We are barely into 2026 and Cecilia Maddison has already won TWO international writing competitions! This up-and-coming author just took top honours in the Anthology Personal Memoir Competition and a few weeks earlier she had received first prize honours for the short story she submitted to our beloved Bournemouth Writing Prize. What’s her secret? Join Cecilia on the next edition of Heard Word and find out.

That’s Monday the 16th of March 2026 from 5-7pm GMT on Teams. Join us here.

To get feedback on your work, sign up to be one of our presenting writers. There are both 20-minute (1500 words) and 5-minute (700 word “lighting round”) slots available. You can sign up here.

But even if you aren’t presenting, please join us to offer feedback.

A bit more about our Featured Guest:

Cecilia is a writer from London, UK, where her career as a health professional has run alongside her love of real and imagined stories. Her work has been published in Intrepidus Ink, Empty House Press, Cranked Anvil, and elsewhere. She is a Best of the Net 2024 nominee, winner of the Edinburgh Flash Fiction Award 2025, winner of the Bournemouth Short Story Writing Prize 2026, and winner of the Anthology Personal Memoir Competition 2026.

Read more of her work at ceciliamaddison.com.