Thank you so much for your patience while I have read, digested and deliberated the many wonderful poems that have been submitted to the summer poetry contest at Fiction Factory.
The standard was so high this year that I had to think long and hard about the final list. It pained me to decide against some of the entries. So many of them tackled subjects that I myself would never have thought to address in a poem. Or used flourishes that both delighted and startled me. The reason I am taking the time to tell you this is, if your name doesn’t appear on the list below it’s because I had to decide against many amazing poems in order to decide upon the following shortlist.
I think it’s important to underline this because I know from my own experience that rejection can be a bitter blow. That sometimes we can tell ourselves that our poetry simply isn’t good enough as a result. I’m here to say that all the poems I read had merit and the judgment process was exceedingly hard as a result. But those that found a place in the short list astounded and moved me above all others.
Without further ado, it’s time to announce the results.
The winning poem and poet is:
I Dated an Ex-Communist by Iain McLure
Iain has won a cash prize, a commentary on his poem and an hour-long mentorship Zoom call with the judge.
The four other shortlisted poems and poets are:
Neon Lullaby by Manju Devi
Good Hands by Tina Sederholm
Ghost by Graham Taylor
Chore by Suzi Mezei
All four poets in the short list will receive a commentary on their poem from the judge.
Commentaries will be emailed to all winners on Tuesday 7th of July 2026. Please check your spam folders if you have not received the commentary by 5pm GMT.
We regret that due to the volume of entries we cannot enter into correspondence about individual poems.
A huge thank you to all who took part in this competition. If you have not been selected this time, please do submit your work to future competitions as everyone who entered submitted a poem that I am grateful to have read.
