The Historical Writers Association

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News

HWA / DDS Short Story Competition – Winner, Highly Commended and Shortlist

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Thank you so much to all our readers and judges, and to everyone who submitted. It was a fantastic year.

Winner

. Collapse ~ Chrissy Sturt 

An immediately engrossing tale of a family in Southampton in 1940. A great sense of place and character and a full and satisfying story told with economy and grace.

Highly Commended

. Forever Mine ~ Bradford Gyori

A haunting tale of the American west with a fresh and persuasive voice which feels like an epic in miniature.

. Homecoming ~ Ruth Moore

A dark and unsettling tale of a return after World War II. Superb writing and a shimmering tension which delivers an impressive twist. 

Shortlisted

. The Coachman’s Tale ~ Stuart Fortey

A convincing story of the household of Charles Dickens – moving and surprising.

. The Whole of the Moon ~ John Irving Clarke

Gentle, hopeful and musical encounter between a Falklands veteran and an unusual young woman.

. The Tale of Mud-Mary ~ Valerie Thompson 

A lovely lyrical story which conjures a whole 19th century community along a riverbank.

We look forward to publishing all six of these short stories as an anthology later in the year, and Collapse will also be published on www.historiamag.com and the Dorothy Dunnett Society Magazine, The Whispering Gallery. 

HWA / Dorothy Dunnett Short Story – Longlist Announced

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Huge congratulations to all the longlisted writers – 2022 has proved another really strong year for the HWA DDS Short Story Competition with stories which took us from Homeric times to the 1980s. All of the stories long listed are fresh, engaging works and our final round judges have savoured each and every one. The shortlist and winners will be announced on 4 October.

. Sugar Plum ~ Lucy Ashe 

. Uncertain Terms ~ Juno Baker 

. Terrible Wife ~ Briony Bax 

. Fortuna Redux ~ Thea Burgess 

. Featherweight ~ Andrew Burnet 

. The Stuff of which Fairytales Are Made ~ Georgina Clarke 

. Binkie ~ Chris Cottom 

. Freedom’s Fires ~ Malina Douglas 

. The Coachman’s Tale ~ Stuart Fortey 

. Forever Mine ~ Bradford Gyori 

. Screaming Dogfight with the Light ~ Richard Hooton 

. The Whole of the Moon ~ John Irving Clarke 

. The Quill Pen Maker’s Apprentice ~ Dee La Vardera 

. The Dinner Bell ~ Patrick Larsimont 

. The Prince and the Pardieri ~ Kate MacCarthy 

. Assumption Day ~ Lourdes Mackey 

. Sins of Pride ~ Sarah Matthews 

. Homecoming ~ Ruth Moore 

. The Selkie’s Gift ~ Catherine Ogston 

. The Tangerine Queen ~ Hilary Orme 

. Beasts of Holm ~ Willie Orr 

. Careme and the Crime of the Century ~ Emma Seaman 

. Collapse ~ Chrissy Sturt 

. The Tale of Mud-Mary ~ Valerie Thompson 

. I Have a Name ~ Frances Turner

HWA Crowns Longlist Announcement 28 September

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We are all lovers of history, and we are living through a remarkable moment after the death of Her Majesty the Queen and the accession of King Charles. We suspect that our members and readers will want to take some time to watch and think about this change of reigns. As a result we’ve decided to delay the announcements of the HWA Crown Awards Longlists for a week until the 28 September to make sure the amazing nonfiction, debuts and novels we’ve been reading will get the attention they deserve. The shortlists will still be announced on 25 October. We will be announcing the winners on 23 November and holding our awards party that evening.

We’ll be announcing the awards on twitter via @HistoriaHWA and follow up with all the details of the selected books on www.historiamag.com and here.

New Dates for announcement of Crown Awards long and shortlists

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We are delighted by the number of submissions we’ve received, up almost 50% on last year. The number of excellent books means we’ve decided to change the dates of the announcements of the longlist and shortlist so our panels have the chance to come to a considered decision. See below for details.

The 2022 Crown Awards (Debut, Gold and Non-Fiction) are for full length books published for the first time in English in the UK between the 1 April 2021 – 31st March 2022. For fiction, the bulk of the narrative of the work submitted must take place at least thirty-five years prior to publication. For non-fiction, the key events must have taken place, or the subject have been primarily active at least thirty-five years prior to publication.

Our judges are writers, historians, booksellers and enthusiasts and we support all our longlisted and shortlisted books with extensive social media and features on Historia. An author does not need to be a member of the Historical Writers Association for their book to be entered.

Crown Awards Timeline

Nominations closed: 30 April 2022

Longlists announced: 21 September 2022

Shortlists announced: 25 October 2022 

Awards ceremony: 23 November 2022

Dorothy Dunnett / HWA Short Story Award 2022

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We are delighted to announced our short story competition, run in partnership with the Dorothy Dunnett Society is now open for entries! All details and how to enter here. The word limit is a generous 3500 and the entry fee is still £5. Transport us into the past and you could win mentoring, inclusion in our anthology of short listed stories. The deadline for entries is 1 July.