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Rhys Davies Short Story Competition

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The 2027 competition opens for entries: MONDAY 16 NOVEMBER 2026

The Rhys Davies Short Story Competition is a distinguished national writing competition for writers born or living in Wales. Originally established in 1991, we are delighted to manage this prestigious award on behalf of The Rhys Davies Trust and in association with Parthian Books.

About Rhys Davies

Rhys Davies as a young man

Born in Blaenclydach, near Tonypandy in the Rhondda, in 1901, Rhys Davies was among the most dedicated, prolific, and accomplished of Welsh prose-writers in English. With unswerving devotion and scant regard for commercial success, he practised the writer’s craft for some fifty years, in both the short story and the novel form, publishing in his lifetime a substantial body of work on which his literary reputation now firmly rests. He wrote, in all, more than a hundred stories, twenty novels, three novellas, two topographical books about Wales, two plays, and an autobiography. 

Continued...

In 1967 he won the Edgar, a prize awarded by the Mystery Writers of America, for a collection of stories, The Chosen One (1967), and in 1968 he was admitted to the Order of the British Empire. In 1971 he was given the Welsh Arts Council’s principal prize for his distinguished contribution to the literature of Wales, but could not be persuaded to attend the reception in Cardiff. He died in a London hospital on 21 August 1978.

‘As Wales’ pre-eminent short story writer it’s appropriate that the name of Rhys Davies should be attached to the latest contest for works in this much neglected form. The competition, which began in 1991, has encouraged a whole range of new writers to test out how best to manage something that’s often more substantial than a poem but nowhere near the long distance of the novel. As culture moves ever towards the swifter and the more concise, we are delighted to support the relaunch of this national competition.’ - Peter Finch, Secretary, Rhys Davies Trust

Awards

  • 1st Prize - £1,000 sterling and publication in a short story anthology to be published by Parthian Books in 2027.

  • Runners-up/Finalist Prizes - £100 each and publication in a short story anthology to be published by Parthian Books in 2027.

How to enter

The 2027 competition opens for entries: MONDAY 16 NOVEMBER 2026
Deadline for receipt of entries: MONDAY 15 FEBRUARY 2027 AT MIDNIGHT

How to enter:

  1. Read the Entry Rules, Terms and Conditions - 2027 Rhys Davies Short Story Competition.
  2. Pay the entry fee and receive your unique reference number CLICK HERE. For details of eligibility for free entry, please consult the terms and conditions.
  3. Please complete the entry form CLICK HERE.
a photo of Joe Dunthorne from the chest up.

Guest Judge 2027 - Joe Dunthorne

Joe Dunthorne is a poet and novelist. His debut novel, Submarine, was translated into fifteen languages and made into an award-winning film. His second novel, Wild Abandon, won the Royal Society of Literature’s Encore Award. His debut poetry collection, O Positive, was published by Faber & Faber in 2019. His latest book, Children of Radium – a memoir about family and chemical weapons – was adapted as a podcast for BBC Radio 4 and won a Wales Book of the Year award in 2026. He was born in Swansea and lives in London.

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The Rhys Davies Short Story Award Anthology 2026

Front cover image of The Rhys Davies Short Story Award Anthology 2026