About Us
Shimmering stories to catch and keep hold of
Iridescent Words was founded by Malina Douglas to publish engaging and evocative prose in the form of short stories, novels and anthologies. We seek vivid, well-crafted writing that captivates as it shines.
Full Bio
Malina Douglas spins stories that fuse the fantastic and the real, blending history and fantasy to conjure distant eras and worlds. She was awarded first place in the Oxford Prize in 2023 and made the top three of the Leicester Writes Prize. In 2022 she was awarded Editor's Choice in the Hammond House International Literary Prize, was a finalist in the Four Palaces Fiction Anthology Contest and was published in their anthology, Desire to Escape. She has been longlisted for the Reflex Press Prize, the Bath Short Story Award, The Bristol Prize and the Dorothy Dunnett Society Short Story Award.
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Publications include The National Flash Fiction Day Anthology (2022), WestWords by Retreat West, Cast of Wonders, Typehouse, Consequence Forum, Wyldblood, Sanitarium IV, Diet Milk, The Theatre Phantasmagoria, Tales from the Moonlit Path, Opia, Parabnormal and The Periodical Forlorn. She has published in over two dozen anthologies, including Odin by Flame Tree Press, Out of the Darkness by Wolfsinger Publications, Underdogs Rise, From the Yonder IV, N is Nautical, R is for Revenge, Because That's Where Your Heart Is, The Monsters We Forgot Vol. II, and Gothic Blue Books Vol 6: A Krampus Carol. She is the author of Red Panda Warrior, Jade Mountain and curator of the anthology Winter Enchantment.
She is an alumna of Smokelong Summer and can be found on X, BlueSky and Substack @iridescentwords.
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Publications
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2025:
"It’s All on the Menu Except What Fills the Ache," longlisted by the Bath Flash Fiction Prize, to be published in their 2024 anthology, summer 2025
"The Reckoning" - Metastellar
"Terracotta / Ricefields " and "After the Umbrella" in Over/Exposed Journal​
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2024:
"Dearthswindler, Warbringer", Odin by Flame Tree Press
"A Botched Summoning," Gwyllion, October 31st
"Marmaris Musk," in the September issue of The Mantlepiece Literary
“The Word-Storm” in Mythulu: Maps and Biomes
“Alpine Secrets, Concealed Claws” in Unexplained by Red Cape Publishing
A Monster’s Consolation, Epic Echoes, Issue Two
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2023: The Fix, published by the Rumen in January
“The Flame and the Anchor”, published by Underdog Press in the anthology Underdogs Rise
Winter Enchantment, an anthology of stories by fifteen authors including one of my own, self-published in February
Christmas Gremlins' Delight published in Happy Howlidays by Thurston Howl Publications
The Scent of Stifled Colour, published in WestWord Journal by Retreat West, on the theme of vision
“Dimension-Knitter,” published by Red Cape Publishing in Q is for Quantum
“The Flame and the Anchor,” published in the anthology Underdogs Rise
“A Bittersweet Tang,” published in the Diet Milk Mini Issue
“The River's Whim,” published in From the Yonder 4 by War Monkey Publications
“Guru Grapple” published by Samjoko Magazine. Gave an interview for their Patreon
“Ashes and Buttercream,” published by Cast of Wonders and narrated by Yelena Crane in Episode #54
“The Touch of the Frost-Sprite” published by Water Dragon Publishing in the Dragon Gems Summer 2023 Anthology
“The Fragrant Path,” published by Ginosko Literary Journal in Issue 30
“Voices from the Deep” published by Red Cape Publishing in R is for Revenge
“Dragon Bus” published by Black Hare Press in their anthology, Dragons
2022:
January: Dead Sea Press accepted “Infested Waters” for their anthology Shadows Beneath the Surface
February: “A Palm-Sized Galaxy” was published by Hammond House the anthology Stardust and launched at their literary festival
March: A Recipe for Disaster Highly Commended by The Anansi Archive and published in Gambles and Balances
April: “Discarded Treasure” published by Ellipsis Magazine
“Disruption” published in Teach Write
May: “Hartwell’s Legacy,” a spine-tingling tale set at sea, was published in Nautical Horror by Red Cape Publishing
June: “When Our Sons Squirm As We Straighten Their Collars” published by National Flash Fiction Day in their anthology, And We Lived Happily Ever After. The theme was freedom.
August: “Misshapen” was accepted by Robert Lupton of West Mesa Press for inclusion in the Are You A Robot Anthology
October: “Eternally Yours,” The Theatre Phantasmagoria, Night Terror Novels
November: “The Tear in the Sky,” Bridge House Anthology: Evergreen
December: “Four Phials of Rusalka Tears,” Diet Milk, In the Bleak Midwinter, December Advent
“Suppressed Shadows, Silver Scars,” Out of the Darkness Anthology, Wolfsinger Publications, edited by Carol Hightshoe
​2021: “The Needlecraft Guide to Averting Doom” published by Wyldblood
“A Flash of Silver Scales,” published by The Land Beyond the World Magazine
“Firestarter” published in SHEER: A Dark Academia Anthology
“Sweet Sorrow” published by Sans Press in Because That’s Where Your Heart Is
“Red Thread Unwound” published by The Periodical, Forlorn
“The Kappa’s Promise” published by Sanitarium IV
“Down the Rocky Road” published by Back Story Journal
Red Panda Warrior, Jade Mountain, a novella of 17,000 words was self-published
2020: “The Boy Who Tricked Krampus”, Gothic Blue Books Vol 6: A Krampus Carol
“The Hollow Shell” published in Opia, Issue 1
“The Secret of the Dragon Cabinet” published by Parabnormal
“Two Deceptions” published by Typehouse
2019: “Jumble” and “Remains” in Sobotka Lit Mag Issue 7
“A Quizzical Occurrence” in The Antipodean
“Beyond” in the anthology Sea Glass Hearts
“Dreamcatcher” in Flash Fiction Magazine
“Her Curious Doubts” in When it is Time, an anthology from Michael Terence Publishing
“The Bound Man of the Haunted Mount” in The Monsters We Forgot Vol. 2
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2018: “When Shadow-Beasts Stalk” in Rhythm & Bone
“The Mischief-Makers” in Foilate Oak
“The Museum of Australian Oddities” in Consequence Magazine 10th Anniversary Edition
2017: “The Place Beyond Grey” in ArtAscent Art & Literature Journal Bliss issue. Nominated as Gold Writer.
2016: “Fly Away, Sorrow Birds” in Metamorphose V2, “Desertification” in Indigo: A Western Australian Journal of Writing, “Red Fading” in Fusions, a collection of paintings and corresponding poems
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Honours
2024: It’s All on the Menu Except What Fills the Ache, longlisted by the Bath Flash Fiction Prize
2023, January 1st: “A Dizzy City Cartwheels Backwards” was longlisted by Reflex Press
Shards Picked from the Floorboards, a suite of four flash fictions, was chosen as one of eight finalists in the Defenestration Flash Suite Contest. After judging, it made the top two and was published on the Defenestrationism website.
Awarded the Rin Kelly Scholarship for “Beneath the Surface”.
“Seven Things it was Not” made it through the first round of judging in the Wow! Woman on Writing contest and reached the finals, out of 296 entries. Judges rated it 14 out of 15.
“Unsolvable Crosswords,” a hermit crab story shaped by cryptic crossword clues, was shortlisted by The Loft Books and published in Issue IV, January 2023.
“Beneath the Surface” was highly commended and published in the anthology from the 2022 competition, Changes. It was launched at the Hammond House Literary Festival in February 2023.
Devilish Bookworms did a podcast episode featuring Winter Enchantment
Tales from the Dragon's Lair published an interview about my work and Winter Enchantment
"The Apricot Seller, the Biker and the Monk" was longlisted in the 2023 Bristol Prize
“Solve the Problems that Fergus Denies He Caused” awarded first place by the Oxford Prize, 2023 and published in their anthology
Spring of Ash and Sunflowers was selected for the longlist of 25 by John Brantingham in the Novella in Flash Award, run by Bath Flash
Read my work in the event Writers Reading, hosted by Debbie Voisey, December 2023
2022: When Claire Did Not March With a Jazz Band Dressed as Wonder Woman to Her Death reached the longlist of the Reflex Spring 2022 Flash Fiction Competition and was published on the Reflex Press website
“The Hunted, The Haunted” was shortlisted in the Four Palaces Press Contest and published in their anthology, Desire to Escape
“The Neverending Picnic,” longlisted in the Bath Short Story Award
“Freedom's Fires,” longlisted in the HWA Dorothy Dunnett Short Story Competition https://www.historiamag.com/hwa-dd-ss-2022-longlist/
Awarded a bursary to attend Smokelong Summer from May-August, hosted by Smokelong Quarterly
“Deathswindler, Warbringer” received an Honourable Mention in the Writers of the Future Contest
2021: “To Pierce the Dark” was shortlisted by Blackwater Press and published in their anthology
2020: “The Secondhand Smile” was highly commended in the Michael Terence Publishing Summer Short Story Competition and was published in their anthology, All Those Things That You Thought Never Mattered
“Bricks and Mortar” made the Official Selection for the London Independent Story Prize, Fourth Quarter 2020 and was published on their website
2019: “Her Curious Doubts” was highly commended in the Michael Terence Publishing Summer Short Story Competition and was published in their anthology, When it is Time
Nominated as the Gold Writer of the ArtAscent Bliss call for writers, in the ArtAscent Art & Literature Journal Bliss issue.
2016: Participated in a writing marathon hosted by Women Writers of WA and won one round
2013: Made the longlist for the Atlantis Short Story Competition
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Publications
