Blog roll
Hi everyone. Just wanting to catch you all up on why there’s been delays on Needle. I’ve been going though some health issues that have made it very difficult to keep updating the site. For now, while I recuperate, things […]
With Nabokov we saw a high watermark of entries, which necessitated a broad shortlist. December represents a holiday period for many around the world, a time of celebration, new ideas and challenges. This year was no different. First let’s welcome […]
So part 3 of the Trilogy Award came with a bit of a surprise, a big surprise in fact, with authors challenged to write the final piece for someone else’s trilogy. Disruptive ideas don’t always work out, but this time […]
The What We Talk About When We Talk About Love Award Love is a many splendour thing! Over the last month we’ve seen a myriad interpretations of what it can mean to us, the tragedy, the power, the fortune […]
To make our competition feedback delivery more reliable (and efficient) feedback will now be hosted on the NiTH forums. Starting from ‘The Trilogy Award Pt:1” Each author will find their feedback under a private section in the ‘My NiTH’ section […]
Find new stories for our Major Contest Long List every day. Sunday 21st February: Chosen | Carmel Lillis Love Thy Neighbour | GJ Maher Saturday 20th February: A Favour | Daniel Norrish The Social Script Of Love | Kate McIntosh Friday 19th […]
Recap As the holiday season draws to a close we celebrated our own milestone. The What We Talk About When We Talk About Love Award drew a record number of entrants. And while we’re busy working through the hundreds of […]
Hi everyone, As the hours roll down to the end of the year we are receiving a glut of new entries. If you are not sure if you have submitted correctly please email your entry to NeedleInTheHayWritingComp@gmail.com to be […]
Five fake critiques made it onto this week’s shortlist, which asked authors to write a fanatically scathing, satirical or overly praiseworthy review.
Break out the punching bags. The ongoing dispute between liberal and conservative America has taken over the Hugos, with ballot stuffing and calls of bias tearing into the fandom. What does it all mean? Well maybe the Hugos has to […]
So this is what we all wait 9 months for. Tywin is dead, the Hound probably is as well. Arya and Tyrion and Varys have all left Westeros and Stannis has set up camp in the cold, cold north. Cersei, Margaery […]
A bit of shocking news, the first four episodes of Game of Thrones have leaked, with tens of thousands of people already downloading what amounts to almost half the 5th season. Rumours cirulated earlier today and it wasn’t long before […]
Like a love child of Borges and Derrida, Mark Z. Danielewski has both built and dismantled the labriynth of story telling many times over. His latest project, ‘The Familiar’ is a sprawling epic 27 volume opus, the first of which […]
Start saving up your Galleons Potter fans, and illustrated version of Harry Potter and the Philospher’s Stone is coming to muggles everywhere October 2015. Marking the 15th anniversary of the series, several images have already been released, and ignoring the […]
Merry Christmas, Seasons Greetings and Happy New Year It’s the holiday season, so I’ll try and keep this as brief as possible, cause I’m sure you’re all busy digesting large quantities of cake to avoid talking to relatives you only […]
Special thanks to Daniel Norrish for donating his winnings back to the competition. Even though it was a slew of late entries we have some excellent submissions. A few tear jerkers in there are well. Check out the full short […]
The short list for the NORMAL SUCCESS Award is up. You can find them all here Mrs Williamson’s Rose Garden – Charlie Novak Better Than Most – L White The Box – Jane Basil Grading On A Curve – Joey […]
We just dropped the Grimdark short list in coordination with GdM’s first issue, but what else is going on at NITH? Well just like the title says, there are two new awards up on the site. Firstly, the THREE DRAFTS […]
A Tale Of Two Rebeccas It’s with much excitement and and without further ado that we announce the winner and second placing for the MYSTERY OF THE CELLAR DOOR Award. In first place, a story that was described by one […]
Daniel’s story, Eatery, is part of the MYSTERY OF THE CELLAR DOOR Short List. You can read it here. What is the influence / story behind the story? I had been making my way through some horror novels because I […]
Needle In The Hay is pleased to announce the following entries selected for the MYSTERY OF THE CELLAR DOOR Short List. Congratulations to: Alayna Cole – Guilty Daniel Mac – Cellar Door Dakoda Barker – Unlocked Rebecca McDowell – Birdcage […]
Rebecca’s first story with Needle In The Hay is Birdcage, nominated for the long list on the MYSTERY OF THE CELLAR DOOR Award. She’s a lawyer by trade, so we checked our precedents before we threw a few questions her […]
In the midst of all the hub and bub finalising entries for the CELLAR DOOR award you might be forgiven for forgetting about ANNABEL’S LOST AND FOUND Award, an award idea dreamed up by one of our regular competitors. It […]
I was always encouraged to think outside the box and it was fair to say that I was quite good at it which was why I was so good at my job. Ideas flew into my mind like small birds […]
To paraphrase one of the great philosophers of our time, “Short word counts and small turn arounds makes homer something something.” A focus on the mad, the crazy and the slightly off kilter in this week’s short list. Fair enough, […]
We have been dining on the wrong side of life. It’s strange, really. This epiphany came to me on a certain chartreuse day, the kind of day where everything suddenly seems weird. Like when the taste of water is unbearable, […]
Donald’s distressed groan woke Joyce immediately. She turned as quickly as her tired muscles allowed, her knees cracking in the cold. She observed Donald’s shadowed figure. He looked asleep, but his muscles were spasming gently. His leg quaked, and then […]
[highlight style=”1,2″]>>>Trigger Warning: This story contains references to abuse. Some readers may want to skip it, or proceed with caution<<<[/highlight] “I am sorry for your loss”, Mr. Banks said as he put a hand on my shoulder. I knew that […]
Chelsea O’Connor sighed with frustration as she threw the last piece of paper onto the floor. ‘What does it mean?’ She gasped, clawing at her forehead. ‘What does it mean? How can I find out?’ She turned at the sound […]