Thank you to everyone that submitted work to the Mairtin Crawford Awards for Short Story and Poetry 2026.
We are delighted to reveal the shortlist.
Poetry Award (in alphabetical order):
- Pratibha Castle
- Róisín Leggett Bohan
- Sarah Michaelides
- Jeremy Nelson
- Jilly O'Brien
- Loretta Stanley
Short Story Award (in alphabetical order):
- Joby Fox
- David Hughes
- Andrew Maguire
- Nicky Marcus
- Dara McWade
- Catherine Ogston
The winners and runner-ups of both Awards will be announced during a special event at the Belfast Book Festival on Thursday 4 June. Do join us if you can.
We received an overwhelming number of high-quality entries for 2026, making our Judges' decisions incredibly difficult. The Judges were grateful for the opportunity to read your work.
May we take the opportunity to wish everyone all the best with their writing journey, and hope you continue to submit work to future Awards and Competitions.
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