Six Word Stories – The Awesome 2021 Shortlist

Today, I’m excited to announce the shortlist for the Six Word Wonder Contest 2021.

You can enter the new Six Word Wonder contest. Get creative, get published, win $100.

We had a wonderful response to the contest, with over 3300 six word stories from budding writers from every corner of the globe. The power of your words astonished me.

What is the Six Word Wonder Contest 2021?

To celebrate the launch of Six Word Wonder by Doug Weller, we launched a contest to find the best Six Word Wonder. 

The purpose of the contest was to encourage people to experiment with the six word story form, and discover fresh new Six Word Wonders.

Contest entry was free. The prize for the top Six Word Wonder is $100 cash, plus publishing in the new book Six Word Stories. Six Word Stories is out on 16th February on Amazon.

The rules of the Six Word Wonder Contest 2021 were simple:

Write a Six Word Wonder, in English.

All entries were judged anonymously.

What is a Six Word Wonder?

Six Word Wonders are stories, poems, jokes, memoirs and riddles written in only six words.

To see some examples of Six Word Wonders here.

Who is the winner of the Six Word Wonder Contest 2021?

The ultimate winner will be announced on 16th February 2022, and will be included in the new Six Word Stories book. On top of this, they will receive a $100 and be named Six Word Wonder 2021.

Reflections on the Six Word Wonder Contest from the judging

The response to the 2021 contest was phenomenal. We had more than 3300 entries! We saw stories of darkness and light, of humour and genuine seriousness. Exactly what you would expect from a six word wonder. It is incredible to discover how much variety and creativty can be packed into so few words. Well done to everybody how took part.

Before sharing the winner, a few observations from the judging.

There were a vast variety of stories, memoirs and jokes, ranging across genres from romance, to horror, to humour, to philosophy and poetry.

As you can imagine, it was a huge challenge to whittle down so many entries to reach a shortlist. But, there were some stories that really stood out from the crowd.

The best examples shared a few things in common:

• Drew a definite emotional response
• Featured beauty, suspense or surprise
• Included strong verbs and interesting nouns
• Took the reader on a journey, even if they needed to fill in the blanks
• Used only six words!

Thank you to all who entered.

And for those keen to create more six word stories, there will be a new Six Word Story contest to enter, launching in conjunction with the new book, Six Word Story.

Full Shortlist – Six Word Wonder Contest 2021

(In Alphabetical Order)

Abbie Harris, United Kingdom

Alan Russell, United Kingdom

Alice Raison, United Kingdom

Alison McBain, United States

Aliyaa Pathan, United States

Alyanna Sy, Philippines

Ambar Marrero, United States

Amy Cree, United States

Ane Garalde, Canada

Angela Deane, United Kingdom

Anna Scaife, New Zealand

Annmarie Ragukonis, United States

Ashley Gilland, United States

Ashley Gonzales

Awneet Singh, India

Bethany Jarmul

Bradley Sancken, Japan

Brea Pringle, Australia

Brian Hall, Australia

Carmen Bock, 

Casey Curtis, United States

Chris Clemens, Canada

Christopher Witty, France

Clarissa McHardy, United Kingdom

Danielle Hall, United States

David Silver, United Kingdom

Desirel Ng, Australia

Diana Davison, Australia

Dj Robbins

Donald A. Ranard, United States

Donald W. Falconer

Ebony Bell, Australia

Elisa Gabrielle Donahue, United States

Emily Delforce, Australia

Emma Hartley, United States

Emma Moisa, Netherlands

Erin P McCurdy, United States

Fiona Grainger, United Kingdom

Georgia Lewis, Australia

Gordon Langley

Granville Brown, United Kingdom

Hans van Weerd, Australia

Heather Gillespie, Canada

Heather Wightman, United Kingdom

Humna Khan, Australia

Ian Davos, Romania

Jake Findlay, United Kingdom

James A. Tweedie, United States

James Michelle, United States

Jan Price, United Kingdom

Jeff Kennedy, Anguilla

Jennifer Haggerty, United States

Jennifer McCubbin, United States

Jeremy Delgado, United States

Jillian Lennon

Jo Mularczyk, Australia

Joann Majerle, United States

John Morris, United Kingdom

John Pearce, Australia

Jon Colman, United Kingdom

Jude Abraham, Israel

Jules Martin, United States

Juliana Ghetto, Australia

Julie Bobzien, United States

Julie McNeely-Kirwan, United States

Katy Deland, United State

Katie Ulrich, United States

Kiera Gracie

Krash Blamdicute, United States

Kyla Gruta, Philippines

Kyriakos Chalkopoulos, Greece

La-Chanda Smith, United States

Laura Beck, United States

L. E. Morgan, Australia

Leena Knell Nox, Australia

Leslie Roberts, United Kingdom

Lily Murphy, Australia

Lin Let, United Kingdom

Lisa Marie Lopez 

Lottie Dale, United Kingdom

Luke Shepherd

Mackenzie Stoudt, United States

Manesh Koshy George, India

Martha Letseka, Lesotho

Martin Cameron, United Kingdom

Matthew Ochrym, United States

Matthew Rowe, United Kingdom

Maureen Crisp, United Kingdom

Megan Oliver, Australia

Michael P. Aleman, United States

Michelle Keeley, United Kingdom

Mike Walker 

Miriam Ikwueme, Nigeria

Monica Fernandez, United States

Natasia Rea, United States

Nicky Cassar White, Malta

O’Neill Renton, United Kingdom

Olivia Hartwell, United Kingdom

Olivia Lindquist

Olivine Marie, United States

Padma Poorani S, India

Paul Lewthwaite, United Kingdom

Paul Toolan

Petra Glover 

Phanindra Ivatury, Netherlands

Philomena Daly, Ireland 

Pragya P, India

Princes Rose Manuel, Philippines

Rashi Gaikwad, India

Rebekah Lawrence, United Kingdom

Rhonda Russell

Richard Liu, Taiwan

Richard Salsbury, United Kingdom

Robert Carroll, United States

Rohith Bandaratilaka, Sri Lanka

Royston Ellis, Sri Lanka

Ruth

Bligh Chanan-Turner, Australia

Ruth Jepson, United Kingdom

Sagar J, India

Sam Mitchell, United Kingdom

Samuel Chrapot, Australia

Scott Bradbrook

Sean Wright, United States

Sebya Gorre-Clancy, United States

Shaun McKenna, United Kingdom

Siraj Khan, United States

Skylar Peck, South Korea

Sneha Mukherjee, 

Sneha Shree Saikia, India

Soft Remedy, Indonesia

Stuart McDowall, United Kingdom

Sue Mitchell, Australia

Summer Austin, United States

Tamsin Kerr, Australia

Tarrah Cheramie

Tashi Chaturvedi, India

Thomas Stewart, United States

Tim Kirton

Torché Johnson, United States

Wendy Eisenberg, United States

Xan Indigo, France

Yess Bryce

Congratulations to every writer shortlisted. I’m excited to confirm that a stories from each of the shortlisted entries will be included in the follow-up book. The final winner will be announced on 18th February 2022 in conjunction with the launch of Six Word Stories by Doug Weller. And you can enter the latest Six Word Wonder contest here.