Katie Piper

Katie is a mother, nurse, academic and writer. Katie started to write during her maternity leave. She found a way into it by responding to daily writing prompts posted on Twitter. Katie found a community who encouraged her to write flash fiction, and she was lucky to experience some early success with her work. Katie was nominated for the Pushcart prize, and she has been longlisted for the Commonwealth short story prize, the Bath Short Story Award, and more recently, the Newcastle Short Story Award (Australia), 2025.

Katie is currently working as a clinical trials nurse (oncology/haematology) and is continually inspired by her patients. Her Substack, Narrative Health Community, is a fusion of her passions. It is a space for sharing and shaping health and/or bodily narratives. Katie’s vision is to inspire and teach the craft of short stories, in particular, how we can infuse our stories with our experiences.

In September 2025, Katie herself began a chemo-immunotherapy regimen for a rare sub-type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinaemia). She hopes for a deep response to treatment in early 2026. Katie’s lived experience of cancer has fuelled her belief in the therapeutic power of narratives in healthcare.

Links to Katie’s publications:

• For a Moment, Ellipsis Zine, 2020:
  https://www.ellipsiszine.com/for-a-moment-by-katie-piper/
• He Finds an Acorn Wearing a Bonnet, X-ray Literary Mag, 2020:
  https://xraylitmag.com/he-finds-an-acorn-wearing-a-bonnet-by-katie-piper/fiction/
• Who Would Miss a Zigzagging Schoolgirl? Reflex Press, 2020:
  https://www.reflexfiction.com/who-would-miss-a-zigzagging-schoolgirl-flash-fiction-by-katie-piper/
• The Baby with the Open Back, The Cabinet of Heed, 2020:
  https://cabinetofheed.com/2020/04/13/the-baby-with-the-open-back-katie-piper/
• Don’t Unravel the Yarn, Virtual Zine Mag, 2020:
  https://virtualzinemag.com/vff-1/f/don%E2%80%99t-unravel-the-yarn-by-katie-piper
• Contributing author, 100 Words of Solitude, Rare Swan Press, 2020:
  https://100wordsofsolitude.wordpress.com/100-words-of-solitude/
• When The Scarves Fell, Janus Literary, 2021:
  https://www.janusliterary.com/2021/05/31/katie-piper-when-the-scarves-fell/
• Swinging Out High, Reflex Fiction, 2020. (Reflex Press Anthology, 2021):
  https://www.reflexfiction.com/swinging-out-high-flash-fiction-by-katie-piper/
• The Silent Sacrifices of Mothers, Reflex Fiction, 2020. (Reflex Press Anthology, 2021):
  https://www.reflexfiction.com/the-silent-sacrifices-of-mothers-flash-fiction-by-katie-piper/
• Bath Man, National Flash Fiction Day (2021) (Anthology, 2021).
• Autopsy of a Mother, The Bridport Prize (Highly Commended), 2022 (Anthology, 2022).