We are delighted to announce the short listed entries in our annual Write About Walking writing competition that this year, had a theme of “Walking In The Dark” in support of the global action “Women walking, the City, at Night“.
Fourteen poems and stories from eleven writers were chosen by the judges, and will be included in the illustrated chapbook anthology, WALKING “In the Dark”, soon to be published by Sampson Low Publishers. Congratulations to:
Erin Bondo, Krista Carson, Paul Connolly, Elizabeth Fevyer, Eleanor Holmes, Sarah Leavesley/James, Rosaleen Lynch, Isabella Mead Husain, Laura Theis, Penny Walker, and Emily Wilkinson.
“What a pleasure to read, alongside Damaris West, the poetry entries for this year’s competition. We received a wide interpretation of the brief ‘In the dark’ from recalled experiences, commentary on the collective, to folklore infusions. The shortlisted poems each intrigued in some way, with a glimpse into the specific world of the poem’s speaker – showing empathy, grace and reflection beyond the immediate. Congratulations to all.” Marcelle Newbold, poetry judge.
“There were many interesting entries for the Story category. The strongest used a nighttime setting to make the real or imaginary places they evoked, and the carefully realised spaces that their narrators or central characters traversed on foot, seem somehow haunted, especially by the past. They communicated a rich, suggestive sense of mystery in economical but finely textured prose. In short, there was a poetic quality to these pieces, and in the most powerful entries this never seemed self-conscious or forced.” Matthew Beaumont, story judge.
This is the fifth year in which we have run a Write About Walking poetry and flash fiction writing competition, with the number of entries increasing and quality of writing improving every year.
The competition entries were judged by Damaris West, our current poet-in-residence, joined by acclaimed poet Marcelle Newbold, and Chantal Lyons, our current story writer-in-residence, and English Literature professor Matthew Beaumont, author of “Nightwalking: A Nocturnal History of London“.
You can read each of the Short listed entries from our competition web pages on write@WLC and book a ticket to join in the public Showcase event on Sunday 30 November at which Short listed authors will read their work and learn which of them is a winner, becoming poet or story writer-in-residence for 2026.
If you have an itch to write a poem or short story of your own, we offer a continual submission opportunity on the theme of “Shorelines” – just follow the link here.
Photo by Sanket Darji on Unsplash
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