Each year, writers around the globe have the opportunity to submit a short story to the H.G. Wells Short Story Competition. Along with cash prizes for the winners of the competition, the submissions of all final candidates are published in the annual anthology. 

H. G. Wells Competition/Website

Hubert George Wells was a British author whose novels are still famous today. Born in 1866, Wells originally studied biology and became a science teacher. His first published work was a biology textbook. The Time Machine, his first novel, was published in 1895. H.G. Wells continued to write because of its quick success. He wrote many novels, and is most well-known for his science fiction works, like The War of the Worlds. 

GoodReads/Website

Reginald Turnill, who had met H.G. Wells before his death in 1946, wanted to promote writing. He founded the H.G. Wells Short Story Competition sixteen years ago. After his death in 2013, his legacy lives on through the Margaret and Reg Turnill Prize for the winner of the Junior Competition. 

The competition has two different groups. The Margaret and Reg Turnill Competition is for writers that are aged 21 or younger. The winner of this group receives the Junior Prize, which is 1,000 pounds (~$1853 CAD). The Senior Writing Competition, for writers aged 22 or older, has a Grand Prize of 500 pounds (~$927 CAD). Despite the competition being based in Britain, anyone from any part of the world can enter. 

H.G. Wells Short Story Competition 2024: The Fool

Each competition has a theme that the short stories must adhere to. Past themes include “Motion”, “Switch”, “Mask”, “Vision”, and more. In 2024, the theme was “The Fool”. Charles Bain Smith from the chair of judges referred to this theme as “purposefully a provocative one”. Twenty-four stories were chosen for the anthology The Fool. Robert Maslen won the Senior Competition with “Sally Grass”, and Celia Fournier won the Junior Competition with “Vulture’s Field.” 

H. G. Wells Competition/Website

Celia Fournier has always loved writing. She spent time in her childhood creating books out of printer paper and writing stories with her grandmother. Fournier heard about the competition through an Instagram ad, at a time when she was on the lookout for publications and competitions to submit to. With the intriguing description and inspiring theme, Celia knew she had to enter. 

Fournier spent some time deciding on how to interpret the theme of “The Fool”, which struck her as particularly interesting. “I kept having this image in my head of a group of kids drawing tarot cards, which I decided I really wanted to write about, but the conflict of the story was still missing.” A story from Fournier’s mom about her time as a kid inspired the final pieces of “Vulture’s Field.” 

Before beginning to write, Fournier always plans the foundation for her story. “I plot and brainstorm until I have some idea of the shape of the story – then I always need to find the first line.” She enjoys writing in the format of short stories, which demand less time while Fournier is also working and in school. The restrictions of the competition allowed for her best work, as the task didn’t seem so daunting. 

The Fool contains 2024’s winning submissions from the H.G. Wells Short Story Competition. The theme is explored through many different genres, and reading it is a good way to support young authors. 

H.G. Wells Short Story Competition Rules

In order to give everyone a fair, unbiased opportunity, the competition has many rules. Any writers looking to enter this competition can find the complete list here. That includes a template on how to format each short story and an entry form.  

The entries are judged blindly by a chair of judges. The entry name can’t be put anywhere on the submission, even as a character name. Each writer submits only one entry, and that short story must be their individual work. It can’t be published anywhere else. There is a fee of five to ten pounds for those age 22 or older. The competition is non-profit, but the fee goes towards the costs of running the organization. 

More details on entering can be found here. The entry process has been done online since COVID. As Charles Bain Smith said in the foreword of The Fool, “This is an English language competition and I like to think Wells would have been pleased by the cultural diversity that a digital world can embrace. It does not need to divide us.” 

H.G. Wells Short Story Competition 2025

This year’s theme is “The Middle Ground”. The competition is open to submissions until July 8th. After a judging period, the shortlisted stories will be announced on September 21st. The winners will then be announced at an award ceremony on November 16th, and the stories will be published in 2025’s anthology.  

UNB Saint John writers considering entering this competition have the chance to be published in the 2025 anthology, or even win one of the prizes! The H.G. Wells Short Story Competition is a worldwide opportunity for writers to get recognition and explore a fun theme in their writing.