The Winners of The Wild Hunt Short Story Competition 2021

Editor’s Note

I have known the winners and the shortlist for some weeks now, and it’s a great pleasure to finally be able to announce them. The results have only been known between the judge - the imaginative and talented author Helen McClory - and me. This is the first time in the magazine’s five year history that we’ve run a competition and the uptake was more than I expected! I was delighted by the interest, the variety of stories and the fact that even in these stressful and unknown times, people are still writing and allowing for small moments of creativity in their lives. It’s hard not feel like we’re sitting alone at our writing desks, in balls on our sofas or slovenly sprawled in bed, shouting into the void - but yes, Virginia: art still matters! People are reading. I know, I certainly am.

Hundreds of entries came through to the competition. I was happy to find new writers with excellent voices, plots and style. We read talking animal stories, many stories featuring narrators in their darkened rooms fighting off unknown entities, but of the winning tale, Helen said:

It's a story with a delicious darkness that is rooted in class awareness and the stresses of modern interaction. How can we know we are safe with the strangers we meet and let into our lives? I loved the creaking open of the ending too.

Can’t get better than that, right?

Please enjoy reading the three winning stories and also applaud our magnificent short list writers.

Best,

Ariell Cacciola, Founding Editor
London, May 2021