Murder And Moon Walks In WAWA Flash Fiction Stories

Murder, love, family break-up, abortion, dementia, revenge, depression, even ghosts and moonwalking - these were some of the diverse subjects of flash fiction stories submitted for our latest ‘Wild Atlantic Writing Awards’ (WAWA) on the theme of ‘endings.’ 

For those who are not familiar with the 'Wild Atlantic Way,' home of WAWA and 'Ireland Writing Retreat,' it is the most beautiful route in the Emerald Isle, along the entire length of its stunning rugged coastline, with west Donegal as its most northerly point. It's an unspoiled land of mountains, rivers, golden beaches and rolling waves, one that inspires creativity of all kinds, particularly writing. The video below helps capture the mood it evokes. Join us this June or September for a wonderful getaway week of writing workshops, cultural tours and live music and dance.

Now back to the WAWA stories, some were all dialogue, others pure narrative. Some had several characters, others involved just two. Some were one-scene stories. Others had time lapses over weeks, months, sometimes years, a risky venture in flash fiction.

Location also varied greatly, with a wide range of setting, from an abandoned island, to a vintage, old-style cinema to a modern nursing home.  

Interestingly, a few stories were inspired through the lives of other writers. One musing upon the life of Ernest Hemingway. Another depicting Hannah Arendt looking out her window and seeing the Reichstag on fire.

Lifting the mood, black humor was in abundance - someone comically being mistaken for dead, two cancer-ridden pensioners enjoying a picnic at a popular suicide spot, an upset character in a book berating its author for poor plot development, a corpse commenting on the colorful characters at his funeral service.

While some stories contained wonderful descriptions of people and places and well-written dialogue, they often lacked plot, meaning at its simplest, a beginning, a middle and end. No climax or building of suspense. They were more akin to creative nonfiction than flash fiction, more like philosophic essays. And indeed due to the high quality of the prose, some of them could have been finalists in that category, if indeed the stories were true. So a word of advice for participants to increase your chances of winning future competitions, please consider closely which of the two categories your story fits into.

Many congratulations to everyone who put pen to paper and fingers to computer keys to enter our competition. Doing so requires imagination, discipline and patient self-editing, especially when the limit is 500 words, so you deserve high praise.

Finalists for the Flash Fiction Category of WAWA on the theme of 'Endings' are:

Albert Tucher with ‘The Most Beautiful Sight On Earth,’ David Charles Hollick with ‘The Sister’s Hand,’ Dympna Heffernan with ‘Love Thy Neighbour,’ Greg Beatty with ‘I’ve Got You,’ Jeff Taylor with ‘Project Terminal,’ Julie Evans with ‘Hey, Author!,’ Kathryn Riley with ‘Home Help,’ Shoshauna Shy with ‘Now I Know Why There Is This Big A Crowd At My Funeral,’ Terry Kerins with ‘Holidays’ and VJBauer with ‘Matt Sheldon’s Last Bestseller.’

Winner of the Flash Fiction Category of WAWA on the theme of 'Endings' is:

VJBauer with ‘Matt Sheldon’s Last Bestseller.’

The winner will receive 500 euro in cash or a voucher worth 1,000 euro redeemable towards any one of our retreats of their choice this year. 

We are also delighted to announce that all the finalists will receive a 10% discount (245 euro) for our writing retreat in Donegal, on the Wild Atlantic Way, Summer Writing Retreat during June 23-29, 2025.