The RSL V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize seeks to find the best unpublished short story of the year. This Prize was founded by the Royal Society of Literature at the beginning of the new millennium to commemorate the centenary of an author widely regarded as the finest English short-story writer of the 20th century, and to preserve a tradition encompassing Pritchett’s warmth of feeling and mastery of narrative.

The author of the winning entry will be awarded a prize of £1,000 and have their story published in Prospect magazine online and in the RSL Review.

Entrants must be resident in the UK, Republic of Ireland or Commonwealth (see list of countries here). Stories entered for the competition must not have been published anywhere previously (including online) or broadcast in any other medium. If the story will be published elsewhere prior to the winner announcement in February 2025, you must withdraw your entry. Entrants must be over 18 at the time of submission.

The RSL is committed to increasing accessibility and supporting writers of all incomes. As such, we are offering 50 free entries to low-income writers based in the UK.

This year’s judges are Tash Aw, Tania Hershman and Fiona Mozley. The judges will be responsible for selecting the winning entry, which will be announced in February 2025.

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.