Shooter’s final print edition: #20, the Sweet Hereafter issue

Not all endings are painful – some might lead to a wonderful new opportunity, or an unexpected adventure, or reveal a silver lining. This is the slant of our 20th issue’s theme, Sweet Hereafter. Wh…

Shooter Flash: “Loveless” by Travis Turner

When Charlie Loveless died, they cleaned out his office on the second floor of Wallace Hall and left a box of his old books in the hallway free for the taking. I grabbed all of the Hemingway and Fa…

Shooter Flash: “Techspeak” by Angela Ball

The televisions, everywhere, switched on at full volume. Mobile phones jingled and landlines rang, although no-one was at the other end if someone tried to answer. Tablets flashed with non-stop vid…

Shooter Flash: “Small Talk” by Arthur Heardman

David perched on the silk ottoman at the foot of the marital bed, watching his wife apply lipstick through the open door of their ensuite bathroom. Somehow Sabrina managed to speak even while slick…

Discounted Back Issues

The following issues of Shooter are available to buy at the discounted price of £10 (UK) or £17 (International): #1 – Pulling the Trigger – 1 copy remaining #3 – Surreal – 4…

Shooter Flash: “Love Lessons from a Chameleon” by Sherry Morris

We met in the Algarve. He sunned on decorative rocks. I sipped Love on the Rocks by the pool. He approached me – drawn, perhaps, to my scarlet bikini or maybe my crimson drink. Initially, I was put…

Shooter Flash: “Sole Survivor” by Alexandra O’Sullivan

I parked the car after the school run and took the core of the apple I’d been eating to the guinea pigs on my way past. There, at end of the cage, lay a potato-shaped lump.   “Oh no,” I said as I k…

Shooter’s final print edition: #20, the Sweet Hereafter issue

Not all endings are painful – some might lead to a wonderful new opportunity, or an unexpected adventure, or reveal a silver lining. This is the slant of our 20th issue’s theme, Sweet Hereafter. Wh…

Shooter Flash: “Winter Camp” by Gary Finnegan

The middle distance absorbed her gaze. Her sleeves, her nerves, frayed. Moths had chewed holes in the coats of the children; the children had eaten nothing for days. Days had been given to a journe…

Shooter Flash: “On the Rocky Shore” by Clayton Lister

We were happy. Fatherless, but who needs one? Money was tight, but if it wasn’t, would we have appreciated what did come our way? My brothers tormented me, of course. Every youngest’s tribulation. …

Winners of 2025 poetry comp expose birth realities, celebrate sexual identities

Bethan Murphy has won the 2025 Shooter Poetry Competition with “Birth Plan”, while Sylvie Jane Lewis came runner-up with “Small Town Pride Parade”. Murphy’s poem pierc…

Shooter Flash: “The Chemistry of Friendship” by Alison Wassell

It starts with us sharing a packet of cheese-and-onion crisps, and before we know it we’re sharing everything: sucking liquorice lozenges and laughing at our black tongues in the cloakroom mirror, …

Slaves and Scammers | Literary Garage

Shooter Flash: “Sink or Swim, or Both” by Billy Craven

I saw her from the balcony of our hotel room. She was swimming lengths of the pool with expert strokes, legs and arms working easily, causing barely a ripple. I decided to forego my sullen teenage …