Brevity

Read. Write. Resist.

Brevity – a 6-times yearly literary handbill (a zine) distributed on the Isle of Wight – is always OPEN for short stories of 500 words or less from folks who live on the IOW; read one, write one and submit one here. Since Brevity’s inception in 2019 the flow of compelling, idiosyncratic, lyrical, weird, and wonderful submissions has grown from a forced trickle to a steady stream of refreshing short form literature. Thank you fellow Islanders. We’re grateful for the support of READERS and writers alike.

In a world of trolling, scrolling, ‘social’ media, artificial ‘intelligence’ and the rest, is reading an actual book an act of punk resistance?

Want to antagonise the high-tech hierarchy? Get caught with a borrowed LIBRARY BOOK. Be part of a COUNTER CULTURE that reads novels, biographies, memoirs, manga, comic books, flash fiction, novellas. Or Brevity.

https://goallin.org.uk/

Along with publishing flash in the Handbill and online, Brevity is waving the flag for short stories with a number of other local writing projects. Recently we partnered with The Open University and Boojum & Snark to help bring you a FREE writing workshop that imagined the Island’s southern coastline. With compelling prompts and research materials The Open University instructors inspired a group of nearly 20 Island writers to – write. And Brevity has been commissioned by Artful Scribe, a not-for-profit writer development agency based in Southampton to publish a Special Edition Brevity for Lit Fest 2026 – Acts of Resistance in March –

https://artfulscribe.co.uk/events/show/1856/litfest26-acts-of-resistance

Finally be sure to stop into DEPARTMENT in Ryde where Brevity is exhibiting A Bit of Lit. Every few months a new short story by an Island writer will be on display, alongside our latest issue.