London Independent Story Prize 2023 Creative Writing Winners & Finalists

London Independent Story Prize 2023

Creative Writing Competition Winners, Finalists and LISP 23 Anthology Selections

LISP 2023 Winners and Finalists:

LISP 2023 Short Story Winner: 'Before the Gale by Jess Richards'

LISP 2023 Poetry Winner: 'Sea major' by Karina Fiorini

LISP 2023 Flash Fiction Winner: 'Let Him Bury His Face in the Dust' by Gillian O'Shaughnessy

LISP 2023 Short Story Finalists:

Tenner by Tunde Oyebode

Nuisance Calls by Gina Challen

The Waiter by Rhiannon Lewis

Madame Marieke by Tina Pisco

The Days of Devil's Stew by Pat Ryan

FILM CLUB: A CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE TALE by Imogen Harris

LISP 2023 Flash Fiction Finalists:

I Wonder If They See Me by Kwame MA McPherson

Dancing by Sue Harper

My Recovering-Addict Phone Buddy Talks to Her Dog by Lisa K. Buchanan

Big Drop by Laurie Bolger

Past Mortem by Ros Thomas

Cold Beer by Linda Jorgenson

Stew and Dumplings by Caitlin Magnall-Kearns

A Drunk Cedar Waxwing by Niles Reddick

A Murderous Descent by Lynn Bushell

LISP 2023 Poetry Finalists:

Kitchen Sink Drama by Sarah Boyd

Sentimental Garbage by Hannah Stephings

Relic by Fiona Dignan

Prospect Park with My Mother During an Ectopic Pregnancy by Ivy Raff

Photo Taken on A Dappled Day by Alison Grove

Pelham Woods by Kirk Millis-Ward

Midnight Hour by Jose Varghese

Timewardens by Mark Fiddes

London Independent Story Prize 2023 Anthology Selections

LISP 23 Anthology Selected Poems:

Dhal in South East London by Truly Johnston

Have You Noticed by Nelly Bryce

Daffodil by Jennifer Duffy

The Wooden Coat by Laura Kyle

After a Storm by Kirsty Woods

On Hoy by Emma Williams

He by Emily Tsang

Heavenish by Paul James McGilton

Driven by Michael Salander

In Absentia by Francesca Duffield

Pain by Danielle Todd

Two Boys Suzanna Fitzpatrick

LISP 23 Anthology Selected Flash Fiction:

The Apocalyptic Columnist by Marc D OBrien

Harrison Ford 8 is not to be trusted by Andrew Philip Boulton Without Warning, Birds Fall by ALEX REECE ABBOTT

The Wooden Coat by Laura Kyle The Tree Wife by Charles Prelle The Hitchhiker by Robert Young The First of the Last Goodbyes by Madeleine Armstrong Shotgun by Mary Francis Party by Lucy Lasasso Out of This World by Liz Gwinnell Murmuration by Sarah Masters Look at All the Places by Frances Dalton Lisbon is Yellow by Rachel Makinson Herding Instinct by Steve Saulsbury Going Out by Hugh Hayley Four Storeys ... One Ending by Julian Cadman Domestic by Sarah Hill Wheeler Decomposition by AJ Morris Coat by Letty Butler Bagatelle by Philippa Howell Hammam by Scarlett Sangster We Haven't Eaten by Christopher Bowen Recipe for a Quiet Life by Emma Burnett Did You Go A Nice Colour by Natasha Derczynski Monica by Rohit Singh Dauntless by Rebecca Douglas After the Shine Wore Off by Amy Ferguson Spits and Pieces by Pierre Perera The White Scarf by Annie Bien The Afternoon Tea by Kathrine Bancroft Breathing by Karon Alderman She told me it was just one time by Freya Morris Crumbs by Molly Lanzarotta Mire by Patricia Mullin Emma McCutcheon Catches the Light by Lee Reilly

LISP 23 Anthology Selected Short Stories:

Point and shoot by Guy Ware

Semi-Presence by Pippa Wildwood

Farfaphus by Russell Heywood

The Escalator by Jane Branson

Haven by Elizabeth Hewes

THE DEATH CAFE IS CLOSED by Rosalyn Huxley

The Stranger by Joanna Adam

Terracotta Lavender by Karen Storey

The Hanging Tree by Karen Milner

The Phantom State by Daniel Wade

Woman Is Stone by Michael Pearson

The Magnets by Kate Arnold

At the Edge of the Woods, a Sanctuary and a Mausoleum by Nikoletta Gjoni

First Fruits Sunday by Ava Ming

In Search of Michael Mouse by Ieuan Wyn Williams

Underground by Craig Smith

Holloway Road by Luke Davies

The Empty Quarter by Frida Khan

A Trip Into Town by Sue Brennan

Until Death Do Us Part by David Micklem

City Walk by Marianne Dugdale

The Painting by Neaka Mohtashemi

Barren by Karen Browne

Enter, Exit the Ghosts by Robin Luce Martin

Spoilt for Choice by Joanna Garbutt

Drive Carefully, Mum by Jessie Payne

The Hazelnut Tree by Jilly Carrell

Mr Greenlee does not visit anymore by Julie Watkins

The Vietnamese Potbelly and the Middle White by Steve Wade

Reunion by Lisa Johnson Mitchell

The Tea Dance by Clare Reddaway

The Meantime by Alexandra Gough