The Bedford Competition 2025 - Results

2025 Prize winners

Short Story Main PrizeAuthorTitleCountry
1stDavid PidgeonThe Artist in the MudUK
2ndMona BeckerSmall SeaGermany
3rd Oliver RobertsNeck of the DragonUK
Poetry Main PrizeAuthorTitleCountry
1stRobin MuersMy Career in unwelcomingUK
2ndAmy Levitin GraySpells for ProtectionUSA
3rdHang Kuang SangElegy for a Deleted UserMalaysia
Cygnature prizeAuthorTitleCountry
StoryLilian AungerThe ScentimentalistSwitzerland
PoemMaria WoodfordIn which we buy mood rings at the british heart foundationUK
Bedford PrizeAuthorTitleCountry
StoryRobert AllenHis WoodsUK
PoemMark GrahamMarraUK

Short Story Main Prize - Shortlist Prize

AuthorTitleCountry
Alan FalkinghamThe Burial of Devlin McManusUSA
Colin MullinsIn the Midst of WolvesUK
David PidgeonThe Artist in the MudUK
Joel LewinI have wanted to talk to you for so longUK
Julie WareingSeven SistersUK
Kevin SandefurMr. Happys Convenient Mart and ConfectionaryUSA
Mary FrancisThe InterviewNZ
Mona BeckerSmall SeaGermany
Oliver RobertsNeck of the DragonUK
Samantha PiresJesus of KarringtonUSA
Sherry MorrisThe Twist of LimesUK
Tom MasonThe CollectionUK

 

Short Story Main Prize – Longlist

AuthorTitleCountry
Alan FalkinghamThe Burial of Devlin McManusUSA
Alan FalkinghamInvictusUSA
Amanda GilroyPosingUK
Ashish KaulThe Death of a JokebookIndia
Asli KonacThe Forest WalksUK
Chris DrinanThe QueueUK
Chris HumphreyThe End of the MatterUK
Colin MullinsIn the Midst of WolvesUK
David PidgronThe Artist in the MudUK
Diana PowellMeatUK
DP WarneThe RunnerUK
Emma WilliamsJustice ServedUK
Ewart HuttonMoiras LegacyUK
Joel LewinI have wanted to talk to you for so longUK
Jonathan BuckmasterThe amateur ornithologists guide to the nest construction of coastal birds by Arthur Dawson with illustrative colour plates by LoicUK
Joyanna LovelockA labyrinth of EchoesUK
Julie WareingSeven SistersUK
Kathy HoyleAuld GallowaUK
Kevin SandefurMr. Happys Convenient Mart and ConfectionaryUSA
Khushi BajajAfsanaUK
Kieran CostelloTicking in the Halfway HouseUK
Lilian AuingerThe ScentimentalistSwitzerland
Mary FrancisThe InterviewNew Zealand
Michael PettitPuttySouth Africa
Mona BeckerSmall SeaGermany
Nigel HallThe Layered Space Between UsUK
Oliver RobertsNeck of the DragonUK
Paul McMichaelHis Pebble ProjectUK
Peter NorburyPeachesUK
Philip WilsonThe Fox and the NewshoundUK
Philippa LeahHomingUK
Rachel Schnellinger-BaileyLaganSwitzerland
Rosieda ShabodienSinless by the SeaSouth Africa
Samantha PiresJesus of KarringtonUSA
Seán McNichollThe First Lambs of SpringUK
Sherry MorrisThe Twist of LimesUK
Simon RoweElvira SaysJapan
Terry MulhernJust BloodAustralia
Timothy CollyerThe SwimmersUK
Tom MasonThe CollectionUK

Poetry Main Prize - Shortlist

AuthorTitleCountry
Ameen AnimashaunThe FurrowsUSA
Amy Levitin GraySpells for ProtectionUSA
Cat Boyd-FoleyMay the Patron Saint of this Postcode Look Kindly Upon MeUK
Christopher HortonPhantom Job ProcessUK
Cory Mackenzie-GrayEpidemicUK
Dion EverettMarksUK
Hang Kuang SangElegy for a Deleted UserMalaysia
Kira TrainorLady with a Pet DogUSA
Mae GesserCalypsoUSA
Robin MuersMy Career in UnwelcomingUK
Topher ShieldsApostateNew Zealand
Valerie RoseCouchsurfingUSA

 

Poetry Main Prize – Longlist

AuthorTitleCountry
Alexandra Corrin-TachibanaIn Kyoto... I long for KyotoUK
Ameen AnimashaunThe FurrowsUSA
Amy BarrettRemember meUK
Amy Levitin GraySpells for Protection USA
Andre SwanepoelTo the People who Tidy the DaySouth Africa
Andrea Lucy-HirstCovering FireUK
Arran PottsBrigidUK
Bridget HaganCrimsonUSA
Cameron McCalebYou Wait for Paint to DryUSA
Cat Boyd-FoleyMay the Patron Saint of this Postcode Look Kindly Upon MeUK
Chris HardyPaestumUK
Christian DonovanI Want the EnergyUK
Christopher HortonPhantom Job ProcessUK
Claire FrankelIn My Great Aunt's KitchenUSA
Clif MasonA Further MigrationUSA
Cory Mackenzie-GrayEpidemicUK
Dion EverettMarksUK
Erica Jane MorrisWeeping BirchUK
Glen WilsonA brace of pheasantsUK
Hang Kuang SangElegy for a Deleted UserMalaysia
Hetta JonesBig RedUK
Jay MitraShopping ListsUK
Jennifer M PhillipsGolden Helmet USA
Jesse ten BokkelEldersNetherlands
Kate FenwickAfter Three Decades of WaitingUK
Kate TorodeWhisper of SilkUSA
Kira TrainorEarth Finds a Piece of Herself USA
Kira TrainorLady with a Pet DogUSA
Lisa JoyceA Pile of NailsUSA
Mae GesserCalypsoUSA
Mari GirlingGwen John to Augustus 1914UK
Maria Woodfordin which we buy mood rings at the british heart foundationUK
Mark de KlerkLife in ShortUK
Mark GrahamMarraUK
Nat TownsendParts Towards EternityUK
Robin MuersMy Career in UnwelcomingUK
Topher ShieldsApostateNew Zealand
Ursula MurphyFor Keepers of BooksIreland
Valerie RoseCouchsurfing USA
Zoë GreenSea Turtle, Unawatuna BeachGermany
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Fran Lock

Poetry Main Prize Judge

Fran Lock is the author of numerous chapbooks and fourteen poetry collections. Her most recent collections are Hyena! (Poetry Bus Press, 2023), shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize 2023 and for the PEN Heaney Prize 2024, and ‘a disgusting lie’: further adventures through the neoliberal hell-mouth (Pamenar Press, 2023). Spectres // Defectors /// No Respecters, an omnibus of three previous titles, with selected new material was published by Culture Matters in late 2024.Her most recent pamphlet is The New Herbal (Blueprint Press, 2024), and Vulgar Errors/ Feral Subjects, a collection of essays exploring feral subjectivity through the lens of the medieval bestiary, was published by Out-Spoken Press last year. Fran was the Judith E. Wilson Poetry Fellow at Cambridge University 2022-2023 and is a Commissioning Editor at the radical arts and culture cooperative Culture Matters. She lives in Kent with her sassy American bully, Luna.