Roundup time!
a selection of recently published stories.
I rarely post on Substack about stories I’ve had published. But, because my writing has been developing recently, I thought it’s about time to collate a list in case you want to read them.
Back in November, Commuter Lit published a short story of mine called ‘In Decay’. It’s one where I’m starting to shift away from near-future into more speculative writing. https://commuterlit.com/2025/11/thursday-in-decay/
In March, World of Myth published ‘Let Them Be’, a story I’d been keen to see the light of day because it touches on the dilemma between having machines you trust to get on with things and having machines you feel you need to keep watch over. https://jayzomondarkmyth.com/darkmythproductions/theworldofmyth/146/scifi/let-them-be/index.html
Pushing the boundaries further, the wonderfully experimental Sein Und Werden just published ‘Same Happens at the Everything Time’. The editors note gives you a sense of the process behind the piece: “the author specified the use of the parallel line symbols in the subtitle and the morse code section headings, because they both contribute additional meaning to the piece. In addition, the author used Excel to randomise the sequence of the sentences in each section three times before picking his favourite, in a kind of digital cut-up technique.”
https://seinundwerden.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/verschrankung_springsummer26.pdf
‘Fake’, the story I wrote some time ago as part of the Creative Futures project led by Coventry University and the Ministry of Defence’s DSTL is featured in the Creative Futures anthology which was shortlisted for a 2025 BSFA Award. https://www.flametreepublishing.com/creative-futures-isbn-9781835626474.html
I have been deliberately writing more positive stories, more hopeful not tech-utopian, and collaboration has always been a thing for me. ‘My Vagus Proxy’ came out of a collaboration with Prof. Claire Steves of King’s College London and seems to have hit a nerve – it was a top ten winner in the 2025 Dubai Future Foundation competition and is in the 2025 Best of British Science Fiction. https://www.dubaifuture.ae/future-stories
All of my published fiction is categorised and listed at https://stephenoram.net/published-work