With no fixed theme to constrain them, this year’s shortlisters give their imaginations free rein. Turns out the skies above Bournemouth’s golden beaches are filled with all manner of high-flying literary creations.

This year’s entries explore a wide range of topics, from nostalgic longing to opioid dreams to textual embroidery. There is even a surprisingly humorous look at cancer, and of course, love. Love unrequited, love betrayed, and love in its first blushing incarnation.

Our authors also chose to work in a variety of genres. In these pages, you’ll find dystopian fiction, literary realism, fantasy, and much more. You’ll visit mythical realms, ancient eras, and remote deserts.

These works glimpse the world through the eyes of a wise mouse, a bold special needs child, and a suicidal woman in the Sudan. Within these pages dwell dark rituals and radiant vistas. Body horror and bullying appear alongside moments of transcendence and celebrations of human connection.

All of it is proof of what can happen when the writer’s imagination is set free and encouraged to soar.