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The Bedford Competition 2024 Results

The 2024 Judges

Liv Maidment Main Story Prize

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.... Read More

Jessica Mookherjee -Main Poetry Prize

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). ... Read More

Steve Bywater Cygnature Story Prize

Stephen Bywater

Cygnature Story Prize Judge

Stephen Bywater joined the merchant navy at sixteen before studing English at university. After graduating he completed an MLitt at St Andrews. For twenty years he has taught English in Bedford. He is currently teaching English at a college in Cambridge. He is the author of ... Read More

Rishi Dastidar

Cygnature Poetry Prize Judge

Rishi Dastidar’s poetry has been published by the Financial Times and BBC amongst many others. He is a fellow of The Complete Works, and a consulting editor at The Rialto magazine. A poem from his Laurel Prize long-listed third collection, Neptune’s Projects (Nine Arches Press), was included in The Forward Book of Poetry 2024... Read More

Paul Barnes Bedford Short Story

Paul Barnes

Bedford Story Prize Judge

Paul Barnes retired from teaching secondary school English Language and Literature in Bedford in 2019. He has been a keen attender of poetry and cultural events in north Beds, and chairs Poetry Café monthly, in succession to the late Richard Hancock... Read More

Liam Coles Bedford Poetry Prize

Liam Coles

Bedford Poetry Prize Judge

Liam Coles is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Cambridge. His project focuses on sound and religiosity in twentieth-century US poetry. He researches how poetic sound forms can interrelate with cognitive understandings of consciousness, and traces an historic lineage from pulpit to lectern heard in the voicings of American poets during performance... Read More

The 2024 Winners

Main Short Story

1st Prize

The Eye and the Hand

Bostan Nurlanov

2nd Prize

Sahib Want Sugar?

Peter Holmes

3rd Prize

The Wedding Party

Jaime Gill

Main Poetry Prize

1st Prize

two cents for Young Goodman Bryan

Panika Dillon

2nd Prize

Instructions for looking at your own reflection

Mark Yakich

3rd Prize

Euclid observes the end of geometry

Mark Fiddes

Cygnature Short Story

CygnaturePoetry

As I Once Was

Naomi Kerslake

There is No Point

Ameen Animashaun

Bedford Short Story

Bedford Poetry

Rose Cottage

Gary Trott

painting as one of Degas’ ballerinas

Casey Stewart

Short Story Competition – Shortlist

NameTitleCountry
Ade OnitoloMy Other HalfUK
Bostan NurlanovThe Eye and the HandAustralia
David MathewsSheltered LivesUK
Elaine O'ConnorCarmelUK
Herb ZarovThe Dinner PartyUSA
Jaime GillThe Wedding PartyUK
Joe BedfordClosureUK
Louise BrakspearSleep Through the WinterUK
Nora ThurkleGhost SignsUK
Peter HolmesSahib want sugar?Vietnam
Sally BramleyWaiting for the balloonsUK
Sonya WeissReflectionsUK

Poetry Competition – Shortlist

NameTitleCountry
Andrea PerryFaith and the Five Word fortune-tellerUK
Brenna ManuelWounded Knee p.93USA
Carolyn GillespieUnmarked Graves: Kamloops Indian Residential School, British Columbia, 2021UK
Damen O'BrienIn the Botanic GardensAustralia
Elisabeth MurawskiThe Small House in a Great GardenUSA
Lauren MillsLetter to the Editor of the Old Farmer's Almanac, Robert Bailey ThomasUSA
Mark FiddesEuclid observes the end of geometryDubai
Mark YakichInstructions for Looking at Your Own ReflectionUSA

Owen Lewis

In The WingsUSA
Panika Dillon

two cents for Young Goodman Bryan

USA
Philip Rosel BakerDandelionUK

Shelly Dennison

The whalerUK

Poetry Competition – Longlist

Customer NamePoemCountry
Allen ShadowWalter's LuncheonetteUSA
Allen ShadowDream and Dream and DreamUSA
Allison HamiltonBy the side of the fireAustralia
Andrea PerryFaith and the Five Word fortune-tellerUK
Andrea PerryHow we are changedUK
Brenna ManuelWounded Knee p.93USA
Carolyn GillespieUnmarked Graves: Kamloops Indian Residential School, British Columbia, 2021UK
Carolyn GillespieWinter. Eyes Shut.UK
Christian WardThe Quiet Alchemy Of The River ThamesUK
Damen O'BrienThe Curb-side Clean-up Tourney

Australia

Damen O'BrienKill Your DarlingsAustralia
Damen O'BrienIn the Botanic GardensAustralia
Deidre SullivanGood ShirtsUSA
Elaine O'ConnorA Red Kite Hunts in WinterUK
Elisabeth MurawskiThe Small House in a Great GardenUSA
Esperanza SnyderHearing You Talk About VeronaUSA
Esther LayDropping Simon Armitage in the BathUK
Faye WiknerHuldraUSA
George Alexandru DragoiThe ballad of a dapper dreamerUK
Gwyneth BoxHoopoe morningUK
Isobel CunninghamVancouver Island MoonCanada
Judy CroweThe Mulberry Tree (Morus rubra) on Irving Street in My Back Yard, Shared with the Grovers, Dale and Patty, Who Once Drank a Bottle of Vanilla Extract and Her Brother Said She Might Die (She Didn’t)USA
Lauren MillsLetter to the Editor of the Old Farmer's Almanac, Robert Bailey ThomasUSA
Maria SurricchioNo Word I KnowUSA
Maria SurricchioImpossible NumbersUSA
Mark FiddesNew evidence of hummingbirdsDubai
Mark FiddesEuclid observes the end of geometryDubai
Mark YakichInstructions for Looking at Your Own ReflectionUSA
Michael HarrisWe Who Are DiggingUK
Norman GoodwinWithout ConsentUSA

Owen Lewis

In The WingsUSA
Panika Dillon

two cents for Young Goodman Bryan

USA
Philip Rosel BakerDandelionUK
Rachael HillSomething Borrowed: An Ode to Leipzig or “Mir läuft die zeit davon”UK
Sharon BlackBakeliteFrance
Sharon RockmanWhen motherhood entails python maintenanceAustralia

Shelly Dennison

The whalerUK
Tricia TorringtonFive Languages of LoveUK

Zuzana Kovárová

Between usCzechia

Short Story Competition – Longlist

NameShort StoryCountry
Ade OnitoloMy Other HalfUK
Aidan EverettAunt Marjorie and the JeepUK
Bostan NurlanovThe Eye and the HandAustralia
Callum Brennan-OsmentA Knight in Shining ArmourUK
Catherine Love-SmithReflectivityUK
David MathewsSheltered LivesUK
David Shelley JonesThe Green PoolAustralia
Dianne Bown-WilsonGuardian AngelUK
Elaine O'ConnorCarmelUK
Emma WilliamsPest ControlUK
Gary FinneganIn Common CalamityIreland
Helen BinksVisiting hoursUK
Herb ZarovThe Dinner PartyUSA
Jaime GillNo Place Like HomeUK
Jaime GillThe Wedding PartyUK
James SkivingtonAmerican DreamUK
James WatsonA Cup of TeaUK
Joe BedfordClosureUK
Judith WilsonSongs of Desire at the LibraryUK
Keith McKibbinThe Smell of OrangeUK
Laura HaywardChess with EggaUK
Louise BrakspearSleep Through the WinterUK
Mark CampbellSargeUSA
Matt ThomasMissingUK
Matt ThomasThe SaluteUK
Noel TaylorWhere's Neville?Portugal
Nora ThurkleGhost SignsUK
Paul Bassett DaviesBig Fire at Old Seaside HotelUK

Peter Holmes

Sahib want sugar?Vietnam
Rae Leaver RahmanWhat it would be to hold your handUK
Richard WestwellThe Devil and the SeamstressAustralia
Sahlan DiverA Sudden and Totally Unexpected Reversal of FortuneIreland
Sallie BinghamJuly FourthUSA
Sally BramleyWaiting for the balloonsUK
Sara CizekTheo's AwakeningUSA
Shanley KearneyTeam PlayerUSA
Sonya WeissReflectionsUK
Sue SmithSomewhere In EnglandUK
Willy AdamThree Blind MiceUK

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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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.

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.

Rishi Dastidar

Cygnature Poery Prize Judge

Rishi Dastidar’s poetry has been published by the Financial Times and BBC amongst many others. He is a fellow of The Complete Works, and a consulting editor at The Rialto magazine. A poem from his debut collection Ticker-tape was included in The Forward Book of Poetry 2018, and his second collection, Saffron Jack, was published in the UK by Nine Arches Press in 2020. He is also editor of The Craft: A Guide to Making Poetry Happen in the 21st Century (Nine Arches Press), and co-editor of Too Young, Too Loud, Too Different: Poems from Malika’s Poetry Kitchen (Corsair).

A poem from Rishi Dastidar’s Laurel Prize long-listed third collection, Neptune’s Projects (Nine Arches Press), was included in The Forward Book of Poetry 2024. He is editor of The Craft: A Guide to Making Poetry Happen in the 21st Century (Nine Arches Press), and co-editor of Too Young, Too Loud, Too Different: Poems from Malika’s Poetry Kitchen (Corsair). He also reviews poetry for The Guardian (UK) and is a trustee of Wasafiri. (Photograph credit: Naomi Woddis)

Paul Barnes

Bedford Story Prize Judge

Paul Barnes retired from teaching secondary school English Language and Literature in Bedford in 2019. He has been a keen attender of poetry and cultural events in north Beds, and chairs Poetry Café monthly, in succession to the late Richard Hancock. The group has seen four compilation volumes edited by Paul in 2021-22. He writes occasional poetry and prose, co-runs the monthly Read Poets Society, helps in two local bookshops, and is a fanatic for cricket umpiring and Shakespeare, The Place Theatre, the Rothsay Education Centre, and the Campaign for Real Ale.

Liam Coles

Bedford Poetry Prize Judge

Liam Coles is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Cambridge. His project focuses on sound and religiosity in twentieth-century US poetry. He researches how poetic sound forms can interrelate with cognitive understandings of consciousness, and traces an historic lineage from pulpit to lectern heard in the voicings of American poets during performance. He secured a scholarship for his master’s degree at the University of Oxford (2017-18), where he wrote mainly on nineteenth-century religious poetry, including the work of the Rossetti siblings and Keats. He has a first-class BA in English Literature from the University of Bristol (2013-16), and his undergraduate dissertation concerned the Victorian poet Gerard Manley Hopkins.

Born and raised in Bedford, Liam now lives in London and enjoys cooking and nature, but poetry is his real joy, and outside of his academic work he loves to discover writers he has not yet heard of!