Exeter Writers

Exeter Writers; Richard Handy, Cathie Hartigan, Elizabeth Ducie and Jonathan Posner  Several members of Exeter Writers attended the award ceremony for the Exeter Novel Prize yesterday. Exeter Writers have sponsored the prize since its inception in 2013. This year under the new management of Pippa and David of Word Kitchen the event was held at Exeter Library and on Zoom - which demonstrates how incredibly international the prize now is.  Uduak-Abasi Ekong, Winner We heard first from authors Fiona Williams and Orlando Murrin who have championed the Exeter Novel Prize. We then heard the opening pages from each of the shortlisted finalists before London agent, Hellie Ogden, gave a short and enthusiastic critique of each one.  Every novel was worthy of winning but it was  Uduak-Abasi Ekong who took home the biggest prize for her tremendously compelling and creepy psychological horror,  Welcome Back, Darling . Huge congratulations to her. We all hope to read ...

  The shortlist for our 2026 short story competition has just been announced. You can see the titles of the 11 stories here.

  The longlist for our 2026 short story competition has just been announced. You can see the titles of the 22 stories here.

  Elizabeth Wins International Publishing Award Elizabeth Ducie has been honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 9th Annual Women in Publishing Summit. The award was presented at the closing session on Wednesday 11 th March. Elizabeth spent more than thirty years as an international manufacturing consultant and technical writer before turning to creative fiction in 2006—and what followed is a masterclass in what indie publishing, done with intention, can look like. Under her own imprint, Chudleigh Phoenix Publications, she has published more than twenty titles including the  Jones Sisters  international thriller series, the  Coombesford Chronicles  cozy mystery series, and six collections of short stories. Her debut novel,  Gorgito's Ice Rink , was runner-up in  Writing Magazine ‘s Self-Published Book of the Year Awards in 2015. But the achievement that defines Elizabeth's legacy is arguably her  Business of Writing  series—a prac...

 The 2026 Exeter Writers Short Story Competition is now closed for entries. Good luck to everyone who has entered, we look forward to reading your work. The longlist will be announced on the 25th April.

  2026 Short Story Competition ends soon! As we cruise into February, we approach the closing date for our 17th annual short story competition. Polish up those phrases! Check your word count! Read the rules one last time! Hit Enter!