2019 Competitions: Winners

Congratulations to all the winners, and we would also like to thank everyone who entered.

Open Poetry Competition

The 2019 Open Poetry judge was Simon Armitage, current Poet Laureate! Simon also writes extensively for television, theatre and radio. A former probation officer, he is Professor of Poetry at the University of Leeds and was also elected Professor of Poetry at the University of Oxford (2015-2019). He received the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry in 2018 and his latest poetry collection is Sandettie Light Vessel Automatic

Open Poetry – 2019 Winners

Position	Title	Author	Download Link (Subject to Availability)
1st	Sunflowers (Rwanda, 2012)	Isabella Mead
2nd	Time the Footbinder	L A Watt
3rd	Fault Lines	Sharon Black
Hilly Cansdale Local Prize	Icarus in the Underworld	Nico Mann

Short Story Competition

Our 2019 Short Story judge was Mark McCrum who began his career as a travel writer, with a trio of well-received books. These were followed by a candid account of the UK’s first Reality TV programme, Castaway 2000, and a best-seller about Robbie Williams on tour. After Going Dutch In Beijing, a light-hearted look at global etiquette, and Walking With The Wounded, the true story of four Afghan veterans reaching the North Pole, he turned to crime with The Festival Murders and Cruising to Murder.

Short Story – 2019 Winners

Position	Title	Author	Download Link (Subject to Availability)
1st	How to Conduct an Infatuation	Nikki J Copleston
2nd	Store Security	Christopher Owen
3rd	Deliverance	Louise Green
Wyvern Local Prize	The Gift	Janet Manning

Book for Children Competition

Gill Lewis, our 2019 Book for Children judge, is a children’s author who writes books about our human connection with the natural world. Her books have been published in more than twenty-five languages and have won prizes for environmental literature both in the UK and abroad, including the US Green Earth Book Award and the German Prize for Environmental Literature for Young People.

Book for Children – 2019 Winners

Young Poets Competition

Our 2019 judge in this exciting and inspirational competition was Miriam Nash – a poet, performer and educator. Her first collection of poems All the Prayers in the House was published by Bloodaxe Books in 2017. It won an Eric Gregory Award (2015) and was runner-up for the Edwin Morgan Award (2016). Miriam leads creative writing and performance workshops in schools, museums, mental health organisations and prisons.

Young Poets – 2019 Winners

Position	Title	Author	Download Link (Subject to Availability)
1st	Thirteen	Fathima Zahra
2nd	Sea-snare	Annabelle Fuller
3rd	Opportunist	Hannah Hodgson