. Above all this is a ‘writing’ competition so the stronger writing tends to have an edge but some writers say that Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code) and JK Rowling (Harry Potter) aren’t great writers but they tell a great story. Yes, judges are a tougher ‘crowd’ but we – like every reader – like to be entertained, educated, find an escape, and feel the all-important emotion whether it’s throughout or at the end. Easy, right?

Deadline:

MIDNIGHT SUNDAY 22nd Feb 2026

Results:

Monday 30th March 2026

Rules:

Open to members only.

Internal

One entry per member.

Email entry only.

No author’s name to appear anywhere on the manuscript.

Title of piece and page number to appear on each page. (Footer or Header)

Title on Page 1 (Please do not use the title of competition as a title)

Line spacing – 1.5

Insert word count at the end of your piece.

If you are unsure about the formatting of your entry, you might find the Word documents on our website about suggested layouts and formats useful.

Submission Rules:

E-mail your short story as a word attachment to the Adjudicator (Lee Taylor)

Your file must have the same name as the title of your entry prefixed by SWSS226. (e.g. SWSS2 - Is That The Time?)

Once all the entries are in, the Adjudicator (Lee Taylor)) will send them electronically to the judge

Please note that the Adjudicator will only check that your file opens and not carry out any formatting or corrections on your behalf So please ensure you check that you have adhered to the rules and check you presentation, spellings etc.

You will receive an e-mail from the Adjudicator (Lee Taylor)) confirming both they have your entry and when it has been received by the judge.

For this competition, work may be discussed amongst members but is entirely up to the individual and done on a mutual basis between writer and reader. Members should not discuss any other entries without the permission of the author to respect the privacy of those who wish to keep their work to themselves.

Failure to comply with any of the rules may result in your work being withdrawn from the competition

Good Luck


Slough Writers Competitions (in general)

Style guides can be found here: Format & Layout, Instructions

Each term and over the summer break the Group organises a competition for members. See below for the terms of the currently-active competition.

  • Article over the Autumn term.

  • Short Story over the Spring term.

  • Poetry over the Summer term.

  • Varied topic over the summer break.

An external judge is appointed and there is a trophy for the winner and cash prizes for the three winning entries. The Summer competition sometimes involves the participants critiquing and ranking the other entries.

For more information about our competitions and trophies, please read About us page.