Short Stories

News, Short Stories

For All My Future Loves Published Tomorrow

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My new short story, For All My Future Loves, will be published tomorrow. It’ll be part of the third volume of Pink Ochre magazine.

The flash piece is the story of love felt in the head instead of the heart. Of the fear of being alone. It’s what happens when you shop for romance like it’s a phone charger, and the anxiety it builds in you.

Pink Ochre is a new literary magazine, started just this year, focussing on stories of love. It covers the melancholy, the joy and everything in between.

You’ll be able to check out the third volume of the digital magazine – and For All My Future Loves – tomorrow (Tuesday, September 22).

News, Short Stories

A Brief Encounter Published at 101 Words

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A Brief Encounter, my latest flash short, has been published at 101 words.

The piece, which you can read here, was originally the first paragraph of a novella I was writing. I’m hoping to one day go back to it!

After a rough year, I’m back on the submission train – Nepo Baby and all the shorts have been sent out to agents and literary outlets. I’m hoping there’s more good news in the coming weeks.

And that’s without mentioning The Caretaker, which is going to be published next year.

101 Words has a great rule. Each of their published stories must be exactly 101 words long. Writing to that length means being as tight as possible – getting character, moment, atmosphere, location into just a few short pars. If you’re a writer or you want to see some excellent examples of craft, take a look at their website.

News, Short Stories

Dinesh Allirajah Prize Anthology Available Now

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The anthology for the Dinesh Allirajah Prize 2026 is now available. It includes my winning story, In His Life.

‘Fandoms’ is available to purchase on Amazon, and includes fantastic stories by Ruth-Anne Walbank, Ben Daggers, Louisa Hann, David Hartley, Alison Armstrong and Shekina Rose. It’s available for 99p, and is brilliant value at that price.

My contribution, 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. Other tales include Elvis impersonators, cliff divers and radio DJs, and all are worth reading.

You can also buy the full collection of Dinesh Allirajah anthologies for a decent price.

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.

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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