Pictured left to right (top row) Dean Atkins, Hannah Dafforn-Belloube, Lucie Donahue, Ben Fergusson, Sybilla Harvey, William Hutton. Bottom row from left to right: Issariya Morgan, Michelle Penny, Diana Powell, Satterday Shaw, Beth Webster, Rhys Owain Williams
The shortlist for the prestigious 2026 Rhys Davies Short Story Competition has been announced.
The award recognises the very best unpublished short stories in English in any style and on any subject up to a maximum of 5,000 words by writers aged 18 or over who were born in Wales, have lived in Wales for two years or more, or are currently living in Wales.
Originally established in 1991, there have been 13 Rhys Davies Short Story Award contests to date, and in 2021 the competition was relaunched by Swansea University’s Cultural Institute on behalf of the Rhys Davies Trust and in association with Parthian Books.
The 2026 shortlist:
Blackthorn Winter by Dean Atkins
Robbery by Hannah Dafforn-Belloube
Flash Flood by Lucie Donahue
Piedmont by Ben Fergusson
Fermata by Sybilla Harvey
Take Me by William Hutton
The Reindeer by Issariya Morgan
Hefted by Michelle Penny
Thaw by Diana Powell
A River in Egypt by Satterday Shaw
Out of the Reen by Beth Webster
Kilvey Hill by Rhys Owain Williams
The overall winner will receive £1,000 and will have their winning entry featured in The Rhys Davies Short Story Award Anthology 2026, to be published by Parthian Books in October 2026.
All 12 stories will be published in the 2026 anthology, published by Parthian. Edited by Dr Elaine Canning, Director of Swansea University’s Cultural Institute and Managing Editor of the Award, the collection will also include an introduction by acclaimed fiction writer and guest judge, Tyler Keevil. The shortlisted writers will also receive £100.
Tyler Keevil said: “It was an enthralling selection of stories this year. I found the process of reading through them both inspiring and humbling, and it was incredibly difficult to choose our finalists. The top twelve include an exciting mix of voices, perspectives, genres, and styles. I can’t wait to share them all with readers.”
Elaine Canning, editor of the anthology, said: “The stories which feature on the 2026 shortlist transport readers across various parts of Wales and further afield, including Italy and the US. These are compelling, tender stories focusing on environmental challenges and the natural world with strong folkloric elements; complex parent-child relationships; self-identification and obsession; and rural versus urban landscapes. It is an honour to include the work of the finalists in a special anthology dedicated to this competition – many congratulations to them all.”
Born in Blaenclydach in the Rhondda in 1901, Rhys Davies was among the most dedicated, prolific, and accomplished of Welsh prose-writers in English. He wrote, in all, more than 100 stories, 20 novels, three novellas, two topographical books about Wales, two plays, and an autobiography.
The winner will be announced in September 2026, and the anthology will be launched on Wednesday 28 October at Waterstones Swansea, featuring the finalists and overall winner, editor Elaine Canning, guest judge Tyler Keevil, and Parthian Director, Richard Davies.
Previous winners of the competition include: Naomi Paulus; Laura Morris; Matthew G. Rees; Tanya Pengelly; and Keza O’Neill.
View the 2025 anthology The Man on the Train: The Rhys Davies Short Story Award Anthology.