{"id":5752,"date":"2026-09-01T15:12:59","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T13:12:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/libribookline.com\/the-stories-continue-at-the-bus-stops-this-years-finalists-in-the-jcdecaux-short-story-contest-have-been-announced\/"},"modified":"2026-09-29T15:32:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T13:32:23","slug":"the-stories-continue-at-the-bus-stops-this-years-finalists-in-the-jcdecaux-short-story-contest-have-been-announced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libribookline.com\/en\/the-stories-continue-at-the-bus-stops-this-years-finalists-in-the-jcdecaux-short-story-contest-have-been-announced\/","title":{"rendered":"The stories continue at the bus stops: this year\u2019s finalists in the JCDecaux short story contest have been announced"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

September 1, 2026 \u2013 More than 3,100 entries were submitted to the contest this year, and starting today, the best works from the \u201cStop for a Short Story\u201d contest await readers at the country\u2019s busiest bus and streetcar stops. Year after year, the goal of this initiative is to fill those moments of waiting with reading and to make everyday public transportation more enjoyable with short stories.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cThe display showed five minutes. Five minutes. You\u2019d think that\u2019s nothing. Especially if you\u2019re a regular public transit user. You can\u2019t even brew a decent cup of coffee in five minutes. You can barely manage a soft-boiled egg\u201d\u2014this is the opening thought of this year\u2019s winning short story, *Five Minutes*. Once again, the submitted entries highlight familiar moments in their stories: a wait, a meeting, a relationship, or an everyday decision.<\/p>\n\n

JCDecaux\u2019s \u201cStop for a Short Story\u201d contest has once again stirred up the country: a total of 3,120 entries were submitted to the competition, and 20 works made it onto the shortlist this year as well. The top 20 short stories are the work of 18 authors, as two writers each have two stories among the finalists. This year is not only about double entries but also about comebacks: a finalist from last year and an author who won a special prize in 2021 have both made it back into the top ranks.<\/p>\n\n

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The first-place winner of this year\u2019s contest was Bence \u00c1lmos Kiss, who won over the jury with his short story titled \u201cFive Minutes.\u201d Second place went to P\u00e9ter Palotai for his short story \u201cThe Boy in Carrot-Print Pants Programs Our Shared Future,\u201d and third place went to Don\u00e1ta Batta for her short story \u201cIngredients.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Once again, the best entries were selected by a panel of experts. Alongside Kriszti\u00e1n Grecs\u00f3, an Attila J\u00f3zsef Prize-winning writer, the entries were evaluated by Mikl\u00f3s H. Vecsei, a Junior Prima Prize-winning actor, director, and writer; Orsolya Stefanie Ludvig, spokesperson for Libri; and T\u00edmea Jamniczky, CEO of JCDecaux Hungary.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cReading the submissions is a special experience for me every year, because time and again I discover that even a single page is enough to make me think or bring a smile to my face. I really love that these stories truly speak to everyone as they make their way into the city and accompany people on their journeys,\u201d said T\u00edmea Jamniczky, CEO of JCDecaux Hungary.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cIt was as if all emotions had been unleashed. This year, more short stories celebrated life; I had the feeling that the long post-COVID depression, the death wish, and the sense of loneliness had eased. On the other hand, existential anxiety, politics, and the hopelessness of everyday life brought much more passion to the texts. \u201cThe stories that stood out this year were either very deliberate or instinctive; they were brimming with joy, anger, and emotion,\u201d said Kriszti\u00e1n Grecs\u00f3, the jury chair, about this year\u2019s short stories.<\/p>\n\n

As the main sponsor of the contest, Libri Bookstores once again awarded a special prize this year to the most talented author under the age of 25; the award went to Barbara Czebei for her short story Rig\u00f3sz\u00edv.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

In addition to the jury\u2019s decision, readers\u2019 opinions will count again this year: from among the 20 short stories on display, readers can once again choose the audience favorite. Voting runs through October 1; until then, anyone can cast their vote at novella.jcdecaux.hu.<\/p>\n\n

The stories don\u2019t end at the stop. Once again this year, readers can encounter the finalist short stories not only at bus and streetcar stops: they also come to life as a podcast, narrated by Panna Bal\u00e1zsy and Mikl\u00f3s H. Vecsei.<\/p>\n\n

Which one is your favorite? The public vote is already underway\u2014cast your vote and listen to the short stories!<\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 20 finalist entries in JCDecaux\u2019s short story contest can be read or listened to at bus stops and as podcasts. The grand prize was awarded to Bence \u00c1lmos Kiss\u2019s short story titled \u201cFive Minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":5748,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/libribookline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/libribookline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/libribookline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libribookline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libribookline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5752"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/libribookline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5752\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5753,"href":"https:\/\/libribookline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5752\/revisions\/5753"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libribookline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/libribookline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libribookline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libribookline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}