HG Wells
short
story
Anthologies
Each year, the stories shortlisted for the H.G. Wells Short Story Competition are collected into and published as an anthology.
Copies of the H.G. Wells Short Story anthologies are available for purchase as either a hard copy or to download for Kindle – details of each volume back to 2012 are below.
The Middle Ground
The Middle Ground contains nineteen of the best short stories on the theme of The Middle Ground selected by the judges from a large entry for the 2025 H.G. Wells Short Story Competition.
Stories are divided into two groups: authors 21 years of age and under and authors aged 22 years and above and include works in the junior category by Jane Belle, Romessa Hussain, Gloria Mesa, Moulika Nandy, Anushka Pahariya, Sarah-Kate Simons and Kate Smith.
In the senior category authors include L. M. Bestie, Timothy Collyer, Matthew Dickens, Rachel Desiree Felix, Lisa Ferguson, Edward Fry, Zack Harmes, Isabelle Hunt, Ken Pisani, Simon Rowe, James Skivington and Catherine Strong.
Buy The Middle Ground from Amazon (recommended for all non-UK postage).
Buy The Middle Ground as a Kindle download from Amazon.
2025
247 pages. ISBN 978-1-7384026-9-4
£8.55
The Fool
The Fool contains twenty-four of the best short stories on the theme of The Fool selected by the judges from a large entry for the 2024 H.G. Wells Short Story Competition.
Stories are divided into two groups: authors 21 years of age and under and authors aged 22 years and above and include works in the junior category by Eshaaan Agarwal, Scarlett Bailey, Celia Fournier, Jahdai Grey, M J Harris, Annabelle McGrane, Ellie Mead, Hector Reynoso, Molly Venus and Anna Wang.
The senior category comprises works by Lior Blum, Matthew Dickens, Colin Evans, Jo Holmwood, Robert Maslen, Peter Poole, Keith Porter, Lalitha Ramanathan, Clare Shaw, James Skivington, Ian E Slatter, Rebecca Spillett, Saria Steyl and Emily Waugh.
The paperback and Kindle ebook is available from most Amazon sites around the world including:
(Use ‘The Fool Joyce’ as the search in the Amazon book section)
Edited by Liz Joyce & Tony Scofield
2024
252 pages. ISBN 978-1738402687
£8.49 (paperback). £2.49 (Kindle ebook)
Motion
Edited by Liz Joyce & Tony Scofield
2023
178 pages. ISBN 978-1-7384926-0-1.
£7.50 (paperback). £1.99 (Kindle ebook)
Motion
Motion contains twenty-one of the best short stories on the theme of Motion selected by the judges from a large entry for the 2023 H.G. Wells Short Story Competition.
Stories are divided into two groups: authors 21 years of age and under and authors aged 22 years and above and include works in the junior category by Pritha Halder, Yuen Tong Law, Gloria Mesa, Radiyah Nouman, Charlotte Moran, Thalia Peterson, Kantaphat Pinaree, Catherine Saunders, Tessa Shutter, Sarah-Kate Simons and Allison VanHuysen.
The senior category comprises works by Steven Jackson, Anna Linstrum, Ashia Mirza, Neong Chee Kein (Arthur), Mary Onions, Katie Rizzo, Kerry Ryan, Jarick Weldon and Keltie Zubko.
The paperback and Kindle ebook is available from most Amazon sites around the world including:
UK Site: Amazon.co.uk
US site: Amazon.com
(Use ‘Switch Joyce’ as the search in the Amazon book section)
Switch
Switch contains thirteen of the best short stories on the theme of Switch selected by the judges from a large entry for the 2022 H.G. Wells Short Story Competition.
Stories are divided into two groups: authors 21 years of age and under and authors aged 22 years and above and include works by Kim A Bigelow, Amanda D’Errico, Sasha Gill, David McVey, Stephen O’Reilly, Adrian Paul, Susannah Rickards, Jamie Littlewood, Katie Farrell, Ryan Lee, Ginny Martin, Amelie Roscoe and Adriana Tihan.
The paperback and Kindle eBook are available from most Amazon sites including:
The paperback and Kindle eBook are available from most Amazon sites including:
UK Site: Amazon.co.uk
US site: Amazon.com
(Use ‘Switch Joyce’ as the search in the Amazon book section)
Edited by Liz Joyce & Tony Scofield
2022
136 pages. ISBN 978-0-9955730-9-3.
£5.49
Mask
Edited by Liz Joyce & Tony Scofield
2021
232 pages. ISBN 978-0-9955730-8-6.
£8.49
Mask contains twenty-one of the best short stories on the theme of ‘Mask’ selected by the judges from a large entry for the 2021 H.G. Wells Short Story Competition.
Stories are divided into two groups: authors 21 years of age and under and authors aged 22 years and above and include works by Jessica Brien, Clara Chiu, Sophia Felsinger, Sarah Holm, Mia Ramage, Sumedha Sengupta, Sarah-Kate Simons, Nathan Steward, Weiyen Tan, Houssam Alissa, Fija Callaghan, Peter Collins, Simha Haddad, Katherine Haynes, E. S. Heffernan, Tony Hunter-Craig, Bethany Ridley-Duff, Lee Stoddart, Sarah Townend, Dan Vanvik and Stephen Webb.
Buy Mask from the publisher Trencavel Press (recommended for UK postage).
Vision
Vision contains twenty of the best short stories on the theme of Vision selected by the judges from a large entry for the 2020 H.G. Wells Short Story Competition.
Stories are divided into two groups: authors 21 years of age and under and authors aged 22 years and above and include works by
Priyadarshini Barua, Utshaa Basu, Isabel Burns, Hannah Jennison, Tesni Penney, Tabitha Rubens, Dewi Schmidt, Matilda Stepek, Lucy Thynne, Gemma Al-Khayat, Elou Carroll,
Ian Critchley, Matthew Dickens, Alwin George V, Newton Grange, Rhiannon Lewis, Susannah Rickards, Paul Sherman, Francine Van Den Berg and Ali Wilding.
Edited by Liz Joyce & Tony Scofield
2020
232 pages.
ISBN 978-0-9955730-7-9.
£7.99
Time
Edited by Liz Joyce, Tony Scofield & Lee Stoddart
2019
184 pages. ISBN 978-0-9955730-5-5.
£7.99
Time contains twenty of the best short stories on the theme of Time selected by the judges from a large entry for the 2019 H.G. Wells Short Story Competition. Stories are divided into two groups: authors 21 years of age and under and authors aged 22 years and above and include works by
Kirsty Balfour, Natalie Boal, Hiya Chowdhury, Sinéad Donaghy, James Huang, Meg Lintern, Laura Maria Steel Pascual, Bethany Ridley-Duff, Shelby de Rond, Krystal Song, Lee Amoss,
Charlotte Bracey, David Bradley, Frances Brindle, Cheryl Buck, Lesley Bungay, Beverley Haddon, Matthew McDonald, Saritha Rao Rayachoti and Fiona Salter.
Peace contains nineteen of the best short stories on the theme of Peace selected by the judges from a large entry for the 2018 H.G. Wells Short Story Competition.
Stories are divided into two groups: authors 21 years of age and under and authors aged 22 years and above and include works by Martha Boyd, Hannah Fagan, Martha Grogan, Marcus McCabe, Jake Muttitt, Bethany Ridley-Duff, Hope Thompson,
Rere Ukponu, Abaan Zaidi, Rosie Andrews, Jake Blandford, A V Bruce, Zachary Godwin, Bobbie Allen, Mary Onions, Wendy Riley, Nicola Thompson and Diane Wisdom.
Edited by Charles Bain Smith
2018
192 pages. ISBN 978-0-9955730-4-8.
£7.99
Edited by Charles Bain Smith
2017
181 pages. ISBN 978-0-9955730-1-7.
£7.00
Light contains twenty of the best short stories on the theme of Light selected by the judges from a large entry for the 2017 H.G. Wells Short Story Competition.
Stories are divided into two groups: authors 21 years of age and under and authors aged 22 years and above and include works by Hazel Atkinson, Mina Bixley, Malak Elsouri, Grace Howarth, Kaylene Jackmore, Francesca Kennedy,
Elizabeth Kuiper, Laura Steel Pascual, Sithara Ranasinghe, Ashira Shirali, Alex Reece Abbott, Dianne Bown-Wilson, D R D Bruton, Mark Howard, Anthony Howcroft, Robin Jones, Sally Lane, Anne Petrie and Louise Rimmer.
Space
Edited by Charles Bain Smith
2016
184 pages. ISBN 978-0-9572485-9-5.
£7.99
Space contains twenty of the best short stories on the theme of Space selected by the judges from a large entry for the 2016 H.G. Wells Short Story Competition. Stories are divided into two groups: authors 21 years of age and under and authors aged 22 years and above and include works by
Holly Cartwright, Caitlin Evans, Grace Haddon, Eve Lytollis, Charlotte Mullen, Laura Steel Pascual, Alice Sargent, Allison Stevick, Emma Strutt, Jake Trimmer, Victoria Wang,
Hilary Dean, Wei-Li Chin, DJ Dingham, Kate L. Jefford, David Norman, Anne Petrie, Michele Sheldon and Diane Wisdom.
“We all have our time machines, don’t we. Those that take us back are memories…And those that carry us forward, are dreams.”
― H.G. Wells
Edited by Liz Joyce
2015
286 pages. ISBN 978-0-9572485-8-8.
£8.50
Class contains twenty six of the best short stories on the theme of Class selected by the judges from a large entry for the 2015 H.G. Wells Short Story Competition.
Stories are divided into two groups: authors 21 years of age and under and authors aged 22 years and above and include works by Georgia Bozianu, William Carroll, Esmé Ford, Holly Friend,Lowri Mathias, Marcus McCabe, Julia Mun,
Lauren Ross, Molly Watkins, Cassandra Yong, Dorothy Bruce, Eve Chancellor, Catherine Higgins-Moore, Anne O’Brien, Anne Padley, Daniel Penfold, Thomas Pitts, Auriel Roe, Eleanor Ross, Dave Shonfield, Anstey Spraggan, Lee Stoddart, Thomas Wadsworth, Melanie Whipman and S. Zatland
Fortune
Fortune contains twenty of the best short stories on the theme of Fortune selected by the judges from a large entry for the 2014 H.G. Wells Short Story Competition.
Stories are divided into two groups: authors 21 years of age and under and authors aged 22 years and above and include works by Esther M. White, Sithara Ranasinghe, Gemma Talbot, Alexandra Jessop, Will Jarrett, John Noden, Rosie Carter, C. Jay Divine, Gabrielle Corry-Mead, K. Lockwood Jefford, Emma Norry, Adam Colton, Catherine Higgins-Moore, Craig Smith, Giselle Evans, Fabian Acker, Amy Licence, Alex Reece Abbott, Ikhtisad Ahmed and Melanie Whipman.
Edited by Liz Joyce
2014
192 pages. ISBN 978-0-9572485-5-7.
£7.50
Edited by Rosie Vidovix Unsworth
2013
196 pages. ISBN 978-0-9572485-3-3.
£7.99
Open Flight
Flight contains twenty-one of the best short stories on the theme of Flight selected by the judges from a large entry for the 2013 H.G. Wells Short Story Competition.
Stories are divided into two groups: authors under the age of 20 and authors aged 20 years and above and include works by Sithara Ranasinghe, Matthew Thurgood, Lottie Pyper, Benjamin R. Davies, Jonathan Wood, Rebecca Hamilton,
Jasmine Ayoubi, Joshua Lambert, Edward Butterfield, Emma Hollands, Christopher Campbell, Sheila Liggett, Diane Wisdom, K. Lockwood Jefford, Paul Burns, Cathy Lennon, Jade Moulds, Sue Healy, Steven M. Dodd, Lee Stoddart and Hermione Laake.
Born of the Island and Other Sea Stories
Born of the Island and Other Sea Stories contains twenty-two of the best short stories on the theme of The Sea selected by the judges from a large entry for the 2012 H.G. Wells Short Story Competition.
Stories are divided into two groups: authors under the age of twenty-six and authors twenty-six years of age and over, and include works by Angus Nesbit, Anastasia Bow-Bertrand, Sinéad Stoddart, Akiho Schilz, Sophie Lister,
William Jarrett, Holly Ice, Daisy-Mae Perkins, Karl Mercer, Michele Sheldon, David Griffin, David Shonfield, Mike Umbers, Pat Ashford, Hummel C. Addams, Mel Fawcet, Don Nixon, Andrew Campbell-Kearsey, Fabian Acker, Rik Thomas and Anthony Hulse.
Edited by Rosie Unsworth
2012
246 pages. ISBN 978-0-9572485-1-9.
£7.99
- Out of Print
- Kindle download from Amazon.