It gives us great pleasure to announce the winning and shortlisted stories in the 2026 Historical Writers’ Association (HWA) Dorothy Dunnett Short Story Competition.
The winning story in the 2026 HWA Dorothy Dunnett Short Story Competition
The winner of the 2026 HWA Dorothy Dunnett Short Story Competition:
Just A Couple Of Sparrows by Valerie Hoare
Our judges say: At the end of his life, a man tells the story of a great love. Moving and quietly lyrical.
Highly commended
Two shortlisted stories are also highly commended:
The Sin Eater by Liz Kershaw
Old customs at the dawn of the 20th century provide the framework for a clever, atmospheric story of justice finally delivered.
When the Hyenas Come Down from the Hills by Jane Thomas
A delicate story of belonging and displacement across Europe and Africa before WWII.
Shortlisted
Three more stories are shortlisted in this year’s competition:
The Ship’s Boy by Rose M Cullen
An epic sea-faring adventure in miniature set at the close of the American Civil War.
This Great Work by Paul Bassett Davies
A vivid and exacting story of a man whose fate hangs on Cromwell’s word during the English Civil War.
Bog an Lochan by Rob McInroy
A bravura plunge into a Samhain’s eve dance somewhere in the county of Perth.
Congratulations to the winner and to all the shortlisted authors! They’re invited to the HWA awards ceremony on 18 November, 2026, where they’ll receive their prizes.
We’ll publish all six of these short stories as an anthology, available as an ebook or paperback, in time for the awards party. The winning story will also be published in the Dorothy Dunnett Society magazine, Whispering Gallery, in December, and after that here in Historia.
HWA Chair Imogen Robertson says: “Many congratulations to the shortlisted writers, and many thanks to all the writers who submitted. It was a delight to be transported around the world and across the centuries by so many fantastic stories, and a real struggle to narrow the submissions down to a longlist and select the winners. The range and quality of the writing shows us once again how history remains a rich and fertile ground for imagination and exploration.”
We’d like to thank our first round readers, who chose the 25-strong longlist, and our judges for the final round: Janet Angelini, Katherine Clements, Najma Finlay and Flora Rees.
See the longlisted stories in this year’s competition.
Read the stories that won past HWA Dorothy Dunnett Short Story Competitions:
2025: Final Score by Sean Lusk
2024: St Kilda Bird Song by KF MacCarthy
2023: Hecate’s Daughter by Jo Tiddy
2022: Collapse by Chrissy Sturt
2021: His Mother’s Quilt by Naomi Kelsey
2020: The Race by Alice Fowler
2019: The Daisy Fisher by Kate Jewell
2018: Nineteen Above Discovery by Jennifer Falkner
2017: A Poppy Against the Sky by Annie Whitehead
