The competition is organized by Mslexia, a British magazine for women writers. The event is open to women of any nationality from any country.

This competition is for unpublished complete short fiction of up to 3,000 words.

Entries should be in English or English dialect.

The winner will receive £3,000. Three additional finalists will each receive £100.

The winning entry and three finalists will be published in the December 2024 edition of Mslexia.

The winning entry, three finalists and eight additional shortlisted stories will also appear in Mslexia’s ebook anthology, Best Women’s Short Fiction 2024, published in December 2024.

We are keen to encourage quality, so suggest writers to check their stories before submitting using Prowritingaid. They have free and paid versions and are the best writing software we know to help improve grammar, readability and check for repetition, ‘sticky’ sentences and suggest alternatives.