Always fascinating to see the range of topics which our entries cover, everything from ghost tales and crime yarns to gentle humour and biting satire. The beauty of the short story is that it lends itself to just about any subject. It really is a terrific genre.

As I have mentioned before, there has been a tendency in some quarters to dismiss the short story as less important than the novel. Almost as if short stories do not matter.

The quality of writers who have excelled at short stories would seek to differ, as I am sure would the writers who have entered our competitions - a glance at our winning stories on the site should suffice for that.

Apologies for the delay getting August’s winners on the site, it will be done over the next two or three days.