Abigail Williams
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abbywilliams.bsky.social
Abigail Williams
@abbywilliams.bsky.social
Writer of short stories, flash and other stuff. SL Bridport. Winner Molotov Cocktail, Flash500, CrankedAnvil, Exeter Writers Short Story. 3rd BFFA, 3rd Oxford Flash, SL Wells, Frome, UnchartedMag. Pushcart Nom.
Reposted by Abigail Williams
We are very excited to reveal our guest editor & theme for our 2026 anthology! Submissions open on 1 Dec & close on 15 Feb 2026. Our microfiction comp judges will be announced next week! www.nationalflashfictionday.co.uk/index.php/an...
November 14, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Really pleased to reach the longlist in the #mslexia flash fiction competition. Congratulations to the shortlist and winners 🥳
November 15, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Whoop! In a pretty gloomy October this is a sparkly piece of news. Thanks @bathflashaward.bsky.social for the long listing 🥳
October 29, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Love Cole's story for the nostalgia - and the zinging twist of optimism! Super stuff @nomad-sw18.bsky.social
In the mood for nostalgia? Thrilled to have my East Berlin story published by @doesithavepockets.bsky.social

"Jan has no time for their cotton-candy happiness. His father disappeared 5 years ago. No Stasi shadows, no neighbours with a grudge. Just gone.
www.doesithavepockets.com/fiction/cole...
Cole Beauchamp — Does It Have Pockets
1989: Every day is the same in East Berlin, until it’s not
www.doesithavepockets.com
October 11, 2025 at 7:37 AM
Reposted by Abigail Williams
Lots happening in Oct— last weekend to enter 31st Award. Closes this Sun, 5th Oct. £1460 in prizes. 300 words max.Results out by end of Oct. Our 9th yearly Novella in Flash Award ends Oct 31st. £500 in prizes plus publication. Results out Jan 2026.
Bathflashfictionaward.com
a sign that says hello october with pumpkins and leaves
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October 3, 2025 at 7:29 AM
Reposted by Abigail Williams
Can't wait to see what will emerge in our #FlashMonster contest. Deadline is October 15th.

We like literary approaches but also dig genre & pulpy takes as well. Art house or grindhouse. Subvert the usual monster tropes or create something nobody’s ever seen.

themolotovcocktail.com/flash-monste...
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September 5, 2025 at 8:20 PM
So excited to have a story on the @frazzledlit.bsky.social long list - congrats to everyone else and good luck for the shortlist 🤞🥳
The LONGLIST for the Frazzled Lit @frazzledlit.bsky.social Short Story Award 2025 is out!

Congratulations to all, and watch out for the announcement of shortlisted and highly commended stories on August 3rd!

www.frazzledlit.com/p/announcing...
Announcing the LONGLIST
Here are the longlisted stories!
www.frazzledlit.com
July 31, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Reposted by Abigail Williams
My little column in Writing Magazine. 😊
July 18, 2025 at 8:35 AM
Very pleased and more than a little surprised to find my story is clinging on. Thanks to the judges of the Frome Short Story Competition. Fingers crossed and good luck to the other shortlistees. fromeshortstorycompetition.co.uk
Frome Festival Short Story Competition
fromeshortstorycompetition.co.uk
June 24, 2025 at 8:25 AM
I am late to the party but absolutely thrilled to find I've been longlisted for the June @bathflashaward.bsky.social Flash Fiction competition. Thank you judges and good luck everyone!
June 23, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Very exciting to be part of the flood. Have been dipping in all day - looking forward to diving in fully over the next few days. Thanks @natflashfictionday.bsky.social for all your amazing hard work.
FlashFlood: 'An expression of futility' by Abby Williams #nffd2025
'An expression of futility' by Abby Williams
Dr Jimmy’s been digging ever since the banners changed in town and the soldiers came. His hole was a curlew’s scrape, then a ditch, then a grave. His neighbours wondered if he’d stop there, if the grave were for his wife who refused to stop protesting, even as the mob grew, even as the first stone came flying from the sky.  He didn’t stop. The hands which used to press their bellies and dispense vaccines are now blistered and cracked, his smart white shirt is patched in dirt. His surgery is closed to him because, under the new rules, he doesn’t have a license, and now a Faithful fellow who used to be a trainee vet sits behind his desk. ‘Faith won’t cure my boy’s measles,’ someone mutters, and one of his neighbours hurries to note down the criticism – just in case. ‘Jimmy,’ his wife would have said. ‘Stop.’ But she’s not here any more. Dr Jimmy’s crater becomes so large it attracts interest. A small TV crew arrives, a crowd of Faithful gathers to jeer and mock. But, at nighttime, other people bring fresh lemonade, leave flowers in his porch. Still Jimmy digs, muscles bunching, sweat roiling.  The Party rule book’s an unwieldy thing with new leaves pasted in every day. There are rules about words. Friendships. Sexual practices. Many details about racial hierarchies and employment law. But property is sacrosanct and there are no rules about digging holes.  The next hole starts two streets away. Then another right across town, then there’s one in the next county. They spread like a virus. Some people say the Diggers are burying their heads in the sand, others joke that it’s a poor way to escape now the borders are closed. Still they dig, into the earth, into themselves. They dig.   --- Abby Williams writes flash, short stories and longer form fiction. She lives in Devon with her family and her wayward hound.
dlvr.it
June 14, 2025 at 5:58 PM
fromeshortstorycompetition.co.uk The long list for the Frome Short Story Competition is up. Amazed and delighted to see two of my stories on it. Good luck to the other longlistees and 🤞!
Frome Festival Short Story Competition
fromeshortstorycompetition.co.uk
June 12, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Excited to be part of the flood…
Less than forty-eight hours to go to National Flash Fiction Day. FlashFlood will be posting a story every five or ten minutes. For more details of this, the write-in and our anthology launch, watch out for our road map of what’s happening. Booking closes tomorrow for our launch in Bath!
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June 12, 2025 at 6:38 AM
Reposted by Abigail Williams
First-prize-winning story now available to read on the Exeter Writers website www.exeterwriters.org.uk/2025/06/read.... Congratulations, Jillian Grant Shoichet!
Read the First Prize Winner 2025 - Salt by Jillian Grant Shoichet
News and updates from the Exeter Writers - authors in the South West of England.
www.exeterwriters.org.uk
June 9, 2025 at 7:15 AM
Amazing @vikkipatis.bsky.social ! Congratulations x
I couldn't be more thrilled to see The Darkest Night on the shortlist for the ADCI (Authors with Disabilities & Chronic Illnesses) Literary Prize!

What a gorgeous stack to be part of. Huge congratulations to all shortlistees! #SoAwards

@quercusbooks.bsky.social @societyofauthors.bsky.social
May 21, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Exeter writers shortlist is now up! 🤞🎉
The Short Story longlist is now up: exeterwriters.org.uk/p/competitio.... If your story's still there, many congratulations. Feel free to celebrate on here, but don't identify the title; we're still judging anonymously. #shortstory #competition #devon #exeter #amwriting #amwritingfiction.
May 19, 2025 at 7:28 PM
The Exeter Writers Short Story Competition longlist is up on the website. Good luck to everyone who entered!
The 2025 Short Story Competition #longlist is up on the website: exeterwriters.org.uk/p/competitio... Congratulations if you made it this far. Feel free to celebrate on SM, but don't identify your story as we're judging anonymously. #shortstories #amwriting #exeter #competition
May 2, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Delighted my story An Expression of Futility will be part of the @natflashfictionday.bsky.social Flash Flood on 14th June. Can't wait to get swimming among all those other stories.
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media.tenor.com
April 22, 2025 at 7:52 AM
Congratulations to all on the short list! 🥳
The 2024 Exeter Novel Prize Short List
April 14, 2025 at 10:51 AM
Reposted by Abigail Williams
We're delighted to present the inaugural New Writers Anthology: newwriters.org.uk/anthology-is...

It features a selection of prize-winning and shortlisted stories, poems and book reviews from the competitions we ran between 2022 and 2024.

We hope you enjoy it!

#newwriters #writinganthology
March 31, 2025 at 10:25 AM
Thrilled to have been longlisted for the #ExeterNovelPrize! Fingers crossed for the next bit. Congratulations to my fellow longlistees and thanks to @cathiehartigan.bsky.social and all the judges and readers
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March 18, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Reposted by Abigail Williams
Two big events happening early tomorrow 28th Feb— the results of our 29th Award,judged by @sfreligh.bsky.social & the @flashficfestuk.bsky.social taking place in Bristol 18-20 July, is opening for bookings! Stay tuned…
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February 27, 2025 at 5:47 PM
What fantastic news to wake up to! So pleased my story has made it through to the shortlist 🎉 congratulations to everyone else
February 24, 2025 at 7:38 AM
Thrilled to have a story on the list 🤩. Congratulations to other longlisters and good luck!
February 20, 2025 at 8:38 AM