Gillian O’Shaughnessy
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gilloshaughnessy.bsky.social
Gillian O’Shaughnessy
@gilloshaughnessy.bsky.social
▪️Relentless optimist.
▪️Salt City Runaway, debut story collection out in 2026
▪️Sub Editor- SmokeLong Quarterly
▪️Best Small Fictions 23, 24, 25.
Reposted by Gillian O’Shaughnessy
Let’s gooooooooo! 🤓🐈‍⬛
Join us, humans!
February 10, 2026 at 9:02 PM
Love this ravishing journal AND this luminous writer. @claudineliterary.bsky.social @mynachang.bsky.social
"Chang’s prose lets us float on the idea, and for a moment, breathe the world in and dream. Sometimes—maybe—it’s enough to touch the possibility of something more."

This review from Claudine Lit left me teary-eyed. Huge thanks to @claudineliterary.bsky.social ❤️

Off to read the rest of the issue!
The Potential of Radio and Rain | A Review
www.claudineliterary.net
February 5, 2026 at 11:06 PM
Grizzly Bear by Belinda Rowe | Centaur
centaurlit.com
February 5, 2026 at 2:17 AM
Oh this is such sad news!
Hey all, @beansbaker5.bsky.social here. After much deliberation, and many missed deadlines, we've decided to end submissions to JAKE indefinitely on Feb. 15th (two weeks from today). All open submissions will receive a response, and all announced/scheduled work will release, but we're winding down.
February 3, 2026 at 6:03 AM
Does it EVER! I am so grateful to ALL my village! I’m so lucky 🩷🩷🩷
February 3, 2026 at 5:15 AM
MY BOOK! MY BOOK! MY BOOK!!
February 3, 2026 at 1:43 AM
Thrilled my story, Blue Car, Red Truck will appear in the Ghost Parachute anthology with so many of my favourite authors. Thanks @brettpribble.bsky.social & Brett J Barr for the beautiful artwork 🚙🚒

ghostparachute.com/issue/februa...
Blue Car, Red Truck — Ghost Parachute
Peanut plays games in her head with the traffic as it passes. Two green cars in a row and her dad will be almost on time. A yellow truck and a motorbike, he’ll be here before lunch. Black car, white r...
ghostparachute.com
February 1, 2026 at 11:42 PM
Oh wow!! Thank you People!! That’s amazing! Thank you Welkin! Congratulations to J.M.C Kane, I love your story SO much. My heart.
The people have SPOKEN!!!

And the winners of the people's prize are @gilloshaughnessy.bsky.social and J.M.C. Kane.

Congratulations!!!

Links to their brilliant micros below 👇
February 1, 2026 at 1:02 PM
Cinematic. Glorious. 🎶🎶🎶
FIRST PLACE in the Welkin Writing Prize 2026, "August 4, 2020" by Yara Zgheib. A swirling evocation of destruction and chaos juxtaposed with the haunting beauty of music:

www.mattkendrick.co.uk/welkin-stori...
August 4, 2020 | MattKendrick.co.uk
www.mattkendrick.co.uk
January 31, 2026 at 1:11 PM
Stunning, stunning, stunning, stunning
SECOND PLACE in the Welkin Writing Prize 2026, "What Stays Behind" by Muntasir Salman. A powerhouse of a micro with so much buried inside its one hundred words:

www.mattkendrick.co.uk/welkin-stori...
What Stays Behind | MattKendrick.co.uk
www.mattkendrick.co.uk
January 30, 2026 at 1:00 PM
Reposted by Gillian O’Shaughnessy
Now that all the shortlist (barring my winners!) have been published, you can vote for your favourites in the PEOPLE'S PRIZE!!

You've got until the 31st Jan to cast your vote.

Vote for 3 stories.

The 2 stories with the most votes share the crown!!

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
The Welkin Mini 2026 - PEOPLE'S PRIZE Voting Form
Vote for your favourite THREE stories from the Welkin Mini shortlist. You can vote for THREE stories. Each vote must be for a DIFFERENT story otherwise your entire vote won't be counted. Each vote is ...
docs.google.com
January 26, 2026 at 4:56 PM
Ha! This is wonderful @emilyrinkema.bsky.social Congratulations!
HIGHLY COMMENDED in the Welkin Writing Prize 2026, "Time for Tom to Go" by @emilyrinkema.bsky.social. A wonderfully original relationship exploration with so much verve at the level of words:

www.mattkendrick.co.uk/welkin-stori...
Time for Tom to Go | MattKendrick.co.uk
www.mattkendrick.co.uk
January 29, 2026 at 10:25 PM
So powerful. Congratulations @anibanerjee.bsky.social
THIRD PLACE in the Welkin Writing Prize 2026, "That Witch, Gopa Devi, She Burn" by @anibanerjee.bsky.social.
A story that crackles from beginning to end, propulsive and powerful:

www.mattkendrick.co.uk/welkin-stori...
That Witch, Gopa Devi, She Burn | MattKendrick.co.uk
www.mattkendrick.co.uk
January 29, 2026 at 10:12 PM
Reposted by Gillian O’Shaughnessy
“Try this, Sheila, love.” He gave her the winning smile he used on all his women & saw her heart flicker but then her lips thinned.
“Even if it’s the end of the world, Mike, I’m not just anybody’s for a glass of Tia Maria.”

UNMISSABLE @joycebingham.bsky.social
westword.substack.com/p/the-last-m...
The Last Monday Morning
A Flash Fiction by Joyce Bingham
westword.substack.com
January 29, 2026 at 1:05 PM
Reposted by Gillian O’Shaughnessy
Thoroughly enjoyed the wonderfully diverse readings at the @saloneurope.bsky.social - 💔 by @jamesmontgomery.bsky.social stunner by @stuhennigan.bsky.social funny filtrum musings by @mczyzniejewski.bsky.social

Woeful typing failed to nab me quiz prize 😆 Great hosting @kiklodge.bsky.social
January 28, 2026 at 7:13 PM
So thrilled to be shortlisted in this year’s Welkin Prize!
Today's shortlisted story is "If we'd said yes when you rang home to borrow four hundred dollars" by
@gilloshaughnessy.bsky.social. A one-sentence marvel full of so much sadness and yearning:

www.mattkendrick.co.uk/welkin-stori...
If we'd said yes when you rang home to borrow four hundred dollars | MattKendrick.co.uk
www.mattkendrick.co.uk
January 26, 2026 at 12:17 PM
Reposted by Gillian O’Shaughnessy
Today's shortlisted story is "What the darkness knew" by
Bill Nwonwu. An atmospheric piece that shines so much light on the human condition:

www.mattkendrick.co.uk/welkin-stori...
What the darkness knew | MattKendrick.co.uk
www.mattkendrick.co.uk
January 25, 2026 at 11:54 AM
Reposted by Gillian O’Shaughnessy
Minneapolis,
we stand with you,
as you march your streets in the name of the immigrant.

In the name of the mothers and the healers,
in the name of Renee and Alex whose lives were cut short
by forces that deny our shared humanity.
January 25, 2026 at 11:01 PM
Reposted by Gillian O’Shaughnessy
We stand with you as you crush ICE under your boots;
as your bodies freeze in snow and wind, but your hearts do not.

We stand with you
as children gasp for warmth and safety,
and you scream with a righteous rage
that shakes the very fabric of this wounded reality.
January 25, 2026 at 11:01 PM
Reposted by Gillian O’Shaughnessy
Your heartbeats are the drum of this country,
and we are ready to dance
not in denial, not in despair,
but in the fierce joy of what we refuse to surrender.

Minneapolis,
we love you, and we know you love us.
We will carry that love forward
together into the dawn.
January 25, 2026 at 11:01 PM
Reposted by Gillian O’Shaughnessy
We stand with you
and through your courage, the world sees:
love is larger than any law written in fear.

We will stand with you
as you march on,
as you rise as paragons of justice
against a great injustice.
January 25, 2026 at 11:01 PM
Invasion Day Jan 26. Change the date.
January 25, 2026 at 11:25 PM
‘Some carried bags. Some carried nothing’ Starkly beautiful.
Today's shortlisted story is "That Day" by Shofiqure Rahman. A powerful exploration of refugee life:

www.mattkendrick.co.uk/welkin-stori...
That Day | MattKendrick.co.uk
www.mattkendrick.co.uk
January 22, 2026 at 1:19 PM