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