We’re delighted to announce this year’s winning stories for the Leicester Writes Short Story Prize. The stories were chosen by our fantastic judging panel writers Abi Hynes, Iqbal Hussain, and last year’s winner, Laura Coleman.
Around 300 entries were received from across the UK in the eighth year of the prize, open to published and unpublished writers, for a short story of up to 3,500 words on any theme or subject. All entries were judged anonymously.
Judges were impressed by the outstanding quality of entries received.
The winning stories in this year’s competition are:
1st prize: All Eyes on Me by Melanie Carvalho
2nd prize: The Maw by Liz Allan
3rd prize: Molly by Robyn Jefferson
Highly Commended: The Nook by Ismail Karolia
Commended: Pepper Soup by Chiamaka Okike
Twenty short stories which feature on this year’s longlist will be published in an anthology and launched on Saturday 28 September as part of our Short Story September celebrations.
Judges Report
Iqbal Hussain
All Eyes on Me – “Some stories stay with you, long after you finish reading them, and this was one such story. The writer had a real mastery of the senses and in helping the reader visualise the scene – I could picture this all so clearly. The story also played around with a clever time frame, which was masterfully handled. I felt in safe hands at all times.”
The Maw – “A quietly haunting tale of what it means to come to the end of the road. Fairytale-like in quality, finishing with a heartachingly beautiful final line that echoes a detail we glimpse earlier in the piece. The simplicity of the words belied the complexity of the story.”
Molly – “Of all the piece I read, this one had the most assured voice. It was utterly compelling, and I wanted to keep reading to find out what would happen next to our not entirely liable narrator. The piece also took an audacious risk in not writing about a main plot point for most of the story – yet all the time writing about it by its very absence. Clever stuff!”
The Nook – “A child’s eye point of view that felt totally real throughout this devastating story. This story had the lot: impending doom, a mad dash on public transport and a story that filled in all the gaps even while the young child failed to see what was going on. I thought about it for days afterwards”
Pepper Soup – “A wonderful introduction to the sights, sounds and tastes of a culture that was new to me. It had a rawness in its writing, which gave it a fresh quality that leapt off the page. And, just when you think you know where it’s going, the writer pulls off an audacious twist that made me gasp and re-read it several times. Bravo!”
Abi Hynes
All Eyes on Me – “A real breath of fresh air and a story that stayed with me long after I finished reading it. A moving, evocative and perfectly observed insight into a life.”
The Maw – “This story showed a sophistication and a thoughtfulness that made it stand out to us right away. Poignant and beautiful.”
Molly – “A brilliantly told and spiky tale about female friendship. We are clearly in the hands of a skilled and talented writer.”
The Nook: “An exhilarating and frightening story from a well-realised character’s POV. Heartbreaking and fantastically visceral.”
Pepper Soup: “I thought this story was wonderfully ambitious and managed to be both funny and nasty – a potent combination!”
Laura Coleman
All Eyes on Me: A cleverly controlled piece whose moments of rage and horror stand out in an otherwise subtle, stoical narrative. The tricky technique of superposition is deployed masterfully throughout, building to a touching crescendo.
The Maw: A story of impressive scope that pits heavy life against weightless living and dull death against bright dying. It haunted and inspired me long after I finished it.
Molly: A masterclass in ‘showing not telling’, this coming-of-age drama is a raw, razor-sharp depiction of human nature and interactions. The author is as skilled with one-liners as they are with lush, lyrical prose.
The Nook: A delicate and devastating tale of a seismic event told through the smallness of a child’s perspective. The details of, and values behind, the young speaker’s actions elevate this piece to something unforgettable.
Pepper Soup: Fun, vibrant and disturbing. This story is as rich and textured as the soup! I enjoyed the intertwining of love and rage throughout, culminating in a gripping crescendo that I didn’t see coming.
Winner bios
Melanie Carvalho is a writer, artist and obituaries editor based in south London. Her stories have placed in prizes such as the Short Fiction ISP and Brick Lane Bookshop Short Story competition, and have been Pushcart nominated. Her debut novel, Xim, set in 90s Goa, was longlisted for the inaugural Cheshire novel prize. She is an alumni of the London Library Emerging Writers’ Programme, and an excerpt from Xim appears in its anthology From the Silence of the Stacks: New Voices Rise Vol IV.
Dr Liz Allan is an Australian writer and teacher living and working in the UK. Liz has a PhD in Creative Writing and a Masters in Teaching from The University of Adelaide. Her short story, Our Voices, Fierce was awarded the Rachel Funari Prize for fiction in 2018 and her stories have been shortlisted for the Alan Marshall Short Story Award and the Aesthetica Creative Writing Prize. Her manuscript The Elementals was shortlisted for the 2023 Penguin Literary Prize and her manuscript Equilibrium was shortlisted for a 2019 Overland Writers Residency. Her fiction has appeared in Overland, Verge, Yen Magazine, Aesthetica, and Best Summer Stories 2018.
Robyn Jefferson is a short story writer and aspiring novelist from the South West of England. Her work has previously appeared online in The Mechanics’ Institute Review, Makarelle, The Phare, and Fiery Scribe Review, and she has been shortlisted in several major competitions, including the Aesthetica Magazine Creative Writing Award and The Masters Review Novel Excerpt Competition, which she won. Her debut novel, Calling Out, is currently on submission.