John Holland

John Holland is a writer of short fiction based in Gloucestershire, UK. His stories are often dark and/or funny. His website is www.johnhollandwrites.com

John has won first prize in five major short story competitions, the latest being the Dorset Fiction Award and the To Hull And Back Short Story Competition both in 2018. He won the £1,000 InkTears Contest in 2017.

John has also won first prize in The Momaya Press Short Story Competition (2014), and the Worcestershire Literary Festival Flash Fiction Competition (2015). About 40 pieces have won or been short listed/long listed/commended/runners-up in competitions to date (Dec 2017).

Since he started writing stories and flash fiction in 2013 John has had about 90 pieces published online, in magazines and in anthologies - including in 'The Best Stories in a Decade' published by Momaya Press in 2013 and the Bath Short Story Award in 2015.

John likes to take his stories on the road and has read in London, Bristol, Bath, Cheltenham (including at the Cheltenham Literature Festival), Stroud, Worcester and, of course, at the annual Hawkesbury Upton LitFest.

In a past life John was a regular contributor to Punch (Sideswipes), BBC Radio 4 Comedy (Weekending) and BBC Radio 2 Comedy (The News Huddlines) in the 80s and early 90s. He also wrote for obscure and unpopular TV comedy shows he is pleased to say he can no longer recall.

In 2014 John became the organiser of Stroud Short Stories (SSS), a twice-yearly short stories event held in Stroud. A second SSS anthology, 'Stroud Short Stories Volume Two 2015-18', which he edited, was published in 2018. The 17th SSS event will be held in November 2018. All info on the SSS website -

http://stroudshortstories.blogspot.com/