The first round of judging is over and here are the eighteen entries that have made it on to this year’s longlist for you to enjoy.
The anonymity of the writers has been preserved until the final judging has been completed, so there are no names attached to these pieces yet. The shortlist of three will be announced at the end of January, along with the other shortlists for the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards, and after that we’ll add the writers’ names to these posts.
Congratulations to all the longlisted writers – you’ll know who you are! Commiserations to those who haven’t made the cut and thank you for entering. Although no one has been travelling much this year, the standard of entries was every bit as high as usual and we greatly enjoyed reading all of them.
Preliminary judge Janice Booth comments:
‘Horizons clearly haven’t been stunted by Covid 19: this year’s destinations spread from Scarborough to the Sahara, New York to Nepal and Australia to the Arctic, with many others in between. Entries include bandits, blackbirds, Brexit, cave art, earthquakes, fireworks, fish & chips, graveyards, icebergs, logging, a mink coat, otters, owls, perfume, safaris, sharks, stars, trekking, wooden whistles . . . and a whole lot more. The all-important theme, “I’d love to go back”, was well used in all but a few cases so the overall mood is one of reflective nostalgia, for places that the writers loved before coronavirus struck and long to see again once it recedes.’
Here are excerpts to the eighteen pieces:
“Who are you?!”
By Tom Swithenbank
585 Bury Road
By Jennifer Thompson
For Here Be Barbarians
By Christopher Walsh
Gooseberry Hill: A Child Enraptured
By Katy Partridge
Green Lassi, Golden City
By Lu Barnham
Hope in Pink Meringue
By Anita King
Little Monsters
By Ruth Cox
Oddballs’
By Marilyn Denbigh
Refuge
By Richard Lakin
Salvation in Surabaya
By Joelle Fordham
Seagull Song
By Amanda Huggins
Simply Sitges… (oh how I’d love to go back!)
By Kirsten Braund
The Boy with Lemon Hair
By Andrew Dennis
The Dream of the Desert
By Agnieszka Herman
The Man I Met
By Marc Jones
The Officer
By John McFadzean
We Saw It All
By Hebe Nicholls
Yearning to return to Belgrade
By Jacqueline Hitt