2026 Bournemouth Writing Winners announced. Congratulations!
Short story prize judge, agent Madeleine Milburn, commented:
1st Place – Dear Little Things – Cecilla L. Maddison
“I was blown away by Dear Little Things, making it first place for me. What an incredible imagination to turn such a world-renowned fairytale on its head through a biting, gruesome and mythical counternarrative to the beloved Hansel & Gretal story. I was instantly drawn in by the gripping voice of Olaf as he takes his stand in court, and the delightfully cruel characterization of the gluttonous children, whose excessive hunger escalates to fatal consequences. The writer has a talent for narrative world building, drawing in a keen sense of atmosphere through the isolated forest. Told with conviction and chilling vigor, this is a twisted anti-fairytale that gripped me from the start!”
2nd Place – The Landscape of Gwarra – Rosieda Shabodien
“I loved The Landscape of Gwarra for its spirit of resilience and message of hope. It’s a powerful and rebellious ‘manifesto’ that explores resistance and humor as a form of defense in the wake of the South African apartheid. The narrative takes on a brilliant lyrical quality, crafting a unique sense of rhythm that forges its own identity in the same way as the townships and community it describes. Disruptive and ambitious, this is a compelling commentary on the importance of maintaining cultural identity and the refusal to be defined”
3rd Place – Almost Extinct – Jaime Gill & Charlie Rogers
“I was really drawn into the backdrop of Almost Extinct and felt it captured the strained relationship dynamic so well. It’s a humorous and multi-layered tale exploring conflict, cultural difference, and anxious attachment through the unspoken tensions that arise from Scott and Frank’s day out at the Chengdu Panda research base. I particularly loved how the writer skillfully and subtly draws the central conceit of the story, between Scott grappling with his insecurities as a cultural outsider and tourist to the country, and his inner turmoil as an undermined and overlooked outsider to his self-important partner, Frank. Cleverly told with tightly wound tension, this is a brilliant exploration of an imbalanced relationship dynamic.”
Honourable mention:
Smoking Stationary Harriet Bradshaw
“There was a lot of potential in Smoking Stationary, and I felt it had an incredible voice with strong storytelling! I loved how the reader is transported to the childhood memories of its narrator.”
Poetry prize judge, poet Abu Ibrahim commented:
1st place – “The “khubz” that shouldn’t exist’ – Javeria Kausar
A harrowing, masterfully written poem that bears witness to loss and endurance. Its imagery is gripping yet humane, and the craft turns survival itself into an act of creation. Both politically urgent and artistically accomplished.
2nd place – A Little Diner by the River’ – Gary Bernard
This piece carries the weight of memory with deft musicality, while embarking on a thrilling, nostalgic journey.
3rd place – ‘Majhūl’ – Saemah Mushtaq
A prompt elegy of poignant restraint and spiritual resonance, it marries biblical pulse with the contemporary moment, collapsing sacred symbolism into the immediacy of violence and grief
Here are some details about our past winners
2025
Hannah Bunting – best short story for “Icarus Rising.”
Laura Williams, judge of the Short Story category, commented, “One might think there can’t possibly be more to be said about the well-trodden myth of Daedalus and Icarus, but in this spinning tale of entrapment, isolation, madness and betrayal, I found myself looking at this story, and the possibilities it contains, in an entirely new way. The atmosphere is unsettling, almost gothic, full of birds, wax, bones and ink, and the writing lifts these characters off the page into the heat of the sun. The best short stories are perfectly constructed for the short form, leaving nothing more to be asked of the author, although the questions they pose stay running around the reader’s head.”
Paul Nield – best poem for “First Love.”
Dithering Chaps, judge of the Poetry category, commented, “We fell in love with this poem because it reminded us of one of our favourite Shakespearean sonnets; ‘My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun,’ which is another poem that describes a lover in unconventionally unflattering terms. ‘First Love’ even starts with a line of full-on iambic pentameter, but, perhaps conscious that no-one can out-bard the Bard, it finds its own, contemporary way of telling us its love.”
2024
Short Story
Mary Shovelin – Bad Blood
Mary Shovelin is a translator/writer who has been living longer in Belgium than in her native Donegal, Ireland. She has had several short stories published in anthologies, while others have been longlisted/shortlisted and commended in various competitions in England, Scotland and Ireland.
She recently won first prize in the Kilmore Write by the Sea short story competition in Ireland. You can read the story on the Write by the Sea website. Another story, commended in the Edinburgh short story competition, is published in their anthology, Solemates, available on Amazon. She is currently working on a collection.
Poetry
Julie Leoni – Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Julie Leoni lives on the Welsh Borders where she teaches yoga, swims in the river at the bottom of her garden, and raises raspberries, rhubarb, and her children. She blogs for Psychologies Magazine and runs family retreats in community settings. Her PhD means that she gets to teach interesting courses at a number of universities and schools. She is the author of three non-fiction books which can be found at www.julieleoni.com.
Hedgehog Press will also be publishing Julie’s winning poem in a collection called Farmotherlands in spring 2025. Julie has been a finalist for the Cinnamon Press Collection Prize twice, a finalist for LISP, and has received commendations as a shortlist contender for both Mslexia and The Bridport Prize, as well as being longlisted for the Canterbury Prize.
Her poetry collection Farmotherlands is available here.
