The judging is done and the winners were welcomed to the final event of the Parracombe Arts & Literary Festival at the Fox & Goose on 25th May 2026.
You can purchase the 2026 Anthology on line here or from Parracombe Pavilion Stores & Café.
First Prize
Visitors to the Courtyard by Kevin Dardis
Second Prize
The Diminution of Dorothea Smith by Julian Fuller (third time in second place)
Joint Third Prize
Open Evening by Julia Clayton
6 hours in Ystrad by Matthew Roberts
Local Writer’s Prize
A Cup and a Saucer by Patrick Blosse
A further 30 stories were shortlisted and are included in the anthology.
Circling by Joanna Garbutt
Tiny Yoghurt Guy by Jo Scott
The Sensible Woman by Lindsey Peaston
If Only by Charlotte Lee
Henry’s Cat by Glyn Matthews
The Runaway by Tracey Robins
Beans on Toast by Matthew Roberts
A Needle Threaded with Grey Yarn by Deborah Hugill
The Shameless Viking by Richard Sutcliffe
The Problem that Has No Name by Karen Lewis-Barned
What the City Forgets by Sharon Stevens
Stockton by Jeffrey-Michael Kane
The Truth About Shirtley Ju-Ju by Peter Jones
Rhinoceros by Kenneth Havey
Last Days of Sancta Maria by Sam Kehoe
A Rose for His Wife by Sarah Rowan
Jerusalem by Ros Huxley
A Greek Tragedy in Queens by Michael Thompson
Remember My Name by Amanda Chinnery
Quintet for the End of Time by Julian Fuller
An Enigma to Them All by Anne Meale
The Taste of Snowflakes by Jonathan Buckmaster
Echo and Narcissus by Barbara Hughs-Moor
Fledgling by John Biglands
An Apparition by Mary Upton
Meths and Caviar by Charles Kitching
The Commuter by Omar Gregson
Gingerbread by Stewart Cook
Be Careful by Elizabeth Andreoli
The Lifetime Cleanse by Mary Scott