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The Bedford Competition 2020 Results

The 2020 Judges

Jordan Lees

Short Story Prize Judge

After graduating with an MA in Literature, Jordan joined The Blair Partnership, literary agents for many renowned authors including J.K. Rowling, in 2016 and was made an Associate Agent in 2020... Read More

Lesley Saunders

Poetry Prize Judge

Lesley Saunders is the author of several books of poetry, most recently Nominy-Dominy (Two Rivers Press 2018) - 'a feature of this collection is its sheer ease with and celebration of language itself' (Martin Malone, The Interpreter's House)..... Read More

Stephen Bywater

Cygnature Story Prize Judge

Stephen Bywater joined the merchant navy at sixteen before going on to study English at university. After graduating he taught in South and Central America for three years, returning to the UK to complete an MLitt at St Andrews..... Read More

Cameron Staurt

Cygnature Poetry Prize Judge

Cameron Stuart is a poet originally from, and now back residing in, Bedford. He attended the Poetry MFA at Saint Mary's College of California, and has taught writing at SMC and Berkeley.... Read More

Neil Beardmore

Bedford Story Prize Judge

In the Nineties Neil won the Sussex Playwrights Award and The Richard Burton Poetry Competition, going on later to take an MA in Creative Writing specialising in Poetry and Novel writing..... Read More

Steve Kendall

Bedford Poetry Prize Judge

Simon taught English in secondary schools (1973-1994) before becoming chair of the national association (NATE) 2004-2006. He advised on English teaching in schools in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, 1994-2013. In 2009, he co-founded and directed a national project for writing teachers: National Writing Project. .. Read More

Leigh Russell

Rainbow Short Story Prize Judge

Leigh Russell is the author of twenty-one crime novels, including the Geraldine Steel series which has sold over a million books. ... Read More

The 2020 Winners

Main Short Story

1st Prize

MÃ¥ngata

Chris Barkley

.

2nd Prize

Beacons

Sophie Holland

3rd Prize

The Life and Times of Sam the Wanderer as the End of Days Approaches

Anya Christiansen

Main Poetry Prize

1st Prize

Toy Mouse, Discovered at Vindolanda Roman Fort, May 2020

Isabella Mead

2nd Prize

Passing and Meeting

Molly Underwood

3rd Prize

Hymn

Harriet Sanders

Cygnature Short Story

CygnaturePoetry

Black Bin Bags

Kirsten Udall

Mi Duende Muerde

Alba Alonso

Bedford Short Story

Bedford Poetry

Barates and My Father

Fran Maciver

October

Maya Abraham-Steele

Rainbow Prize

1st Prize

Memories from Muskwa Creek

Shirlee Matheson

2nd Prize

A Different Version

Janet Newman

3rd Prize

Starlings

Norma Allen

Short Story Competition – Shortlist

Story titleAuthor
MangataChristopher BakerUK
MongrelRobert CarterAustralia
Selfish Kisses and Early PolaroidsJames WoolfUK
Beaconssophie hollandUK
Her Unused SmileSarah DawsonUK
Silver BirdDavid Shelley JonesAustralia
White AngelPaul ChiswickUK
The Life and Times of Sam the Wanderer as the End of Days ApproachesAnya ChristiansenNew Zealand
Onassis and HoxhaJuliet HillSpain
TracesAmanda HildebrandtAustralia
Tell us a bit about yourselfDavid Shelley JonesAustralia
Broken BloodPauline (HUGHES) PLUMMERUK

Poetry Competition – Shortlist

Poem title

Poet
Clarifying the protection of birds legislationVanessa LampertUK
Jenny WrenBen VerinderUK
Lost GirlsFederica PeruItaly
Calling my motherAnne CaseyAustralia
The Promised LandMaia BéarUK
if I had a lodger I could explainTamsin HopkinsUK
Toy Mouse Discovered at Vindolanda Roman Fort May 2020Isabella MeadUK
HymnHarriet SandersNew Zealand
Manarola - final night - no cameraHan SmithUK
Every Black History MonthWura ArisekolaIreland
Passing and meetingMolly UnderwoodUK
A Short Film About LoveJoseph KidneyUSA

The Bedford Competition is an established nonprofit group that runs annual short story and poetry competitions. We are an internationally recognised competition with a carefully curated panel of judges who are either acclaimed writers or agents from renowned literary agencies.

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Jordan Lees

Short Story Prize Judge

After graduating with an MA in Literature, Jordan joined The Blair Partnership, literary agents for many renowned authors including J.K. Rowling, in 2016 and was made an Associate Agent in 2020. His reading tastes are wide-ranging and as an agent predominantly represents literary fiction, reading group fiction and crime and thrillers, as well as some non-fiction.

Liv Maidment

Short Story Prize Judge

Liv Maidment is Head of Books and a Literary Agent specialising in literary, upmarket, and book club fiction. Liv came to the Madeleine Milburn Agency from The Blair Partnership and United Agents where she worked with bestselling and award-winning authors and global literary brands. She joined the agency in 2020 where she represents a stellar list of literary, upmarket, and book club fiction. As Head of Books, Liv works closely with the directors to implement strategy across the agency.

Jessica Mookherjee

Poetry Prize Judge

Jessica Mookherjee is author of two poetry collections and her second, Tigress (Nine Arches Press) was Shortlisted for best second collection in the Ledbury Munthe Prize 2021. She has been twice highly commended in the Forward Prize for best single poem (in 2018 and in 2021) and her work is included in notable anthologies such as ‘Staying Human’ (Bloodaxe). Her latest pamphlet is Playlists (Broken Sleep Books). Her next full collection is called Notes from a Shipwreck and out with Nine Arches Press in August 2022 . Her long poem Desire Lines will be published by Broken Sleep Books in 2023. She is a co-editor of Against the Grain Press and a Board Member of the Poetry Society.

Lesley Saunders

Poetry Prize Judge

Lesley Saunders is the author of several books of poetry, most recently Nominy-Dominy (Two Rivers Press 2018) – ‘a feature of this collection is its sheer ease with and celebration of language itself’ (Martin Malone, The Interpreter’s House). Lesley was joint winner of the inaugural Manchester Poetry Prize and one of the winners of the 2017 Poetry Business Pamphlet Competition. In 2016, Lesley won the Stephen Spender Prize for poetry in translation with her English version of a poem by the acclaimed Portuguese poet Maria Teresa Horta; Lesley’s latest book, Point of Honour (Two Rivers Press 2019), pays homage to the radical and erotic work of Horta – who celebrated her 82nd birthday in May 2019 – with nearly 100 translated poems. Lesley leads writing workshops and undertakes poetry mentoring; she has performed her work at festivals and on the radio, and worked on collaborative projects and productions with visual artists, musicians, composers and dancers as well as other poets – most recently with Philip Gross in A Part of the Main (Mulfran Press 2018)

Stephen Bywater

Cygnature Short Story Prize Judge

Stephen Bywater joined the merchant navy at sixteen before going on to study English at university. After graduating he taught in South and Central America for three years, returning to the UK to complete an MLitt at St Andrews. For the past twenty years he has taught English in Bedford, where he lives with his wife and two daughters. He is the author of two novels, The Devil’s Ark and Night of the Damned (published by Headline/Hachette), and is currently working on his third.

Stephen Bywater

Cygnature Story Prize Judge

Stephen Bywater joined the merchant navy at sixteen before going on to study English at university. After graduating he taught in South and Central America for three years, returning to the UK to complete an MLitt at St Andrews. For the past twenty years he has taught English in Bedford, where he lives with his wife and two daughters. He is currently teaching English at a college in Cambridge He is the author of two novels, The Devil’s Ark and Night of the Damned (published by Headline/Hachette), and is currently working on his third.

Cameron Stuart

Cygnature Poetry Prize Judge

Cameron Stuart is a poet originally from, and now back residing in, Bedford. He attended the Poetry MFA at Saint Mary’s College of California, and has taught writing at SMC and Berkeley. He is the recipient of Judith Butler and Community of Writers scholarships.

Neil Beardmore

Bedford Short Story Prize Judge

In the Nineties Neil won the Sussex Playwrights Award and The Richard Burton Poetry Competition, going on later to take an MA in Creative Writing specialising in Poetry and Novel writing. Two plays Pristine in Blue and A View Of Glass Mountains were professionally performed recently and in 2017 his novel Lemon Seas was published. Neil’s poems have appeared in The Cannon’s Mouth, Erbacce, Dreamcatcher, The French Literary Review and many other magazines. Having had poetry published in Orbis, he has recently had a short story, Key Notes published in the magazine.

Steve Kendall

Bedford Poetry Prize Judge

Steve Kendall is a graduate of the Newcastle University / Poetry School MA in Writing Poetry. He is a co-host of the Bedford reading series ‘Ouse Muse’ and convenor of the North Beds and Milton Keynes Stanza. His work has most recently appeared in Strix and Magma.

 
Leigh Russell

Rainbow Short Story Prize Judge

Leigh Russell is the author of twenty-one crime novels, including the Geraldine Steel series which has sold over a million books. Shortlisted for the CWA New Blood Dagger Award, long listed for the CWA Dagger in the Library, she is Chair of the CWA Debut Dagger Judges and Co-ordinator for the CWA Critiques. She was a Finalist for the People’s Book Prize, and is a Royal Literary Fellow. Find out more about Leigh from her website.