Get Into The Minds of Our Competition Judges…

To help us get the year started right, we’re highlighting some of the amazing work done by our BFS volunteers and the great opportunities our members can seize. Today, we meet the lead judges for our annual competitions: Stephen Poore for short stories, and Jenni Coutts for art.

The British Fantasy Society has long held a short story competition, offering a first prize of £100 and publication in BFS Horizons—but did you know we also hold an annual art competition, too?

As we gear up for the 2025 opening for these awesome opportunities, we check in with the lead judges to find out more about the competition, what they’re looking for, and how you can get involved.

And be sure to keep an eye on the following pages (and our social media!) for when it’s time to submit!

• Short Story Competition
• Art Competition

To get involved as a judge, head to our volunteering page and submit your details.

Short Story Competition

Lead judge: Stephen Poore

Steven Poore is a published and award-nominated Epic Fantasist, based in the dark hills of Sheffield. He administers the annual Short Story Competition from a scarlet throne in a magnificent Book Cellar, where even the cat fears to tread.

The short story competition comes out of hibernation in April, and while the submission window is open I make sure all the stories are downloaded, stripped of identifying information, and uploaded for our judging team to read through and comment on. Together we score all the entries and work out a shortlist to read again. It’s a great feeling to stumble onto something that’s just a bit different, something that makes you blink and look twice or think again. 

Oh, there’s definitely opportunities for members to get involved beyond submitting? We don’t get as many submissions as BFS Horizons, so there isn’t a need for slush readers, but it’s always good to have some different viewpoints on the stories we do receive. When I first got involved with the competition, after Allen Ashley’s excellent run as sole judge, I was part of a team marshalled that year by Shona Kinsella and I really enjoyed the process, reading all the different stories, and arguing over the best entries with the other judges. I’m amazed that Allen found the time to run it alone! 

I do like to rotate through judging teams every year, to freshen things up, like the way that the Awards juries change and I’d love to hear from volunteers who are interested in offering their opinions on what can be up to 100 or more short stories. Ideally you would be interested in short fantastic fiction anyway, but you don’t need to be a writer yourself – you just need to like reading and be opinionated!

Art Competition

Lead judge: Jenni Coutts

Jenni Coutts is an award winning artist, illustrator, speculative fiction writer, and NHS doctor who has spent the last decade based in Glasgow, Scotland. She is the current Art Editor for BFS Horizons magazine, and is the art show lead for the World Fantasy Convention in Brighton in 2025. 

Originally from Leeds, she won the British Fantasy Award for best artist in 2022 and was nominated for the same again in 2023. She has had artwork featured in both UK and international publications. She was shortlisted for the Scottish New Writers Award in 2019.

We’re excited to be running the second BFS art competition this year. Last year we had some amazing entries, and we cannot wait to show you the winners of the 2024 competition in the upcoming BFS Horizons issue 19. They’re a talented bunch, and we’re hoping that this year’s competition will be even bigger and better. We’re very keen to showcase art from both new and experienced artists, and build an inclusive and supportive community of artists. 

We’re always keen to hear from volunteers – currently the art team in the BFS is a one-woman show, and if anyone would like to volunteer a little time, we would be delighted to have you! We’re particularly keen to hear ideas on potential artist retreats, what artists would find helpful from the BFS, and ideas for art related events that could be run online or in person at conventions. Volunteers for the BFS Horizons magazine art submissions would also be helpful – if you’re interested in giving us a little of your time, please feel free to drop an email to art@britishfantasysociety.org.

At the moment we are liaising with potential guest judges for the BFS art competition in 2025 – watch this space!