Author name: Mat

News, Short Stories

A Brief Encounter Accepted for Publication

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A Brief Encounter, a piece of flash fiction I wrote earlier this year, has been accepted for publication.

The piece will be published at 101 Words in August. The website publishes stories of exactly 101 words.

The story is about unrequited love and fantasy, and was originally the first part of a novella I intended to write. Exciting to see the first 101 words find their place. Maybe I’ll return to it one of these days!

With that said, one of the things I enjoyed with this is fitting an entire world into so few words. It’s not a slice of a novella but a character piece all of its own.

A Brief Encounter, which editors described as “beautifully bittersweet”, will be available on August 7.

Film, News

Updates and Reflection in the Gibraltar Chronicle

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A new interview with Moe Acharki in the Gibraltar Chronicle looks back on our work together, and hints at what’s coming next.

Following the success of The Cost of the Crown, Moe gave an interview with his local paper. The interview goes into the making of the film, the challenges of working on two projects at once and hints at what we’re working on next.

It’s very early days on that project, and you never know how things are going to go. We know roughly where we’re heading towards and have a mountain of reference films and materials we’re exploring. But we’re also not in any rush on this one. Either way, we’re having fun exploring what it might end up being.

Moe and I have worked on a number of projects together, including The Eyes in the Box, The Haunted House Hotel and The Cost of the Crown.

Film, News

The Cost of the Crown Wins Best Film

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The Cost of the Crown has had another major win – Best Film at the WLV Screen Awards.

Moe travelled to Wolverhampton yesterday to see our latest film screened at the Wolverhampton-based festival, and came away with the award for Best Film.

It’s our second screening, and our second award. The film won Best Cinematography at Leavesden in April.

The Cost of the Crown is an historical drama. It follows a king as a mob of his angry followers try to knock down his door. It takes place over just a few minutes.

We made the film at Nu Boyana studios in Sofia, Bulgaria, and shot it at more or less the same time as The Haunted House Hotel.

Film, News

The Cost of the Crown to Screen at WLV Screen Awards

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The Cost of the Crown has been selected for its next festival. The film will screen at the WLV Screen Awards next month.

It comes hot off the back of its award winning screening at the Leavesden Short Film Festival in April. A fresh audience will be able to see The Cost of the Crown on June 3rd.

Director Moe Acharki said: “This is my third time taking part in this festival, and it’s particularly meaningful that my latest work will be screened in the same city where I shot my first official film.”

The Cost of the Crown is an historical drama. It follows a king as a mob of his angry followers try to knock down his door. It takes place over just a few minutes.

We made the film at Nu Boyana studios in Sofia, Bulgaria, and shot it at more or less the same time as The Haunted House Hotel.

It’s had a fantastic start, and we’re really proud of how it’s doing. Moe and I wrote this one together. I think everybody involved are excited to see where it goes from here.

News, Short Stories

Mat Growcott Wins Dinesh Allirajah Prize 2026

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I’m very proud to announce that my story, In His Life, won the Dinesh Allirajah Prize for 2026.

I was delighted (and surprised) to come away with the top prize. at the awards evening, which was held on Tuesday night (May 5).

In His Life is the story of a father and son going to The Dog and Lamb pub to see a Beatles tribute band. Real life returns, and the joy of the night is short-lived.

Comma Press will release an anthology of all the shortlisted stories, including In His Life. The theme for the competition this year was ‘fandoms’, and stories were as ranged as you can imagine. I can’t wait to see them all.

Judges praised In His Life for the relationship between the main characters, its structure and its control of tone. Judges called it a “powerful piece of work”.

They said: “We admired the careful control of tone and exposition, the elegant structure, and the writer’s unflinching attention to the complications of the story’s central relationship.”

Organisers set up The Dinesh Allirajah Prize after Dinesh’s death in 2014. It was a reflection of his love of writing short fiction. This is the prize’s ninth year. It’s run with the University of Lancashire.

Deeply proud of the story. I’m happy judges connected with it. Thank you, also, to the shortlisting and longlisting teams.

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