We’re excited to announce the longlist for the 2026 Historical Writers’ Association (HWA) Dorothy Dunnett Short Story Competition: 25 impressive pieces of historical short fiction which go through to the next round of judging.
Congratulations to all the longlisted authors!
The HWA Dorothy Dunnett Short Story Competition 2026 longlist:
Miscellaneous Papers by Aeman Abbasi
Shepherd’s Sister by Valerie Bowes
Letters to Mam by Cheryl Burman
Maleficium by Miranda Croft
The Ship’s Boy by Rose M Cullen
This Great Work by Paul Bassett Davies
Witness by John Eden
The Secret Lives of Voices by Esther Freeman
The Mason by Sally Goldsmith
Just a Couple of Sparrows by Valerie Hoare
The Lucky Star by Thomas Howell
Green by Jeffrey-Michael Kane
The Sin Eater by Liz Kershaw
The Road To Wembley by Mike Lewis
Bog an Lochan by Rob McInroy
A Turn of The Wheel by Raymie Martin
Postcript by Linda Maynard
A Pillowcase of Enchantments by Anne Meale
Gertie Goes Home by Denise Monroe
A Portrait of the Artist as a Tormented Man by JS Savage
Court Games by Morna Sullivan
To Break a Man by Rohin Surath
When the Hyenas Come Down from the Hills by Jane Thomas
Weekend Leave by Peter Walmsley
The Cailleach by Madeleine Wren
Please join us when the shortlisted, highly commended, and winning short stories are announced on Wednesday, 7 October on the awards page of the HWA website, here in Historia, and live on Twitter/X. Keep an eye out for this year’s hashtag: #HWADDSS26.
All six of these stories will be published in an anthology at the end of this year, and their authors will be invited to the HWA’s annual awards party on 18 November, 2026.
If you’d like to pass on the word about a longlisted author, feel free to use our graphics:
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
