James has published two novels, The Wrong Story and Happy Family, a travelogue of his journey through Central America, the children’s story, Mr Frogg Goes to Work and a monthly column for The Gudgeon.
He won the 2025 Fish Publishing Short Memoir Prize, the Real Writer Short Story Award, and the 2024 Rooker Prize for best opening to a novel.
His short stories have appeared in a number of print anthologies including London Journal of Fiction, Fish Anthology (2025), Rattle Tales, Not in the Plan, BFS Horizons, No One Should Have to Care Alone, Wilson’s Tales of the Borders, Future Shock, The Weather Where You Are and Flash Me Fiction.
He was short-listed for the Bath Flash Fiction Award, and short-listed twice for the Bridport Fiction Prize. He was nominated for the 2020 Pushcart Prize and highly commended for the Disquiet Literary Award, the Retreat West Flash Fiction Prize, the British Fantasy Society Short Story Award and the Carer’s UK Writing Award.
Check out all of James’s published work here.
And watch James’s crowd funding videos for his novel An Other’s Look that later became, Happy Family:
James Ellis in words 