The Yeovil Literary Prize written in green

The results of the 2024 Yeovil Literary Prize are out now!

Organised by the YCAA (Yeovil Community Arts Association), the Yeovil Literary Prize is an established writing competition that enables us to both showcase writing talent and raise funds to support young people aspiring to careers in the arts.  There are five categories to enter and the competition runs between 1st January and the end of May each year.

This year’s winners are:

Novel Category

  • FIRST PRIZE – Lora Davies – ‘The Experimental Gentleman’
  • SECOND PRIZE – Maurice Carlin – ‘In a Quare Country’
  • THIRD PRIZE – Glyn Harper – ‘Arden’

Short Story Category

  • FIRST PRIZE – Andrea Pavleka – ‘That Golden Hour’
  • SECOND PRIZE – John Kirkaldy – ‘Counting to ten’
  • THIRD PRIZE – Clare Shaw – ‘Ladybird’

Poetry Category

  • FIRST PRIZE – David Short – ‘Gently Down the Stream’
  • SECOND PRIZE – David Short – ‘My Library’
  • THIRD PRIZE – Dawn Lawrence – ‘White-tailed Eagle’

Children’s and Young Adult Novel

  • FIRST PRIZE – Nina Hoole – ‘The Herald’s Zoo’
  • SECOND PRIZE – Melanie Whitmarsh – ‘The Nighthawk Detectives’
  • THIRD PRIZE – Triona Harris – ‘Paper Boats’
  • Highly Commended – Claire Lomas – ‘I Still Stand’

Writing Without Restrictions

  • FIRST PRIZE – Tony Irvin – ‘Home’
  • SECOND PRIZE – Edward Sergeant – ‘Acrobatics on the Landing’
  • THIRD PRIZE – Jenny Hunt – ‘Winter Hedge’

Western Gazette Best Local Writer Award

  • WINNER – David Short

YLP at the Yeovil Literary Festival

We will be bringing the Past Winners of the Yeovil Literary Prize to the Yeovil Literary Festival at 2pm on Sunday 27th October in the Wheeldon Suite at the Westlands Entertainment Venue, Yeovil. This gives winners the opportunity to read their winning entries to an audience.

Honourable Mentions

This year, David Short was placed both first and second in the Poetry category, as well as being named ‘Best Local Writer’. Our judging is done anonymously, so it wasn’t until afterwards that we discovered that David is a poet from Dorset – and 90 years old! Any reader will love both his winning poems, so come along to the Yeovil Literary Festival to hear them performed.

We’ll also be joined by Sarah Hegarty, who has won the Novel prize twice in previous years.  She will read from her new collection of short stories, ‘Magpie’. Sarah is a brilliant writer, but she also has something else; a voice that could grace the radio waves.

Yeovil Literary Prize

Thank you to everyone who entered the Yeovil Literary Prize 2024. The funds raised will enable us to award grants to young people who, having learned their performance skills or developed their creative talents locally, are embarking on the next stage of life. Some head for university or specialist performing arts colleges, drama or dance schools or fine art institutes, but all have earned their places and deserve the opportunity to reach their full potential.

For more information

For full details of the Yeovil Literary Prize, visit the Yeovil Literary Prize website.  To explore the Yeovil Literary Festival and buy tickets, visit the Festival website.