Journal

We published the winning entries of our Creative Writing Ink monthly competitions in this Creative Writing Ink Journal. The competition is now closed.

January 2022 Competition

Winner: Perry Kay. Read the winning entry here.

December 2021 Competition

Winner: Albert Sotelo. Read the winning entry here.

November 2021 Competition

Winner: Kathryn Hefford. Read the winning entry here.

October 2021 Competition

Winner: Madeline Medensky. Read the winning entry here.

September 2021 Competition

Winner: Amy Moreno. Read the winning entry here.

August 2021 Competition

Winner: Natascha Graham. Read the winning entry here.

July 2021 Competition

Winner: Agnibeena Ghosh. Read the winning entry here.

June 2021 Competition

Winner: Johanna Zomers. Read the winning entry here.

May 2021 Competition

Winner: Tim Taylor. Read the winning entry here.

April 2021 Competition

Winner: Fabiyas M V. Read the winning entry here.

March 2021 Competition

Winner: Marion Horton. Read the winning entry here.

February 2021 Competition

Winner: Anne Savage. Read the winning entry here.

January 2021 Competition

Winner: Ellie Piddington. Read the winning entry here.

December 2020 Competition 

Winner: Sadie Maskerry

November 2020 Competition 

We appreciate all entries. However, having read all competition entries, we didn’t find our winner for November.

October 2020 Competition Results

Ruth Taaffe. Read the winning entry here.

September 2020 Competition Results

Riley Sutton. Read the winning entry here.

August 2020 Competition Results

Fabiyas MV. Read the winning entry here.

July 2020 Competition Results

Fabiyas MV. Read the winning entry here.

June 2020 Competition Results

Sue Hoffman. Read the winning entry here.

May 2020 Competition Results

Rachael Barnes-Powell. Read the winning entry here.

April 2020 Competition Results

Tomos Dargie. Read the winning entry here.

March 2020 Competition Results

Ruth Taaffe. Read the winning entry here.

February 2020 Competition Results

Kathryn Ratzko. Read the winning entry here.

December 2019 Competition Results

Winner: Ayesha Asad. Read the winning entry here.

November 2019 Competition Results

Winner: James Croal Jackson. Read the winning entry here.

October 2019 Competition Results

Winner: Ruth Taaffe. Read the winning entry here. 

September 2019 Competition Results

Winner: Kaci Skiles Laws. Read the winning entry here. 

August 2019 Competition Results

Winner: Peter Branson. Read the winning entry here. 

Shortlist: Asirini Parakramawansha, Bethany Ascott, Lorraine Carey, Sally Armstrong, Julia Paillier, Sylvia Anne Telfer, Isaac Pickersgill, Kathryn Ratzko, Patricia Lowther

July 2019 Competition Results

Winner: Gaynor Kane. Read the winning entry here. 

Runner-up: Ellie Piddington

June 2019 Competition Results

Winner: Avra Margariti. Read the winning entry here. 

Runner-up: Frances Jones

May 2019 Competition Results

Winner: Ruth Taaffe. Read the winning entry here. 

Shortlist: Lauren Aspery, Olivia Edwards, Elizabeth Train-Brown.

April 2019 Competition Results

Winner: Sue Morgan. Read the winning entry here.

Shortlist: Shirley Pringle, Sarah Masters, Jane Westhead.

March 2019 Competition Results

Winner: Charles Leggett. Read the winning entry here.

Shortlist: Helen Larder, Hazel Wynn, Bibi Kington Brady, Thomas Polo, Polly Margesson

February 2019 Competition Results

Winner: Kathryn Ratzko. Read the winning entry here.

Shortlist: Mari Maxwell, Fabiyas MV, Helen Winter, Elinor Clark, Anna McLellan, Jim Rowlands, Kerry Greene.

January 2019 Competition Results

Winner: Fabiyas MV. Read the winning entry here.

Shortlist: Michelle Marsiglia, Sam McPherson, Carol Harte, Caroline Cooper Charles, Ben Sears, Sharon Laslett, Glyn Carter.

December 2018 Competition Results

Ruth Taaffe. You can read the winning entry here.

Shortlist: Howard Kerr, Bethany Ascott, m.nicole.r.wildhood, Kathryn Ratzko, Millie Stephens.

November 2018 Competition Results

William Lythgoe. You can read the winning entry here.

Shortlist: Beatrice Hughes, Ruth Taaffe, Fabiyas MV, Derek Bunce, James Stoddart, Frances Jones, Helen Morel, Anna McLellan, Tricia Lowther.

October 2018 Competition Results

Winner: Maureen Cullen. You can read the winning entry here.

Shortlist: Peter Moulding, Colette Coen, Lauren Galligan, James Wiffen

September 2018 Competition Results

Winner: William Lythgoe. You can read the winning entry here.

Shortlist: Cameron Clark, Ella Morel, R.S. Pyne, Fabiyas MV, Amaylia Dewis, Ava Montgomery.

August 2018 Competition Results

Winner: Millicent Stott. You can read the winning entry here.

Shortlist: Miriam Gallacher, Maisie Banning, Owen Swan, Ella Morel, Colette Coen, Anna Hayes.

July 2018 Competition Results

Winner: Katie Mason. You can read the winning entry here.

Shortlist: Jack Cooper, JC Cairns, Joy Deacon, Kath Lamb, Evie Heywood, Helen Mills, Natalie Peteranna, Clare Lally.

June 2018 Competition Results

Winner: Jack Cooper. You can read the winning entry here. 

Shortlist: Howard Kerr, Sanjeev Sethi, Kevin Johnson, Claire Harrison, Bethany Ascott, Beth Flynn, Umaima Junejo, Bill Lythgoe, Ankita Anand, Leia Malot, Kelvin Abbey, Fabiyas MV, Sacha Chapman, Tricia Lowther, m.nicole.r.wildhood.

May 2018 Competition Results

Winner: Beatrice Hughes. You can read the winning entry here. 

Shortlist: Adam Rowlands, Jean Conte, Marion Clarke, Fabiyas MV, Jack Cooper, Leia Malot, Frances Jones, Bill Lythgoe, Howard Kerr, Cameron Clark, Ahmad Aamir Malik, Rachel Nicholas, Louise Ashton, Oliver Bevan, Nora Hegarty, Joseph Estevez.

April 2018 Competition Results

Winner: Fabiyas MV. You can read the winning entry here. 

Shortlist: Teresa Butler, Natalie Pearson, Howard Kerr, Bill Lythgoe, Pernina Jacobs, m.nicole.r.wildhood, Leia Malot, Wally O’Neill, Amelia MacBryan, Frances Jones, Sorcha King, Patricia Carr, Lucy Bignall.

March 2018 Competition Results

Winner: Jean Cooper Moran.  You can read the winning entry here. 

Shortlist: Marguerita McNally, Bill Lythgoe, Howard Kerr, Peter Branson, Carine Harb, Eri Okoye, Diana Lock, Fabiyas MV, Ilona Weir, Frances Sambrook, Evie Harris.

February 2018 Competition Results

Winner: William Lythgoe. You can read the winning entry here. 

Shortlist: Jack Cooper, Howard Kerr, Fabiyas MV, Paul Breen, John Cooper, Colette Coen, Kevin Doyle, Eamon McManus, R. S. Pyne , Matthew Jamieson, Charlotte Gray, Lucy Bignall, Frances Sambrook, Ilona Weir, Sorcha King, Ilsa Nite, S. Bance.

January 2018 Competition Results

Winner: Jack Cooper. You can read the winning entry here. 

Shortlist: Frances Sambrook, Cameron Clark, Isabel Renjith, Howard Kerr, Fabiyas MV, William Lythgoe, Rebecca Ladbrook, Farhana Khatun, Umaima Junejo, Rachel S., Vanessa Deroo, Emily Barbour.

December 2017 Competition Results

Winner: Afia Khatun. You can read the winning entry here. 

Shortlist: Laura McGlashan, Peter Branson, Zoe Perrenoud, Barry Carter, William Lythgoe, Camilla Moni, Joy Deacon, Jimmy Gleeson, Fabiyas M V, Maisie Beckett, Katherine Young, Marvel Chukwudi Pephel, Howard Kerr, Jennifer Hayashi Danns, Lauren Edwards, Jack Cooper, Nora Hegarty, Matt Williams, Koan Lake, Patrick Hodgkins, Sorcha King, Sarah Cottee.

November 2017 Competition Results

Winner: Shaunna Harper. Winning entry here.

Shortlist: Helen Kreeger, William Lythgoe, Sorcha King, Fabiyas M V, Hannah Aston, Marvel Chukwudi Pephel, Kester Grieve, Colette Coen, Howard Kerr.

October 2017 Competition Results

Winner: Anne Walsh Donnelly. Winning entry here.

Shortlist: Ellie Beatson, Dianne Bown-Wilson, Bill Lythgoe, Rowena Fishwick, Ola Abdalkafor, Helen O’Neill, Diya Amber Ramanjini, Howard Kerr, Amelia Mitchell, Evie Rose Wilson.

September 2017 Competition Results

Winner: Jane McNamara. Winning entry here.

Shortlist: Colin Dardis, Elizabeth Kay, Ola Abdalkafor, Hannah Aston, Howard Kerr, Maureen Cullen, Tim Abbott, Marvel Chukwudi Pephel, Phiona Lees, Ellie Klein, Mia Holmes-Nicholson, Lina Saadani Allali, Cora Joy, Jamie Stewart.

August 2017 Competition Results

Winner: Marvel Chukwudi Pephel. Winning entry here.

Shortlist: Ursula Brunetti, Ruth Taaffe, Bill Lythgoe, Karrissa Webster, Robert Bester, Howard Kerr, Jackie Goulding, Magdalena Ratajczak, Hannah Jones, Kevin Doyle, Alison Dey, Nora Hegarty, Cheryl A. Van Beek, Jack Cooper.

July 2017 Competition Results

Winner: Kevin Doyle. Winning entry here.

Shortlist: Jacqueline Pemberton, m.nicole.r.wildhood, Bill Lythgoe, Howard Kerr, ‘Otaku Queen’, Jenny Darmody, Nabeela Solkar, Chris Newton, Caprice Darnell, Emma Wardlaw, Renata Sims, Emily Morrissey, Kate Bermingham, Nicola Gledhill, ‘Beyond Kailani’, Amy Fyvie, Neil A. Edwards, Cheryl A. Van Beek, Fabiyas MV.

June 2017 Competition Results

Winner: m.nicole.r.wildhood. Winning entry here.

Shortlist: Mary Hodges, Ruth Taaffe, Katelyn Dunne, Ilaeira Leto Agrotou Georgiou, Ella Dunthorne, Barry Carter, Eleanor Guthrie.

May 2017 Competition Results

Winner: Marvel Chukwudi Pephel. Winning entry here.

Shortlist: Molly-Mae Hannam, Bill Lythgoe, m.nicole.r.wildhood, Kevin Doyle, Lydia Melville, Iona Mandal, Anne McDonald

April 2017 Competition Results

Winners:
Bill Lythgoe. You can read the winning entry here.
Gary W. Bloom. Read the winning entry here.

Shortlist: Fabiyas M V, Frank E Lee, Luke Schofield, Emily Griffiths, Emma Burry, Jac Shortland, May Fitzgerald, Howard Kerr, Samantha Chasse.

March 2017 Competition Results

Winner: Kevin Doyle. Winning entry here.

Shortlist: Enzo Bavetta, Cheryl Van Beek, Sian Hughes, Frank E Lee, Amaylia Dewis, Sapphire Allard, Grace Boettcher, Bill Lythgoe, L. J. Engelmeier, Joseph Draper, Ola Abdalkafor, Lydia Melville, Gary W. Bloom, Conor Kirwan, Sophie Harrison, Christopher Roberts, Kiera Ovens, Arabella Thomas.

February 2017 Competition Results

Winner: Lucy Thynne. You can read the winning entry here.

Shortlist: Lisa Ardill, Peter Caunt, Ani King, Deborah Guzzi, Colin Mayson, Cathy Keaney, Sue Kinsella, David Woods, Rohan Chakraborty, Kevin Doyle, Cheryl Van Beek, Peter Branson,
m.nicole.r.wildhood.

January 2017 Competition Results

Congratulations to Deborah Guzzi, the winner of our January 2017 competition. You can read the winning entry here.

Shortlist: Gregg Jansen, Ida Champion, Louisa Kitley, Grace Spencer, Margaret Gumley, Christof R. Davis, Howard Kerr, Susan O’Brien, Cheryl Van Beek, Hannah Fitzpatrick, Ilaeira Leto Agrotou Georgiou, Frank E. Lee, Grace Boettcher, Pat Drummond, m.nicole.r.wildhood.

December 2016 Competition Results

Winner: M T Ingoldby. You can read the winning entry here.

Shortlist: Declan Molloy, Martin Murphy, Emma K, Naoise Deeney, Richard Lee-Graham, Yasmin Spark, Karin Britt Gall, Kevin Doyle.

November 2016 Competition Results

Winner: Cheryl A. Van Beek. You can read the winning entry here.

Shortlist: Lauren Colley, John Grey, Kevin Doyle, Howard Kerr, Samantha Davey, Zev Lawson Edwards, Ryan Taylor, Sean Bracken, Heather Stewart.

October 2016 Competition Results

Winner: Sue Morgan. You can read the winning entry here.

Shortlist: Theresa Ryder, Neasa McHugh, Philip Morgan, Jen Bourke, Cheryl A. Van Beek, Kevin Doyle, G. Shore, Marie England, Ceinwen E C Haydon, DZ Wagner.

September 2016 Competition Results

Winner: Kevin Doyle. You can read the winning entry here.

Shortlist: Philippa Rae, Jackie Goulding, Christopher Dwyer, Simon Costello, Ola Abdalkafor.

August 2016 Competition Results

Winner: Anne Walsh Donnelly. You can read the winning entry here.

Shortlist: Julia Hones, Nick Westwood, Jac Shortland, Howard Kerr, Judith Hummel, Denis Bruce, Cheryl Van Beek, Kevin Doyle, Theresa Ryder, Elena Adams, Phil Cram, Frank E Lee.

July 2016 Competition Results

Winner: Kevin Doyle. You can read the winning entry here.

Shortlist: Megan James, Victoria Chadwick, Sally Roberts, Fiona M. Campbell.

June 2016 Competition Results

Winner: Eleanor Kerr. You can read the winning entry here.

Shortlist: Jen Bourke, Jackie Kirman, Frank E Lee, D.S. Benjamin, Sarah Treacher, Neil Palmer, Kevin Doyle, Emily Aherne, Cheryl A. Van Beek,  Jackie Goulding, Howard Kerr, Jasmin Jackson, Katie Bennett-Hall, Phil Miller, Amy Noon, ‘Nico’, Kirsty A. Niven.

May 2016 Competition Results

Winner: m.nicole.r.wildhood

Shortlist: Ola Abdalkafor, Dave Clark, David Woods, Louis Brierly, Katie Roberts, Kirsty A. Niven, Howard Kerr.

April 2016 Competition Results

Winner: m.nicole.r.wildhood. You can read the winning entry here.

Second: Howard Kerr

Third: Cheryl A. Van Beek

Shortlist: Anna Kyle, Peter Collins, Kirsty A. Niven, Rachel Edge, Daniel Roy Connelly, Karen Lethlean, Eli Baigel, Jackie Goulding, Harry Logan.

March 2016 Competition Results

Winner: Colette Coen. You can read the winning entry here.

Shortlisted: David Woods, Harvey Martin, BLJ Langham, Cheryl A. Van Beek, Kate Enright, Sophie Howells, Rosemary Sgroi, A. LLoyd-Selby.

February 2016 Competition Results

Winners: Jane Salmons and Daniel Roy Connelly.

Read Jane’s winning entry here and Daniel’s here.

Second: Megan Wildhood

Shortlist: Kirk Houghton, EB Johnson

January 2016 Competition Results

Winner: Marion Clarke. Read here.

Second: Alice Kinsella

Shortlist: Howard Kerr, Shannon Perry, Anna Cummins.

December 2015 Competition Results

Winner: Cheryl A. Van Beek. Read here.

Shortlist: Sarah Wise De Jong, Kalman Dean-Richards, Jane Elkin, Rosemary Sgroi, G.Vargas, Georgie Dobson.

November 2015 Competition Winner

Winner: Colette Coen. Read here.

Shortlist: Peter Branson, Sheila Jacob, Howard Kerr, Laura O’Mahony, Ruth Thompson.

October 2015 Competition Winner

Winner: Emmie Readman. Read here.

Shortlist: Ilona Klein, Barbara Catchpole,  Ilhem Issaoui, Neil Slevin, Samantha Davey, Jemimah Thomas, Mark Ley, Rebecca Marment.

September 2015 Competition Winner

MT Ingoldby. Read the winning entry here.

Second: Jennifer Egan

Shortlist: Howard Kerr, Cheryl Van Beek, Sheila Jacob, Harvey Munro, Laura O’Mahony, Geraldine McCarthy, Richie Geoghegan, Ashley O’Halloran, Joanne Spain, Jacquelyn Langley, Mark Farley.

August 2015 Competition Winner

MT Ingoldby. Read the winning entry here.

Second: Cheryl Van Beek

Shortlist: Carolyn Ward, Jessica Davis, Shelley Crowley, Barbara Harland, Charlotte Unsworth, Howard Kerr, Terry Kerins.

July 2015 Competition Winner

Peter Branson

Second: Bernie McQuillan
Third: Sheila Jacob
Shortlist: Cheryl Van Beek, Joanne Spain, Tess Adams, Colette Coen, Layla Hehir, Joe McGuire, Louise Ashton, James McGlynn.

June 2015 Competition Winner

Ann Brehony. Read here.

Shortlisted: Harriet Avery, Howard Kerr, James McGlynn, C. Binley, Sue Browne, Natasha Syed, Antonios Efthymiou, Barry Oliver, Eilis Haden.

May 2015 Competition Winner

A.L. Clarke. Read here.

Second: Patrick Roche

Third: Terry Kerins

Shortlisted: Layla Hehir,  Orla Donoghue.

April 2015 Competition Winner

Winner: Roisin Browne. Read here.

Second: Tracey Taylor.

Third: Howard Kerr

Shortlisted: Rosie Couch, Julia Hones, Nicola Geddes, Peter Branson, Jocelyn Cannon, Eilis Haden, Seanin Hughes, Honor Wellington, Portia Miller.

March 2015 Competition Winner

Winner: Sheila Jacob. Read here.

Shortlist: Sarah Ang, Cathy Bryant, Cheryl A. Van Beek, Bernie McQuillan, Sarah Hamilton, Gary Morton, Marion Clarke, Maggie Hearne, Jessica Phillips.

February Competition Winner

Winner: Cheryl A. Van Beek. Read here.

Second: Sheila Jacob

Shortlist: Bernie McQuillan, Roisin Browne, Fiona McPhillips, Angela Gabrielle Fabunan, Marie Leprêtre, Sarah Hamilton, Terry Kerins, Sarah Mackey, Miriam Lee, Gavin Rafferty, Aoife Mulvey.

January Competition Winner

Joanne Weck for Ladies ManRead here.

Shortlist: Terry Kerins, Tracey Taylor, Lynda O’Gorman, Brian McCabe, Jonathan Henderson, Cheryl A. Van Beek, Xanthe Hall.

December Competition Winner

Jim Gleeson for The Million Shilling Boy. Read here.

Shortlist: Terry Kerins, Joanne Hayle, Sonali Raj, Lucille Bellucci, Carolyn Ward.

November Competition Winner

Marion Clarke for her poem “Sheelin”.

Shortlist: Andrew Campbell-Kearsey, Cathy Bryant, Honor Wellington, Meabh Ann McCrossan and Hogan Conroy.

October Competition Winner

Sheila Jacob. Read the winning entry here.

Shortlisted: Nora Hegarty, Ken McGrath, Molly Garbutt, Marion Clarke, Dearbhla Molloy.

Creative Writing Ink Young Writer Competition Winners

13-17 Caitlin Nolan. Read the winning entry here.

8-12 Asha Howard-Birt.  Read the winning entry here.

September Competition Winner

Winner: Peter Branson

Read the winning entry here.

Shortlisted: Lim Xin Rui, Joanne Hayle.

August Competition Winner

Winner: Wilson F. Engel III

Shortlisted: Sean McNally, Nora Hegarty, Joanne Hayle, Lim Xin Rui, Sheila Jacob.

You can read the winning entry here.

July Competition Winner

Winner: Margaret Magee, Blue with White Daisies. Read here. 

Second: Dawn McKinley. Third: Dearbhla Molloy

Shortlisted: Catherine Higgins-Moore, Andrea Connolly, Jasmine Ketch-Neumann, Laura Ranson, Nemma Wollenfang, Wilson F. Engel III, Jacinta Kidd.

June Competition Winner

Ellen Kelly, SunglassesRead the winning entry here.

Shortlisted: Shey Hargreaves, Mark Murphy, Damian Murphy, Jahla Seppanan, Xiangyu Hu.

May Competition Winner

Colette Coen, Pictures on a Wall. Read the winning entry here.

She has published a short story collection The Chocolate Refuge and you can find out more about Colette on her blog.

Shortlisted: Hannah Lindsay, Anne Donnelly, Gouliélmos Antonátos, Geraldine Hogan, Jasmine Ketch-Neumann, Ciaran Carrick, Jordan Jacobs, Nemma Wollenfang.

April Competition Winner

Carol Tobin, Fresh Air. Read the winning entry here.

Shortlisted: Eithne Cullen, Tracey Taylor, Isis Grayling, Andrew Campbell-Kearsey, Ruth Wynne-Jones, Hannah Lindsay, William O’Keeffe, Shira Hereld.

March Competition Winner

Anne Donnelly. Read the winning entry here.

2nd: Emma Hewitt

Shortlisted: Jane Salmons, Isis Grayling, Matthew John, Steve Howells, Michelle McCartney.

February Competition Winner

Winner: Owen Townend

Shortlist: Molly Hope, Jillian Becker, Nora Hegarty, Marie Thiemann, Ashling Buggle, Holly-Platt Higgins, Tsariye Doro.

You can read the winning entry here.

January Competition Winner

Peter Branson. Click here to read winning entry.

Shortlist: Jane Salmons, Gary Morton, Michelle McCartney, Anne Donnelly, Brian Hickey, Mantie Lister, Ciaran Carrick, Barry Carter, Andrew Campbell-Kearsey.

December Competition Winner

Roisin Browne. Click here to read the winning entry.

Shortlisted: Peter Branson, Andrew Campbell-Kearsey, Brian Hickey, Michelle McCartney, Ciaran Carrick, Kieran Kejiou.

November Competition Winner

Derek Keenan.

Shortlisted: Nora Hegarty, Olwen Hogan, Petra McQueen, Gary Morton, Barry Carter.

October Competition Winner

Helen Yendall. To read the winning entry, please click here.

Shortlisted: Lisa Hall, Tracey Taylor, Robert Browne, Nathan Dowling, Dominic Lavin, Jane Salmons, Nile O’Hagan, Andrew Campbell-Kearsey.

September Competition Winner

Emma Bolger for “Playing the Part.”

Shortlisted: Jeannie Abbott, Jane Salmons, “T.T. Reedswell”, Jerry Mulligan, Linda Nabasa, Fiona Barry and Kieran Marsh.

August Competition Winner

Pauline McNamee. To read the winning entry, please click here.

Shortlisted: Emily Aherne, Tracy Fahey, Andrew Campbell-Kearsey, Dominic Power, Ruth Simpson, Michelle McCartney, Pat Bennett.

July Competition Winner

Andrew Campbell-Kearsey. To read the winning entry, please click here.

You can also buy Andrew’s collection of short stories, Centurionman here.

Shortlisted: Elizabeth Anne Conroy, Dianne Bown-Wilson, Brian Ronan, Tracey Taylor, Anna Voelker, Máire Ryan, Helen Bennett.

June Competition Winner

Anne Donnelly. To read the winning entry, please click here.

Shortlisted: Mary McFadden and Sheila Armstrong

May Competition Winner

Rob Tye, Hampshire, England

To read, please click here.

Shortlisted: David O’Connor – Salaries and Calories
Yvonne Doherty – River Release.

April Competition Winner

Maria Kiernan, Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, Ireland

To read, please click here

Shortlisted:
Rebecca Reddin – Today
Paul Protheroe – Contagious
Ruth Elizabeth Powell – Yak Cabaret

March Competition Winner

Optimism by Vera Sugár, Roehampton, London

To read, please click here

Shortlisted:
Mark Airlie – Broken Minature Geometries
Joseph Burke – Whispers
Emmy Todd

February Competition Winner

Getting away from it all, by Bill Hodson, York, England

To read, please click here

Shortlisted:
Patrick O’Laoghaire – Achilles and Briseis
Roisin Browne (Haiku)
Clare Lally – Little Pleasures

January Competition Winner

A Winter Baby, by Pauline Murphy, Co. Clare, Ireland

To read, please click here

December Competition Winner

Reflecting Queenie, by Anne Goodwin, Nottinghamshire, England

To read, please click here

November Competition Winner

Conkers, by Peter Branson

October Competition Winner

Cemetery Rose, by Barry Carter, Hull, England

To read, please click here

September Competition Winner

Drenched, by Trisha McKinney, Dublin, Ireland

To read please click here

August Competition Winner

The Rainy Day, by Martin Keaveney, Ireland

To read, please click here

Quarterly Competition Winner (May-July 2012)

Juliet Wilson, Edinburgh, Scotland.

July Poetry Winner

Morning Tea, by Celia Donoghue, Dublin, Ireland

To read, please click here

July Short Story Winner

Narcissine Attraction, by Andrew Campbell-Kearsey, Brighton, East Sussex, England

To read, please click here

June Short Story Winner

Duck a l’Orange, by Nicola Garrett, Dunboyne, Co. Meath, Ireland

To read Nicola’s story, please click here

June Poetry Winner

Celestial Beings, by Marie Munnelly, Ireland

Please click here to read

May Short Story Winner

Luna, by Colm Reynor, Dublin

To read Luna, please click here

May Poetry Winner

Sleep Disturbed, by Juliet Wilson, Edinburgh

To read Sleep Disturbed, please click here

April Short Story Winner

Killing, by Samuel Dodson, Warwick, United Kingdom

To read, please click here

April Poetry Winner

Tapir by Bern Butler, Galway, Ireland

To read, please click here

March Poetry Winner

Love for a Sister, Marie Munnelly

To read, please click here

March Short Story Winner

What Goes Around, Joan Skura, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

To read, please click here

February Poetry Winner

My Senses, My Memories by Rose Kelland, Suffolk, United Kingdom

To read, please click here

February Short Story Winner

Admiral Knightsky, by David O’Connor, Co. Dublin

To read, please click here

January Short Story Winner

Behind the Lace, by Cynthia Allen, United Kingdom

To read the full story, click here

January Poetry Winner

Safety First, by Peter Branson, United Kingdom

December Poetry Winner

Jonathan Cooper, Sheffield, United Kingdom

Windy Day

Assault again my bitter ear

You poltergeist, so cumbersome

With rage, as forged in yesteryear,

Where warmth holds no dominion.

Now animate the battered limbs

Of summer’s leafy sentinels;

Your one-voice choir shrieks winter’s hymns

In praise of dark confessionals.

Assault again my weathered face

Dried up, save for the tears of cold.

Pierce not my pulled-tight carapace;

Touch not my thoughts of summer’s gold.

December Short Story Winner

Jessie, by Rose Kelland, Suffolk, United Kingdom

Read full story here

November Poetry Winner

C.R. Redd, North Somerset, England

Death on the Motorway

They died on the motorway. In no way

Connected, these strangers connected

For one last time. An awful death, not

Because of the shrieking inferno

Nor their choking in the acrid blackness

That was everywhere, and overcame them.

I cannot imagine those, so they do not

Affect me. And yet when I heard I cried

Because they died nowhere, not even

Half-way home. These bodies were in

Transit, travelling, leaving, going.

I do not want to die on the motorway

In the middle of nowhere, the grey road.

I want to die stationary, where I seem

Permanent to the ground.

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November Short Story Winner & Quarterly Competition Winner (Nov 2011-Jan 2012)

Nora Hegarty, Waterford, Ireland

The Christmas Cake

Giving the kitchen table one last unnecessary wipe, Mrs Mooney decided that today was the day to think about baking her Christmas cake. Every year, good or bad, brought November and every November brought this decision. She had lost track of how many times the ritual had been followed. God, it made her feel jaded and old. This year, she thought, looking out at four mad magpies strutting around the garden, it’s going to be different. This year, it’s going to be my way. Now that she had her mind made up, she was very definite. The birds’ boldness as they squawked and screeched, taking charge of the place though they were complete imposters only served to bolster her further. She would buy a cake and shock them all.

What would they make of that, she wondered, making her way upstairs, rooting out her good shoes, pulling on her raincoat and running a comb through her hair. She smiled at her reflection in the landing mirror. Her hair, due an overhaul before Christmas had grown out of its usual rigid bob, and was starting to curl in little wisps around her face. In a certain light, she thought it made her look positively girlish. Her well cut raincoat hid an abundance of middle age spread and its jade green colour complimented her eyes. Mrs Mooney was on a high.

Read full story here

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October Poetry Winner

Elizabeth Jardine Godwin, Staffordshire, United Kingdom

Moth

Elizabeth Godwin

Flashing over polished stones,

our candles bobbed

like plums in cold water

and glanced across the foxgloves

and cow parsleyscenes we had breasted

in the tang of that late summer afternoon’s high smoulder.

Continue reading Moth

October Short Story Winner

Michael Poyser, Leeds, United Kingdom – “The Importance of Being Furnaced.”

September Poetry Competition Winner

Susan Morgan, Newry, Northern Ireland – “Guzelyurt”

September Short Story Competition Winner

Henry St.Leger-Davey, Winchester, England

I went to the beach today

I start to feel uncomfortable, sitting here still. Her damp cheeks make me want to stand up; push the world over; dismiss it; throw it away; reject it; tell it something must be wrong with it; tell it that it’s failing; make it see that its purpose, whether it doesn’t include her or me (or is one of those ‘the point is there’s no point’ so-zen-it’s-crazy mentalities), can’t possibly be doing its job right when she, she is sitting here at the edge of this wooden platform with her frame collapsing into her stomach and her sobs sinking ever deeper into her chest with each rush of salt sliding down the bridge of her nose, manoeuvring over and around the resigned freckles in its path, palely dotted like the careless afterthought of a painter flicking the last specks of orange off his brush. The way they rest on her, parallel to the curved hoods of her eyes, reminds me of the faint caresses prodded into the sand by the first dozen drops of February rain (who goes to the beach in February?).

Continue reading I went to the beach today

August Short Story & Quarterly Competition (Aug-Oct 2011)Winner

Amanda Bowden, Bristol, England

Papier Mache Doll

Amanda Bowden

I pull my long black woollen coat around me. Lennon lies quietly at my feet, the cold air teasing his fur. My sister tells me it’s disrespectful to take a dog to a funeral. I don’t see why. It’s a woodland funeral. Dad’s in a wicker coffin. She doesn’t like that either, Jasmine. God only knows how she turned out so conventionally; so staid, so normal.

Twanged notes play with the still air – Evan on the five-stringed banjo. Dad’s banjo. He finishes the song, pauses then throws the banjo into the grave. It thuds and gives off a final note. Jasmine pulls a face like she’s tasted something nasty.

The grave is starting to look like a white elephant stall. So far it contains – as well as dad – a flat cap, a scarf, a necklace, a coin, a crystal, a belt buckle, several CDs and photos, football programmes, a CND badge and the banjo.

Continue reading Papier Mache Doll

August Poetry Winner

Annie Lang, Sheffield, England

The Midnight Poet

I met a woman on a beach last night while I was sleeping.

The beach crept into my room, and I fell to land

in seas too warm to be this far north.

She smiled at me, and cocked a gun,

and said, ‘Don’t you think you’d better run?’

I told her, even dreaming, I do not rhyme the lines,

and she laughed at me and said she knew.

‘I know your lines,’ she said, and the gun melted.

It split through her fingers and splattered on the sand,

and inky hearts drew themselves beneath us.

‘You write your soul, and leave it raw,’ she said,

and the hearts mourned the toes that drew them.

‘You do not write, you bleed,’ she said, and barefoot

drew lines through the hearts and boxes around the lines.

July Short Story Competition Winner

C.R. Redd, North Somerset, England.

The White Hart

He was a self-styled wise man. A man who, to all troubled newcomers, would bestow simple and perfect advice. These concise nuggets of wisdom were always found amidst an air of sobriety indicative of a man who has seen everything, and often accompanied with a lowering of eyebrows that creased the leather of his face. It was not unusual for an entire evening to be spent in sombre consult with some poor downtrodden stranger, whose problems were inevitably eradicated by the clarity of his words. There was not much to discriminate him from the other men of his certain time and place, bound as he was to the path life had laid out for him. Continue reading The White Hart

July Poetry Competition Winner

Henry St Leger-Davey, Winchester, England

Just not as they ought to be.

This time, last night, was the Wednesday of my discontent,

Which did flourish, surprised at its own appearance.

Could I her compare to a day so impaired

By rain? Mere moments past being told of light

And warmth… unforgettable picnics and such,

To tell to our child ‘round the crackle of reddening timber,

The tale of that day, that dear day we so dined,

But it rained it just rained and forgot I was there.

Continue reading Just not as they ought to be

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