Writing Contests

Fish Publishing runs four annual International Writing Contests.

Short Story Prize (Closes 1st Dec)
Short Memoir Prize (Closes 31st Jan)
Flash Fiction Prize (Closes 28th Feb)
Poetry Prize (Closes 31st March)

Haiku Prize (Closes 25th April)

Renowned poets and writers select ten from each contest for publication in the Annual Fish Anthology.

Fish endeavours to publish outstanding new writers and poets.

Submit Your Work Here

Sean Lusk
– Judge 2025 –

Short Story Prize

Closed

CLOSED (results 17 March ’26)
€6,400 in Prizes + Publication

Judge: Sean Lusk
Word limit: 5,000

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Elspeth Beard
– judge for 2026 –

Short Memoir Prize

Closed

CLOSED (results 1 Apr ‘26)
Prizes + Publication

Judge: Elspeth Beard
Word limit: 4,000

Hi Memoir writers. Results are not yet decided upon. Elspeth Beard needs more time to decide which memoirs to select for the Fish Anthology. There are a lot of talented memoir writers! Results will be announced during the 1st week of May. Sorry for delay

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Tania Hershman,
judge for 2026.

Flash Fiction Prize

Closed

CLOSED – (Results 18 April ’26)
Prizes + Publication

Judge: Tania Hershman
Word limit: 300

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Billy Collins,
Judge for 2026

Poetry Prize

Closed

CLOSED – (results 15 May ’26)
Prizes + Publication

Judge: Billy Collins
Word limit: 60 lines

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Judge, poet and Fish Editor: Mary-Jane Holmes

Judge,
Mary-Jane Holmes

Haiku Prize

Closed

CLOSED – (Results 15 May ’26)
Prizes + Publication

Judge: Mary-Jane Holmes
Max: 20 words

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News & Articles

Memoir Prize 2026: RESULTS

5th May 2026

Winners Short-list Long-list From all of us at Fish, thank you for sharing your memoirs with us. The range, originality, and quality of the work made this year’s selection particularly interesting. Well done to all writers who were short and long-listed, and a special congratulations to the ten winners whose stories will appear in […]

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Flash Fiction Prize 2026: RESULTS

18th April 2026

Winners Short-list Long-list From all of us at Fish, thank you for sharing your flash stories with us. The range, originality, and quality of the work made this year’s selection especially rewarding. Congratulations to all writers who were shortlisted and longlisted—and a special well done to the ten winners whose stories will appear in […]

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Memoir Prize: RESULTS DELAYED

1st April 2026

Hi Memoir writers. Results are not yet decided upon. Elspeth Beard needs more time to decide which memoirs to select for the Fish Anthology. There are a lot of talented memoir writers it seems. Results will be announced during the first week of May. Sorry for the delay.

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Short Story Prize 2025/26: RESULTS

17th March 2026

Winners Short-list Long-list On behalf of all of us at Fish, congratulations to those who made the short and long lists. Special congratulations to the ten winning writers, whose stories will be published in the Fish Anthology 2026. Sincere thanks to Sean Lusk for his time and wisdom in selecting the winners. See Sean’s […]

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Fish Anthology 2025 LAUNCH

27th June 2025

This launch was wonderful. My personal favorite. The charming Marino Church in Bantry had the smell of fresh paint and new comfy seats, occupied by literary lovers, enjoying the festival, or locals who regularly attend the Fish launches. I will post photos here soon of the event. We had 12 of the authors there to […]

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