History of the Asham Award

The Asham Award was set up by the Asham Literary Endowment trust in 1995 to encourage and promote new writing. It is open to women over 18 of any nationality, provided they are resident in the United Kingdom and have not previously had a novel or a book of short stories published. The prize money totals over £3,000. There is no set theme.

It is the only short story competition whose winners and runners-up are published alongside some of our best known women writers. Past collections have included specially commissioned stories by Carol Shields, Michèle Roberts, Barbara Trapido, Patricia Duncker, Helen Simpson, Helen Dunmore, Deborah Moggach. Margaret Atwood and A.L. Kennedy. Between 700 and 950 writers enter each Asham award.

The prize is offered every two years.

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 2009 ASHAM AWARD

Jo Lloyd, a software company project manager from Oxford won the 2009 Asham Award for Women with Because it is Running By.

Click here to read the winning story

Second prize of  £500 went  to Hilary Plews for Lily’s Army and £300 to Cherise Saywell from Edinburgh, who came third with The Candle Garden.

Nine runners-up all received cash prizes from the Asham Trust, and were congratulated on the quality and originality of their writing by the three judges. The runners-up were Alexandra Fox, Nora Morrison, Janna Connerton, Erica Rocca, Vicky Grut, Alison Dunn, Juno McKittrick, Liz Day and Catherine Chanter.

All twelve stories are published in the anthology Waving at the Gardener (Bloomsbury £8.99).

Waving at the Gardener is the last of four collections of Asham Award winning stories  to be published by Bloomsbury. In a foreword to the anthology, co-founder of Bloomsbury, Liz Calder, said the Asham collection was vital in the encouragement it gives to prospective writers. Equally crucial was Asham’s contribution to the survival of rthe short story.

“The high standards of past and present collections are clear evidence of a hugely fertile generation of new writers,” she said. “Bloomsbury is very proud to have been associated with the publication of these sparkling anthologies and to have witnessed so many promising debuts.”

Click here for full details of all the Asham short story collections