Winners! Exeter Writers Short Story Competition 2026

 We are delighted to announce the winners for the 2026 Exeter Writers Short Story Competition:

First Prize: A House Without Song by John Barrett Lee

Second Prize: The Ingredients of Home by Susan Swan

Third Prize: The F*ck Hamster by Chris Durston

Devon Prize: The Snail and the Stork by Paul Batterham

Click here for the full list of stories on the short and longlists.

We will be posting the winning stories one by one over the next week followed by interviews with our winners.

Thank you to everyone who entered and please don't be downhearted if you didn't get listed this time. There was a lot of competition!