Competition Results

To read the winning stories, click HERE

2025 Organiser’s Comments

The 2025 Southport Writers’ Circle short story competition showed once again the creativity and talent which exists out in the world.

This year’s contest attracted entries from such exotic locations as Madrid, Switzerland and – it says here – Slough. Really? Anyway, we’re still waiting for a story from Antarctica, hopefully the new postbox that the King sent over will encourage entrants for the 2026 edition. The vast majority of stories were submitted electronically, with only a few envelopes being sent via the Royal Mail.

All of the entrants are to be praised for their bravery. Putting one’s work out there to be judged takes a lot of courage and fortitude. Everyone who didn’t make this list of winners should remember that another judge on a different day might have selected their entry over another.

A special thank-you to the “volunteers” from the Circle who read through all of the entries between them, ensuring that only the very best made it into the final selection. Their dedication and hard work is much appreciated.

I’d like to thank our chief judge for 2025, Richard Hooton. He had a very difficult task in selecting the winners, the quality of the stories selected for his consideration was extremely high. Richard has won prizes in SWC short story competition before. He was third in 2022 with The Gobbledygook and second in 2021 with How To Fake A Heart Attack. His first novel The Margaret Code is now available in paperback from all good bookshops (and a few less reputable ones, too).

And so over to Richard for a few words about the contest and his comments regarding the winning stories.

Judge’s Report– Richard Hooton

Firstly, I’d like to thank Southport Writers Circle for inviting me to judge this year’s short story competition, which was a privilege and a pleasure, as well as everyone who took the time to craft and enter a submission.

The long list presented to me, carefully selected by Circle members, was a delightful pick n mix of genres and styles, from historical to sci-fi, and tragedy to comedy. They were all extremely well-written and entertaining, with several gems catching my eye as favourites. It was difficult to decide on the placings and I felt the weight of responsibility as I tried to compare and contrast them.

Having entered many competitions myself, I know the elation and validation that can come through being placed. I’ve also seen how subjective it can be; I’ve had stories that have come nowhere in some competitions only to be awarded first place in another. And having been on judging panels, I’ve seen the variance in opinions and tastes. So please don’t be disheartened if your story wasn’t chosen; there were some fantastic stories that only just missed out. Another judge on another day may well be more favourable.

Having said that, I’m pleased and confident with my choices and thrilled that they will be published online where others can be enthralled by them too. They form an eclectic mix that evoke a range of emotions.

First Place: The Gaze of Picasso

Michael Ranes

A strikingly original story. Having loved it on the first read, I liked it even more the second time around and knew it was the winner when I was finding even more to like about it on the third read. It felt insightful about art, alongside messages on beauty, body image, character and superficiality. The descriptions are sensuous and there’s flirtatiousness yet wariness between artist and muse. It’s playful and humorous, though at times dark and unsettling, and plays with the pretentiousness and pompousness of art, while showcasing its power and purpose. Like the character Sophie, I was captivated.

Second Place: Revivification

Dianne Bown-Wilson

Aheartwarming story on the power of reading with some excellent lines and similes. Emotional, but with a gentle humour throughout that softens it. Great characterisation in Arthur’s backstory and his depression is sensitively and powerfully conveyed with his journey of revivification fulfilling and convincing. It brought a cheer at the end with a brilliant last line.

Third: Heartbreak Ends at 6.50pm

Hannah Retallick

A very clever and original take on a love triangle, the shifting of friendship and hidden feelings. It’s unusually, but successfully, written in second person with seamless, natural transitions between actions and flashbacks. The self-deprecating humour, selflessness and kindness of the narrator makes you bond with them and feel for them. It’s subtle, bittersweet, and emotional. Great title as well.

Highly Commended: Kaleidoscope

Alan C Williams

Beautifully written, in a magic realism style, it’s about grief and not giving up on relationships. It’s intriguing, fascinating and moving throughout. Great descriptions and metaphors with the kaleidoscope of butterflies perfectly captured.

Commended: Obedience

Jaime Gill

A tense story on homophobia, discrimination, and defiance in the face of bigotry. Authentic setting and descriptions with Jack’s weariness well conveyed and his backstory carefully built. We care for and applaud him as he stands up to aggression, threats and prejudice and calmly and bravely earns his self-respect.

Commended: The Screaming Piano

Vicky Ellaway-Barnard

A quirky, absurdist, surreal, amusing story on artistry and obsession. A student creates a piano made from musical grey hairs to compose a unique sonata. Startlingly original and unexpected, you’re drawn in and swept away by this bizarre tale’s logic and authentic detail, and it convinces all the way to its inevitable, abrupt and ambiguous conclusion. Madness? Quite possibly!

Commended: The Odd Couple

Elizabeth Adam

The brilliant twist works really well in a story full of nostalgia, sadness and loneliness. With plenty of pathos and great descriptions, it’s very evocative and cleverly done.

Winning Poems Available to Read HERE

First Prize: I am Soil

Jane Burn

A deeply imaginative and empathetic engagement with the more-than-human written in carefully constructed free verse with a focus on detailed diction and phrasing. The language use is as vivid and inventive as the theme and the poem avoids the potential pitfalls of anthropomorphism as it recognises the strangeness and alterity of the natural world to honour the agency and integrity of soil. 

Second Prize: The Matriarchy

Julie Burke

A contemporary sonnet in praise of the women who are often overlooked or forgotten in family and class histories. The lines are carefully written to emphasise the sound patterning of the language. There is a pleasing use of sibilance and half rhyme as well as end and internal rhyme. These devices though as not over-stated but underscore an accessible and conversational poetic voice which uses colloquial phrasing to celebrate the value of ordinary work and, indeed, the unrecognised work of the women who hold families together.

Third Prize: Marthe de Meligny

Jim C Wilson

An evocative and carefully-written poem which evokes the art work and the historical context with vivid narration. Lines are well-judged to create flow across the complex implied narrative which brings the painting to life through the ekphrastic approach to the theme. The poem is researched and diction is skilfully selected to convey the historical narrative alongside attention to repeated sound patterning to create an elegant poetic voice.

Highly Commended:

The Chat

Sam Szanto

My daughter has made a devi

Suzanna Fitzpatrick

A Place

Gareth Culshaw

Humour Prize: Beryl, the Rogue Librarian

Jane Burn 

A detailed and well-observed narration offers a humorous account of life in the library. The use of long lines creates a prose-poetry which offers enough space for reported speech and multiple points of view in the narrative voice alongside carefully chosen diction to evoke Beryl’s world. This skill with scene and character creates a witty and wry exploration of human foibles. 

Organiser’s Comments

Another quality selection of stories were entered into the 2024 competition: perhaps not so many as in previous years, but the potency of the work made up for that.

Entries were received from all around the World: Italy, Spain, Korea, the USA and Anglesey (it’s an island, it counts). Still no entry from Antarctica, I’m almost certain that the ice-breakers make it through for the 2025 contest.

A word of thanks to the members of Circle who were press-ganged volunteered enthusiastically to read bundles of entries as part of the initial sift. Their sterling efforts made the final judge’s job more difficult (if less time-consuming). Their efforts are greatly appreciated. 

A big thank-you to all the writers who took the time and effort to enter stories into the 2024 competition. There is a lot of bravery involved in entering a contest such as this and opening up your writing to be judged. If you weren’t successful this year (or even if you were!), please try again when the 2025 competition opens up in the summer. 

Our guest judge this year was Jessica Meade, a talented photographer, videographer and theatre director (watch for her name in the future). All her work focusses on narrative and storytelling, which makes her perfect as a judge for this contest. Her deliberations were slightly delayed by work on Shirley Valentine in Liverpool, but deliberate she has and the contest results – along with her wise words – are below. 

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Judges Report:

It was such a joy to read such an incredible selection of stories, each with such distinct voices and tones. I laughed, I cried, I gasped. It’s been a real journey to move through your worlds, built with such detail and nuance.  I was so struck by the breadth of talent within your works – it made my job almost impossible! What really captivated me was the shared consideration of humanity, all corners of it. Now more than ever I see a huge urgency to write about how we hurt, love, breathe and think, how things affect us and shape us irrevocably, the themes of grief and family particularly struck deep within me.

Thank you to all entrants, who I recognise have poured so much love and care into their work, you each have penned such joyful, painful, funny, emotional, uplifting (the list goes on) stories that will stay with me for a long time.

I feel very lucky to have spent the last few weeks living in your worlds. Your words make our world a better place.

1st – Body Of Water by  Lianne Warr

Body Of Water is a love letter to family and the natural world. The language used throughout is something of a dream, the way this writer looks at the natural world is something special, I wish only that we all looked at the Earth through this lens. This story grapples so intelligently, so carefully with grief. The story reads so fluidly, it moves through your brain and heart so seamlessly, almost like a beautiful Body Of Water… I often look to the world to see the memories of my life, of those gone from the physical world who live on in the stars, the sky, the sea.

2nd – The Bright Coin Shining by John Irving Clarke

We learn of how precious and fragile life is, and how important it is that we savour every single drop of it. This story is a true walk down memory lane. Stephen looks life in the eyes and works out what his place is within it. This story looks a lot at personal legacy, the legacy we step into and the legacy we leave behind, might it be protected to the extent that we wish?

3rd – Following My Nose by Helen Chambers

I love to read about women using their voice and being bold in their identity. “I am here to disturb them”, reads the story, it’s the second sentence. I like to see women disturb those who put us into boxes, who make choices on how valuable we are which are only based upon the way that we look. I too love food, and could almost smell these words – what a sensory journey! This story is about many things, but one thing I really enjoyed was observing women take back what is their own.

Highly Commended – He Must Come Down! by Alex Clissold-Jones

I thought this story presented a really intriguing perspective. I can’t imagine how lonely life must be for our protagonist. I think this story presents a really bespoke conversation, it safely explores the viewpoints of the many. I think this story felt powerful for many reasons but especially in its relationship to relevance.

Commended Stories – You Pay Your Taxes and You Take Your Chances by Denarii Peters

This one really surprised me – I didn’t expect that ending! I felt this to be a really intelligent look at the way the world appears to be moving. It felt especially relevant given we continue to grow more distrustful of our governments of recent.

Commended Stories – Ball Boy by Rob Molan

This struck a chord deep within me. How can you have it all, to barely remember it when you’re older? I felt hugely connected to this piece. Ball Boy has always looked out for those around him, on or off the pitch. He sees this as a lifelong responsibility as he becomes a carer in later life. This story is testament to memory, living life fully and being kind.