Ten Quantum Shorts finalists selected from record number of submissions

The international Quantum Shorts competition received a record 650 entries in its last call for flash fiction that takes inspiration from quantum physics.  Now, it is delighted to present the 10 finalists.

Quantum Shorts is organised by the Centre for Quantum Technologies in Singapore.  EQUS supports the competition as a scientific partner, alongside other leading scientific institutions around the world.  Scientific American, the longest continuously published magazine in the US, and Nature, the international weekly journal of science, also support the competition as media partners. 

Charles Woffinden—EQUS Research Fellow and EQUS’ nominated shortlisting judge—said it was an absolute thrill to read this year’s entries for Quantum Shorts: “The quality was extremely high, making the shortlisting process both terribly challenging and extremely enjoyable, but I suppose, ‘nobody said this was going to be easy!’”

The call for submissions opened in October 2023, asking writers to incorporate the phrase “nobody said this was going to be easy” and keep their stories to not more than 1,000 words.

It was declared as the final round of Quantum Shorts, which has run annually since 2012, and writers around the world responded resoundingly.

Their stories drew praise from the shortlisting panel.  Author Michael Brooks noted the great diversity: “The stories were truly engaging: sometimes touching, sometimes funny, sometimes ingenious, sometimes just hilariously crazy!  I had great difficulty choosing my favourites, as all of them had something to offer a curious reader.”  Meanwhile, Andrew Hanson, Outreach Manager at the UK’s National Physical Laboratory, was impressed by the writers’ ability to “reframe the weird world of quantum particles within human scale and emotional levels”.

The shortlisted writers hail from Canada, Pakistan, Singapore, the UK and the US.  They have taken inspiration from quantum physics concepts, including the many-worlds interpretation and entanglement, to craft stories about family ties, Father Christmas and fallible creators.

The ten shortlisted stories, in alphabetical order, are:

• A World in Threads – Acadia Reynolds tells a fantastical tale about the red threads of fate, quantum realities and family ties
• Clare’s Prism – Quantum messages come through from a daughter to her mother in this story by Dave Chua.
• Degenerate Sanity – A quest to reverse an unprecedented consequence of interworld expeditions unfolds in Mahnoor Fatima’s story
• Entanglement – In this story by Kathryn Aldridge-Morris, quantum physics is a topic for connection as a mother deals with her daughter leaving home
• Quantum cake à la Solvay – Pippa Storey tells a tale in verse and rhyme, of quantum events and people through time
• Red Light, Blue Light – Written by Ioana Burtea, this is a story of entanglement, love and longing
• Root Consciousness – Tony Tsoi’s flash fiction of a biophysicist’s journey to reconnect with long-lost family
• Santa Claus and the Quantum Librarian – In this Christmas story by S.A. McNaughton, a child plans to observe Santa
• The Observer – Unobserved photons are leaking from a supposedly observed universe in Dan Goodman’s take on the observer effect
• Two Lives Stretched Out Before Them – In this story by Janel Comeau, the quantum computer decides whether a couple’s relationship ends, or does it?

Congratulations to the shortlisted authors!  They have each won a USD100 shortlist award and a one-year digital subscription to Scientific American.  They also win the chance for greater rewards as the competition’s judging panel decide the First Prize and Runner Up.

Readers can also have their say.  Voting for the People’s Choice prize is now open on the Quantum Shorts website and closes at 11:59 PM GMT on 29 March 2024.  The winners will be revealed in April 2024.

Five stories also received honorable mentions: Qubit Superhighway by Liam Hogan, Play That Funky Music by Max Gallagher, The Experiment by Natasha Irving, Equestrian Physicist Needed ASAP by Lily Turaski, and Think of Your Left Foot by Cadence Mandybura.