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“The national organisation supporting excellence in short fiction” – The Guardian

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Courses & Events

Join us at masterclasses,
salons, short story club & more

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Readings & Conversation

with some of the world's
best short story writers

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What’s The Story? 

Word Factory creates literary excellence and long-term relationships supporting the next generation of short story writers. We are a team of writers with a track record in securing national reputation, publication and representation for those we work with.


Submit to the Word Factory
Apprentice Awards 2023/4

This is your chance to join the distinguished Word Factory Apprentice Award alumnae.

We are delighted to announce forthcoming dates for submission to the Word Factory Apprentice Awards 2023/4  – a unique award programme offering one-on-one mentorship and creative development to emerging short story writers. 

This year we will be offering two nine-month long mentorships – one open to emerging short story writers in the north of England and another exciting new project supporting an emerging short story writer whose work makes a significant political impact, open to writers throughout the UK.
Read more here.

Read more about the Word Factory Political Short Story Award


Factory Journal


Factory Films

Up close and personal with leading writers and their stories. An archive of intimate, insightful conversations into the art of short story writing.

Watch more videos on Vimeo


A L Kennedy
AL Kennedy
Author

Cathy Galvin has created a remarkable community of writers around the Word Factory. Events and classes are inspiring.

Nikesh Shukla
author

Word Factory’s Citizen Festival was a brilliant literary state of the nation showcasing. With words as a weapon, and with platforms such as Citizen, we can affect change together.