Welcome to the Just Write! Library
This is where you’ll discover the top placed entries to Just Write!, the monthly short story competition that rewards creativity and imagination over experience.
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‘The Things They Couldn’t Know’ by Mary McCullagh
A woman returns to Ireland for her mother’s funeral carrying a secret she has kept for fifty years, and finds a letter waiting for her.
‘Esther’s Star’ by Imogen Pawcett
A new star appears in the night sky, and a defeated physics teacher decides it must mean something, until she decides it doesn’t.
‘Lo-Fi Pi’ by James Arkell
A mathematician in Dakar makes a discovery that should change everything, and a bored teenager in her bedroom holds the fate of the universe in her hands.
‘Martha’ by Sarah White
A woman who has built a quiet life in a small village finds that the people around her have been paying closer attention than she realised.
‘SMUT!’ by James Arkell
A village string quartet’s Tuesday rehearsal descends into chaos when an anonymous piece of erotica start circulating.
‘Brush Strokes’ by Susan Samlidis
A painter receives devastating news about his health and has to work out who he is without the one thing that defines him.
‘The Serenity of Silence’ by Charlotte Birtles
A mother of three navigates the relentless demands of a night feed, a school morning, and a husband who means well.
‘Yorkshire’s Supreme Champion’ by Barbara Burgess
Felicity has very specific criteria for her online dates, and a very particular plan for what to do with them afterwards.
‘If Only’ by Rory Shepherd
A woman’s life, told through all the small things she tells herself not to worry about.
‘And In Them Are Spirits’ by Priya Rohella
A child forms an unlikely friendship with a wild bird, and finds a way to carry it with them after it’s gone.
‘Best Mates’ by Andrew Thompson
Two old friends head into the mountains for a camping trip, but both of them have more on their minds than the walk.
‘A Taste Of Freedom’ by Carla Pearce
At her first AA meeting, a woman reveals that the gin was never really the problem.
‘Untethered: Fragments of Our Mistake’ by James Arkell
A woman pieces together the story of her sister’s world-changing scientific discovery and its devastating consequences.
‘The Things We Leave Our Daughters’ by Trudie Lewis
A fallen angel seeds her rage into her bloodline, determined to use it to settle a score with God.
‘Don’t Look Up’ by Jamilla Smith-Joseph
In a world where everyone’s been taught to keep their eyes down for their own safety, one person can’t shake the pull to see the truth for themselves.
‘Escape To Venice’ by Lindsay Pellow
Travelling alone in Venice, a woman keeps catching a mournful face staring back at her from a derelict palazzo window.
‘Transpantaneira’ by Chantelle Whitehead
A truckload of travellers chase a storm through the Pantanal, watching a young Jabiru learn to fly before the sky turns on them.
‘The O’Briens’ by Trudie Lewis
A banshee wakes to herald one last death and calls a scattered family home from across three continents.
‘Look Up’ by Jennifer Thompson
A seed becomes a tree in real time, learning that growing up and growing down are the same act of trust.