Gill O'Halloran
@quickasaflash.bsky.social
First pub TrashCat Lit. NFFD Anthology Editors Award 25. Shortlisted for Fish. Stories in SmokeLong, BULL, DIHP, New Feathers, Bath+Oxford anthologies. LISP finalist + winner of Westword + Flash500. Poetry collection in Top 20 Small-Press Poetry awards
Lost cats in between MRI scans, a beached seal reading about war, falling in love incorrectly, an imprisoned tree... such a buzz when familiar words form unfamiliar unions. Plus a haunting prose palindrome from @kathyprokhovnik.bsky.social And I'm in it too with thoughts about ageing disgracefully.
Our very first prose poetry issue is NOW LIVE 🦝
Twenty absolute stunners for you to savour.
Huge thanks to Jude Potts @judepickledplum.bsky.social for her reading assistance.
We'll start highlighting these beauts soon. For now, grab a brew and lose yourself 💜
trashcatlit.com/prose-poetry...
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Twenty absolute stunners for you to savour.
Huge thanks to Jude Potts @judepickledplum.bsky.social for her reading assistance.
We'll start highlighting these beauts soon. For now, grab a brew and lose yourself 💜
trashcatlit.com/prose-poetry...
1/2
Prose Poetry, September 2026
We have twenty beautiful pieces in this, our first issue of prose poetry. Inspired by a very special raccoon, Jimothy, the theme was a celebration of tenacity and difference. Click on the images to…
trashcatlit.com
September 28, 2026 at 8:41 PM
Lost cats in between MRI scans, a beached seal reading about war, falling in love incorrectly, an imprisoned tree... such a buzz when familiar words form unfamiliar unions. Plus a haunting prose palindrome from @kathyprokhovnik.bsky.social And I'm in it too with thoughts about ageing disgracefully.
Reposted by Gill O'Halloran
Big thx to @havehashad.com for publishing two of my poems. Here’s the first one
June 2, 2026 at 12:35 AM
Big thx to @havehashad.com for publishing two of my poems. Here’s the first one
Reposted by Gill O'Halloran
Day two of teases for our upcoming prose poem issue 🦝
Gill O'Halloran @quickasaflash.bsky.social gives us a blistering, darkly funny look at ageing 💜
Lavanya Arora gives us joystick-jabbing nostalgia in one piece, and post-relationship surreal networking in his second 💜
COMING 28th
Gill O'Halloran @quickasaflash.bsky.social gives us a blistering, darkly funny look at ageing 💜
Lavanya Arora gives us joystick-jabbing nostalgia in one piece, and post-relationship surreal networking in his second 💜
COMING 28th
September 22, 2026 at 9:32 AM
Day two of teases for our upcoming prose poem issue 🦝
Gill O'Halloran @quickasaflash.bsky.social gives us a blistering, darkly funny look at ageing 💜
Lavanya Arora gives us joystick-jabbing nostalgia in one piece, and post-relationship surreal networking in his second 💜
COMING 28th
Gill O'Halloran @quickasaflash.bsky.social gives us a blistering, darkly funny look at ageing 💜
Lavanya Arora gives us joystick-jabbing nostalgia in one piece, and post-relationship surreal networking in his second 💜
COMING 28th
Wow @lorifontanes.bsky.social I love this haunting retelling of Adam and Eve.
ICYMI
www.neitherfishnorfoul.com/issue-7-font...
‘Let the woman tell her truth,’ said the man as Matthieu.
’I will,’ said the woman as Sylvie. Her fingers tightened on Sylvie's wrist as she demanded, ‘Ask him who spoke to the snake last.’
@lorifontanes.bsky.social
‘Let the woman tell her truth,’ said the man as Matthieu.
’I will,’ said the woman as Sylvie. Her fingers tightened on Sylvie's wrist as she demanded, ‘Ask him who spoke to the snake last.’
@lorifontanes.bsky.social
September 19, 2026 at 9:33 PM
Wow @lorifontanes.bsky.social I love this haunting retelling of Adam and Eve.
This lit mag was a new find thanks to @therelphian.bsky.social. I found some beautifully strange pieces in the last edition so I'm pleased to be in this latest one. Thanks to editor @leiabutler.bsky.social for her collaborative approach.
www.fullhouseliterary.com/new-fc/the-w...
www.fullhouseliterary.com/new-fc/the-w...
The Weight of a Pulse by Gill O’Halloran — Full House Literary
www.fullhouseliterary.com
September 10, 2026 at 9:36 AM
This lit mag was a new find thanks to @therelphian.bsky.social. I found some beautifully strange pieces in the last edition so I'm pleased to be in this latest one. Thanks to editor @leiabutler.bsky.social for her collaborative approach.
www.fullhouseliterary.com/new-fc/the-w...
www.fullhouseliterary.com/new-fc/the-w...
I love this eco-spec piece by @sflayzell.bsky.social ; like a poem, I didn't need to understand it all, because the feeling of rebellion and hope short-circuits the intellect, and that's a buzz.
For today's Prompted Story spotlight, we have @sflayzell.bsky.social and her eco-fic flash 🦝
We loved how balanced the light, sweeter elements were with the dark undertone of elitism and excess.
A poignant exploration of determination and hope.
Read and listen
trashcatlit.com/codename-cal...
We loved how balanced the light, sweeter elements were with the dark undertone of elitism and excess.
A poignant exploration of determination and hope.
Read and listen
trashcatlit.com/codename-cal...
September 8, 2026 at 10:01 PM
I love this eco-spec piece by @sflayzell.bsky.social ; like a poem, I didn't need to understand it all, because the feeling of rebellion and hope short-circuits the intellect, and that's a buzz.
Any story about a swimming pool gets my vote, and this one by @travisflatt.bsky.social is mesmerising.
ICYMI today we're delighted to be featuring The Pool Boy by Travis Flatt @travisflatt.bsky.social #flashfiction #readingcommunity #writingcommunity. Please follow the link below and enjoy fictivedream.com/2026/09/04/t...
September 8, 2026 at 9:35 PM
Any story about a swimming pool gets my vote, and this one by @travisflatt.bsky.social is mesmerising.
Poetic and moving, don't miss this story by @keithwoodruff.bsky.social . It's one of many worth reading in latest Trash Cat Issue.
Today's contributor spotlight is for @keithwoodruff.bsky.social and his beautiful character, Cow🦝
We loved the emotional heft that came from this two-character piece, how tender and unexpected it was given the prompts, and the note of hope at the end.
Read
trashcatlit.com/the-light-is...
1/2
We loved the emotional heft that came from this two-character piece, how tender and unexpected it was given the prompts, and the note of hope at the end.
Read
trashcatlit.com/the-light-is...
1/2
September 8, 2026 at 9:30 PM
Poetic and moving, don't miss this story by @keithwoodruff.bsky.social . It's one of many worth reading in latest Trash Cat Issue.
@claudiamonpere.bsky.social does it again with her stunning lyrical style, while still hitting you with the substance.
"moon far from our doublewides and fixer-uppers, and we chewed our biscuits and red-eyed gravy over prayer"
Stunning as usual from @claudiamonpere.bsky.social. Pay attention to the form in this, how the sentence length unfurls like a spiral: fracturedlit.com/we-didnt-wea...
Stunning as usual from @claudiamonpere.bsky.social. Pay attention to the form in this, how the sentence length unfurls like a spiral: fracturedlit.com/we-didnt-wea...
We Didn’t Wear Masks | Fractured
fracturedlit.com
August 30, 2026 at 11:47 AM
@claudiamonpere.bsky.social does it again with her stunning lyrical style, while still hitting you with the substance.
So happy to have a new story up here. Thanks to @thedrevlow.bsky.social for being a top-class collaborative editor, and to @smokelong.bsky.social fitness for support with the first draft. Maybe listen to the quoted #jackieleven song while reading? www.youtube.com/watch?v=91_F...
August 28, 2026 at 7:52 PM
So happy to have a new story up here. Thanks to @thedrevlow.bsky.social for being a top-class collaborative editor, and to @smokelong.bsky.social fitness for support with the first draft. Maybe listen to the quoted #jackieleven song while reading? www.youtube.com/watch?v=91_F...
"it can mean anything because the girls live inside their phones and often on another planet so the word may be alien unknown untranslatable and not even a word but a magic spell." You need to read this wonderful breathless micro by Nora in @claudineliterary.bsky.social.
Thanks, @claudineliterary.bsky.social 🐈⬛🐈⬛🐈⬛
New Microfiction by @noranadj.bsky.social!!
YOLO
“the girls I teach with their eagle-claw nails and slug-plump lips have no idea what a sentence is or a paragraph is”
www.claudineliterary.com/noranadjarian
YOLO
“the girls I teach with their eagle-claw nails and slug-plump lips have no idea what a sentence is or a paragraph is”
www.claudineliterary.com/noranadjarian
August 23, 2026 at 7:06 PM
"it can mean anything because the girls live inside their phones and often on another planet so the word may be alien unknown untranslatable and not even a word but a magic spell." You need to read this wonderful breathless micro by Nora in @claudineliterary.bsky.social.
Reposted by Gill O'Halloran
Very overwhelmed & honoured to have been picked for this by the @smokelong.bsky.social community. There are SO MANY within the writing world who inspire others every single day, so I'm sure this must have come down to about 0.001% of a vote. The fact that I now get to pass my good fortune onto...
Matt Kendrick is the winner of The Villager Challenge 2026 for his inspiring commitment to the flash community. The prize ($200) will be passed along to two more people. Matt has already chosen two people to receive a free place in one of his workshops. smokelong-quarterly.mn.co/posts/105247...
July 29, 2026 at 3:51 PM
Very overwhelmed & honoured to have been picked for this by the @smokelong.bsky.social community. There are SO MANY within the writing world who inspire others every single day, so I'm sure this must have come down to about 0.001% of a vote. The fact that I now get to pass my good fortune onto...
Do read this beautiful winner by Kate. Love how the prose projects such beautiful cinematic images onto the page.
Thanks so much to Judge Emma Phillips @words-outwest.bsky.social for choosing my story. I am made up ! Thanks too to Ian Rushton for all his hard work making this fabulous competition happen 👏
As Chosen by Judge Emma Phillips
@words-outwest.bsky.social
The FFF Competition Thirty-Four Winning Flash Fiction:
Reel Lives 1972
by
Kate Axeford
@kateaxeford.bsky.social
#writingcompetitions
#flashfiction
freeflashfiction.com/fiction/comp...
@words-outwest.bsky.social
The FFF Competition Thirty-Four Winning Flash Fiction:
Reel Lives 1972
by
Kate Axeford
@kateaxeford.bsky.social
#writingcompetitions
#flashfiction
freeflashfiction.com/fiction/comp...
July 23, 2026 at 6:14 PM
Do read this beautiful winner by Kate. Love how the prose projects such beautiful cinematic images onto the page.
Congratulations Alison. So good.
So happy to have been shortlisted in this lovely competition.
Shortlisted in the History Prize, "Having Received His Call-Up Papers, Arthur Jenkins Invites You To The Cinema" by @alisonwassell.bsky.social
www.mattkendrick.co.uk/welkin-stori...
www.mattkendrick.co.uk/welkin-stori...
July 22, 2026 at 5:22 PM
Congratulations Alison. So good.
Send stuff to Trash Cat Lit if you seek an editor who'll champion you long after she publishes you!
Just over 10 days until our Prompted Stories challenge commences 🦝
Here's what the phenomenal Gill O'Halloran @quickasaflash.bsky.social did with her three prompts in our first prompted issue 💜
Fabulously titled, darkly humorous and unexpected, read here:
trashcatlit.com/get-thee-bes...
Here's what the phenomenal Gill O'Halloran @quickasaflash.bsky.social did with her three prompts in our first prompted issue 💜
Fabulously titled, darkly humorous and unexpected, read here:
trashcatlit.com/get-thee-bes...
July 21, 2026 at 1:45 PM
Send stuff to Trash Cat Lit if you seek an editor who'll champion you long after she publishes you!
This is breathtakingly beautiful writing.
The weight of memory weaves through this story by @abbywilliams.bsky.social - a tough subject, handled beautifully.
"the curled question mark of dark hair, soft as butter, light as a butterfly wing."
newflashfiction.com/sometimes-it...
"the curled question mark of dark hair, soft as butter, light as a butterfly wing."
newflashfiction.com/sometimes-it...
Sometimes it’s the weight of a watermelon by Abigail Williams | Issue #41
Occasionally even the scent of chip shop vinegar is enough to take Jenny back to her old redbrick road, the chafing cold of the privy, the knife-tear sensation so unexpectedly agricultural, anatomical...
newflashfiction.com
June 23, 2026 at 9:25 PM
This is breathtakingly beautiful writing.
Congratulations to all the longlisters!
Congratulations to the 50 longlisted authors from our June round. Now with judge @ajwoodhouse.bsky.social
Final results end of June. Best wishes to all.
Final results end of June. Best wishes to all.
Longlist BFFA June 2026
Congratulations to all the authors who have made our Award long list and huge thanks to all who entered.Author names are yet to be announced, so while it is fine to share that you are on the long l…
www.bathflashfictionaward.com
June 23, 2026 at 5:35 PM
Congratulations to all the longlisters!
Jaime Gill's 'Obedience' is emotionally precise, and quietly explosive. Do read it.
My historical story Obedience is out in Masters Review, my attempt to capture the climate of fear, oppression & brutality in New York’s gay bars before the Stonewall uprising. I love Jack, my MC, I’m proud of the story and very grateful to MR for giving it a home
mastersreview.com/new-voices-o...
mastersreview.com/new-voices-o...
June 16, 2026 at 6:55 PM
Jaime Gill's 'Obedience' is emotionally precise, and quietly explosive. Do read it.
Vibrant lyrical flash by @rosaleenlynch.bsky.social
Thanks to the @natflashfictionday.bsky.social team for including 'The Five Stages of Ecological Grief' 🙏
Loving reading all the brilliant flashes from so many writers I admire! 🥰
Loving reading all the brilliant flashes from so many writers I admire! 🥰
FlashFlood: 'The Five Stages of Ecological Grief' by Rosaleen Lynch #nffd2026
June 14, 2026 at 3:48 PM
Vibrant lyrical flash by @rosaleenlynch.bsky.social
"We’ve heard that some people go baby picking every year—tradition—but neither Meredith nor I can imagine that." Love this strange micro by Jessica.
Happy National Flash Fiction Day!! Here's my piece in the FlashFlood!! @natflashfictionday.bsky.social
flashfloodjournal.blogspot.com/2026/06/just...
flashfloodjournal.blogspot.com/2026/06/just...
'Just Another Life Experience' by Jessica Klimesh
When baby-picking season comes around, Meredith says we should go, says it’ll be fun to pick newborns off trees, fill buckets with them. We ...
flashfloodjournal.blogspot.com
June 14, 2026 at 3:45 PM
"We’ve heard that some people go baby picking every year—tradition—but neither Meredith nor I can imagine that." Love this strange micro by Jessica.
What a beautiful, quietly powerful flash!
Thanks @natflashfictionday.bsky.social
for posting my story yesterday.
It’s such an honour to be in the Flood!
for posting my story yesterday.
It’s such an honour to be in the Flood!
FlashFlood: 'Nothing to speak of' by Jude Higgins #nffd2026
June 14, 2026 at 3:38 PM
What a beautiful, quietly powerful flash!
I love Ian's quietly beautiful poem 'Lastly.'
Really honoured to feature in Moonflake Press' treasured anthology with a wee poem I'm quite chuffed with. Lots of heartfelt, sparkly stuff within.
moonflakepress.com/treasured
moonflakepress.com/treasured
June 9, 2026 at 10:08 AM
I love Ian's quietly beautiful poem 'Lastly.'
Reposted by Gill O'Halloran
Thrilled to win this competition. Blown away by the stunning performance of Danielle Farrow in reading my story at @cymerafestival.co.uk Huge thanks to Noel and Pippa and of course the judges.
Here are the winning writers and the longlist for the Cymera Festival/ Shoreline of Infinity Scottish SFF&H short story competition.
www.shorelineofinfinity.com/cymera-festi...
www.shorelineofinfinity.com/cymera-festi...
June 7, 2026 at 6:29 PM
Thrilled to win this competition. Blown away by the stunning performance of Danielle Farrow in reading my story at @cymerafestival.co.uk Huge thanks to Noel and Pippa and of course the judges.
'real boys are rough and tumble, they thump and dump, you want her, you take her,' Do go read this wonderfully inventive flash by Cole.
What happens when Pinoccio meets toxic masculinity?
New flash out with WestWord - great to be in this issue with Stephanie Percival, Richard Garcka & Bonnie Meekums. Special thanks to Amanda Saint for believing in this story @retreatwest.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/westword...
New flash out with WestWord - great to be in this issue with Stephanie Percival, Richard Garcka & Bonnie Meekums. Special thanks to Amanda Saint for believing in this story @retreatwest.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/westword...
After two years in the slammer, what's a real boy to do?
A Micro by Cole Beauchamp
open.substack.com
June 9, 2026 at 9:58 AM
'real boys are rough and tumble, they thump and dump, you want her, you take her,' Do go read this wonderfully inventive flash by Cole.