Stories

Short stories for you to download for free

Snow

by Tove Jansson

from A Winter Book, published by Sort Of Books

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Deep Blue Sea

by Peter Hobbs

from I Could Ride All Day in My Cool Blue Train, published by Faber

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Something Light

by Jack Wallsten

originally published by Aesthetica Magazine

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A Tray of Ice Cubes

by Gerard Woodward

"This is a great example of the Kafka-esque and the surreal - which you only really get in such pure form in short stories; you simply couldn't sustain it for a full novel." Ra Page, Comma Press

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The Clockwork Atom Bomb

by Dominic Green

first published in Interzone 198 May/June 2005

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But

by Anne Donovan

originally published by Artlink and Scottish Book Trust

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Sticks and Stones

by Trezza Azzopardi

recommended by Di Speirs, BBC Radio 4

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The Daughters of the Late Colonel

by Katherine Mansfield

recommended by writer Jackie Kay

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An Afternoon

by Ian Rankin

with an introduction by Ian Rankin.

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My Daughter, the Fox

by Jackie Kay

originally published in Endangered Species, an online anthology edited by Val McDermid for www.saveourshortstory.org.uk, the forerunner to this site.

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The Library

by Romesh Gunesekera

from Underwords: The Hidden City, edited by Maggie Hamand, published by Maia Press

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The Flyover

by Rana Dasgupta

Shortlisted for the 2006 National Short Story Prize, an earlier version of this story first appeared in Tokyo Cancelled published by Fourth Estate.

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The Safehouse

by Michel Faber

Shortlisted for the 2006 National Short Story Prize, first published in The Fahrenheit Twins published by Canongate

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It's Beginning to Hurt

by James Lasdun

An exclusive new story for this website by the winner of the National Short Story Prize 2006.

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The Ebony Hand

by Rose Tremain

Shortlisted for the 2006 National Short Story Prize, this story first appeared in The Darkness of Wallis Simpson published by Chatto & Windus

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Men of Ireland

by William Trevor

Shortlisted for the National Short Story Prize 2006, this story first appeared in Prospect magazine (August 2005)

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An Anxious Man

by James Lasdun

Winner of the 2006 National Short Story Prize, this story appeared in The Paris Review (issue 173 spring 2005)

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Smile Mannequin, Smile

by Courttia Newland

from Music for the Off-Key, published by Peepal Tree Press

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How the Tiger Got Its Stripes

by Nicholas Hogg

How The Tiger Got Its Stripes won 'Editor's Choice' in the 2009 Raymond Carver Short Story Contest

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St. John of the Miraculous Lake

by Rebecca O'Connor

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Magic & Childhood: three tales of innocence from Israel

by Etgar Keret

Three stories by an inventive young Israeli writer.

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The Calm Before

by Denise Mina

This story first appeared with the title 'Carol's Gift' in Something Wicked, Something New: New Scottish Crime Writing (Polygon).

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The Will Writer

by Alison MacLeod

'The Will Writer' is taken from Alison MacLeod's collection Fifteen Modern Tales of Attraction (Penguin).

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Coupling

by Alison MacLeod

'Coupling' is taken from Alison MacLeod's collection Fifteen Modern Tales of Attraction (Penguin).

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The High Master and Little Billy Clough

by John Waddington-Feather

Prolific English writer John Waddington-Feather has kindly allowed us to add this story to the Story website.

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The Numbers

by Clare Wigfall

Clare Wigfall's 'The Numbers' won the 2008 BBC National Short Story Award.

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The Names

by Adam Thorpe

Adam Thorpe's 'The Names' was shortlisted for the 2008 BBC National Short Story Award.

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Guidelines for Measures to Cope with Disgraceful and Other Events

by Richard Beard

Richard Beard's 'Guidelines for Measures to Cope with Disgraceful and Other Events' was shortlisted for the 2008 BBC National Short Story Award.

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Surge

by Erin Soros

'Surge' by Erin Soros was shortlisted for the 2008 BBC National Short Story Award.

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The Lost Son

by Linda Cracknell

Linda Cracknell has taught English in Zanzibar, worked for the environmental charity WWF and was writer-in-residence at Hugh MacDiarmid's last home near Biggar.

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The People on Privilege Hill

by Jane Gardam

'The People on Privilege Hill' was shortlisted for the 2008 BBC National Short Story Award.

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Sleepers

by Anne Donovan

Anne Donovan is the author of two novels, Buddha Da and Being Emily, and the short story collection Hieroglyphics.

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Something Like Happy

by John Burnside

John Burnside is an acclaimed poet and novelist, whose collection The Asylum Dance won the 2000 Whitbread Poetry Award. His memoir, A Lie About My Father, was published in 2006 to enormous critical acclaim.

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Jewfish

by Naomi Alderman

Naomi Alderman was one of the judges for the 2008 BBC National Short Story Award.

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The Girl from the Train

by Adam Kamiński

The Story campaign is delighted to feature this brand-new, exclusive story by Polish writer Adam Kamiński. 'The Girl from the Train' has been translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones.

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A Special Day

by Ricardo Waale

The Story campaign is delighted to feature this brand-new, exclusive story by Venezuelan writer Ricardo Waale. 'A Special Day' has been translated by Christina MacSweeney.

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BBC National Short Story Award 2010 shortlist

by Various

Download for free

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The short story form is better suited to the demands of modern life than the novel.
Simon Prosser Publishing Director Hamish Hamilton

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