6 - 21 June 2024

Short Story Competition – 2023

Budding authors and creative writers – share your stories with us for a chance to appear in a published anthology and take home a cash prize. There is no theme to the competition.

Thank you to everyone who submitted an entry into the 2023 Short Story Competition. All entries are currently being read and judges will soon begin reading the shortlisted entries. The winner will be announced at an awards ceremony which will take place at Darlington Crown Street Library in April. All shortlisted stories will be published in the seventh anthology and all shortlisted writers will be invited to the award ceremony and given a copy of the anthology.

The winners of the 2022 Short Story Competition are

First place – ‘Crossing the T’s’ by Philip Sculthorpe

Second place – ‘Once for a Friend, Twice for a Stranger’ by Kayla Martell Feldman

Third place – ‘Sometimes My Annoying Sister is Right’ by Catherine Leyshon.

We were delighted to award Philip and Catherine their prizes at our award ceremony aboard the Teesside Princess on 25 April and welcome many of the shortlisted writers who are included in our sixth short story anthology.

Three stories were also highly commended by judges Jenna Warren, Ian Wilson and James Harris – they are

‘As Above, so Below’ by Laura Timms

‘Erosion’ by Penny Blackburn

‘My Nigel’ by Patrick Belshaw.

All thirty-one shortlisted stories appear in the sixth anthology, which will be available to borrow from libraries across the Tees Valley and to buy from Drake the Bookshop, Stockton and Book Corner, Saltburn.

Shortlisted authors are:

Jenny Adamthwaite – The Day the Spinach Wilted

Helen Anderson – When The Loveliness of Ladybirds Landed

Artemis – Strangers

Aaron Bailey – Orangutan and the Wig

Edward Barnfield – Warscapes (2024)

Jane Bradley – On Thin Ice

Chris Brock – Space and Time

Cathy Bryant – The Creator

Timothy Burton-Martin – Tapestry

Jo Clark – One Lane Closed Due to Incident

Beck Collett – Curiouser and Curiouser