First Prize
A Girls’* Guide to Surviving a Rip-tide
by Fiona Dignan
The judges loved the double meaning and metaphor for being a female in this piece. There’s a constant feeling of being pulled back and forth, like the debris in the ocean, like you’re the flotsam. It’s a life lesson in the short story, of sink or swim, but ultimately how to stay alive, and sisterhood.
Second Prize
An Oxford Professor’s Wife Makes a Pilgrimage to the Sistine Chapel a Week After her Best Friend’s Funeral
by Anne Soilleux
This story has so much background and history packed into such a short space. We really got a sense of Liza’s character, and her questionable decisions, but also her vulnerability. It feels like a power imbalance led her to where she is, but she’ll take what she’s learnt and move on, almost chameleon-like.
The People’s Prize
A Girls’* Guide to Surviving a Rip-tide
by Fiona Dignan
Many congratulations to our winners! As well as the cash prize, Fiona also wins a feedback on a 1,000 word story as her People’s Prize!
Shortlist
A Timeless Grudge by Lorna Stewart
Read it here
Death Row. Rikers Prison. 1950. by Jeff Taylor
Read it here
Mike Never Ever Listened to Marion Yet Somehow Felt it was Appropriate to Speak for Her by Sharon Boyle
Read it here
The Warren by Autumn Bettinger
Read it here
This is an Emergency Alert, dispatched by the UK government service to warn you that there is a life-threatening emergency in progress. Please follow the instructions at gov.uk/emergencyalert to keep yourself and others safe. This is not a test. You must take immediate action. Keep calm and carry on by Donna M Day
Read it here
What Happened That Day on the Bridge As We Played Pooh Sticks by Emma Phillips
Read it here
When and Why The River Says No by David Lewis
Read it here
When The Currents Go, We Will Follow by Patina St. Austin
Read it here
So pleased to be on this shortlist. Congratulations to the winners! 🩵