The Plaza Prize-winners

URSULA KELLY grew up in Northern Ireland and currently lives in Spain. Having worked in higher education for much of her career, she is Director of an independent consultancy, specialising in economic and social impact analysis. Her poems have been accepted recently by Acumen, Gallus (Poetry Scotland), ARTEMISpoetry and Under The Radar. Her work was also Commended in the 2024 Second Light Network Poetry Competition.

My short stories have recently been published in Some Assembly Required, while my poetry has appeared in journals and anthologies, including Ink, Sweat and Tears, The Interpreter’s House and the Valley Press Anthology of Yorkshire Poetry (alongside poets such as Carol Ann Duffy and Ian McMillan).

My debut poetry pamphlet, Pierrot and His Mother, was published by Templar Poetry in 2017, following a launch event at Keats House in London. I am one of the hosts of the Rhubarb Open Mic night at the Triangle, Shipley, a member of Beehive Poets and Wharfedale Poets, and on the board of the Bradford Poetry Foundation.

Tamako Takamatsu grew up in Tennessee and Texas but has lived most of her adult life in Tokyo.

She was recently shortlisted for the Spotlight First Novel Award 2021, sponsored by Adventures in Fiction in the U.K.

A teacher at Valencia College, my fiction has appeared in Boulevard Online, New Ohio Review, The Greensboro Review, The Saturday Evening Post, Hunger Mountain, Big Fiction Magazine, A-3 Press, The Gateway Review, Cobalt, and elsewhere. Short stories of mine recently won contests sponsored by The Texas Observer, Driftwood Press, The Prism Review, Westchester Review, American Writer’s Review, Vincent Brothers Review, Pulp Literature, and Broad River Review.

After an MA in Lit at the University of Florida and a poetry fellowship at Columbia, I earned my MFA at Western New England University. I spent over a dozen years in NYC as a writer and performer—comic/satirical pieces that eventually became a pair of full-length plays (American Obsessions and Breaking Glass) at the Orlando International Fringe Festival.

Camilla Macpherson is a writer based in the UK. Her debut novel, Pictures at an Exhibition, was published by Random House and has been translated into Dutch, German and Polish. She has been recognised in a number of writing competitions including the Daily Mail First Novel Award 2008, the Bridport Prize, the Margery Allingham Crime Writers’ Association Short Story competition and the Fish Publishing prize. After many years living in London, Camilla recently spent five years in the Netherlands and is currently working on a novel set in war-time Holland. She lives with her husband and daughter, and enjoys cycling and reading detective fiction.

As a writer, I go by the name of Naz Yacoob. I was born in Mauritius and came to England as a child in 1961. I studied two university courses, History and Engineering. I have written three books: Nobody Walks in America (Part One and Part Two – a single volume) and a novel – Unveiling a Past Imperfect (yet to be published). I am presently working on a book of short stories/poems.
My recently published journey as a writer began at eighteen, and it has been a long and rewarding apprenticeship. I have dedicated myself to honing my craft and taking numerous creative writing courses. This commitment to my passion was balanced with the responsibilities of working and raising two children as a single parent. As a testament to my perseverance and dedication, ‘Nobody Walks in America’ (parts one and two), a four-thousand-mile trek across America, I did less than a decade ago. It was from Los Angeles to New Jersey, crossing thirteen states. The intensity of writing keeps me between four walls for lengthy periods. When a project is completed, I like to go on long walks—walking the Camino de Santiago twice a year, thinking, observing, taking it all in, and being out in the open.

Dora is a British-Jamaican writer, chef, food anthropologist and activist. Her poetry, prose and journalism engage with themes of nature, gender, race and community, and draw from the cultures and landscapes of her two homes. Her work is inspired by magical realism and science fiction, as well as traditions of radical imagination within her work in farming, food system campaigning and Black activism. She is a part of the Farmerama Radio team, a podcast that amplifies the voices of regenerative farmers, and a programmer for the Oxford Real Farming Conference.

Todd Murphy is an English writer, currently living in Leeds, West Yorkshire. He writes both prose and poetry and is currently working on his first novel.

Todd Murphy is interested in, what he likes to call, ‘Art with a capital A.’

He believes that this can best be achieved by combining the sublime with the utterly banal.

Kelli Short Borges is an award-winning writer with work published in multiple literary journals and anthologies. Her work has been selected for Best Microfiction, and nominated for Best of the Net and Best Small Fictions.

Kelli has always had a passion for reading, and was a reading specialist in the Arizona public school system for many years. Even so, she had never thought seriously about writing. But with a little encouragement from a great teacher and friend, she realized her passion for words extended beyond published books to getting her own stories on the page.

Since then, Kelli has written both fiction and non-fiction, and is currently working on her first novel.

Abigail Ottley is a former teacher who began writing poetry in the wake of life-changing illness. She was born in Essex into a tribe of Londoners but now lives in Penzance in Cornwall where she is a member of the all-female Mor Poetry Collective. Mor is the Cornish word for sea, which is a recurring theme in her work. Other themes include the past, especially the lost histories of working class women, mothers and mothering, and issues around voice and silencing. Twice featured in The Survivor Zine and a contributor to Magi Gibson’s Unbridled anthology, Abigail does not shy away from difficult themes. Her debut collection will be out with Gill and Mark Connors at Yaffle Press in the spring of 2025.

SIMON ROBERTS is currently based in West London and writes short stories and flash fiction. He was nominated for the 2022 Fish Short Story Prize, the 2023 Bridport Short Story Prize, and the Cranked Anvil Short Story Prize in January 2024. He has read his work on Riverside Radio, London’s largest community radio station, and Story Radio Podcast. Simon also writes for the theatre. His adaptation of Patrick Hamilton’s 1947 novel, The Slaves of Solitude, received its premiere at the Questors Theatre in May 2024.

John D. Kelly lives in Co. Fermanagh. His poetry has appeared in many literary
magazines and anthologies including Poetry Ireland Review, Magma, Cyphers,
Crannog, Skylight 47, The Honest Ulsterman, etc. Among several awards, he
won the Listowel Poetry Short Collection Award and also the Desmond
O’Grady International Poetry Competition, in 2020. His manuscript was highly
commended in the Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award 2016. Most recently he was
a finalist in the Montreal International Poetry Prize, 2022. His first collection:
The Loss Of Yellowhammers was published by Summer Palace Press in 2020.

PAUL MCMAHON is from Belfast. His debut poetry chapbook, Bourdon, was published by Southword Editions.

Paul was awarded The Keats-Shelley Poetry Prize by Carol Ann Duffy and The Nottingham Open Poetry Prize by Neil Astley. Other poetry awards include 1st prizes in The Moth International, The Fingal, The Westival, The Golden Pen, The Plaza (20 lines), and The Listowel Writers’ Week Poetry Collection Prize.

His poetry has appeared in journals such as Poetry Review, Rialto, London Magazine, Threepenny Review, North, Agenda, Atlanta Review, Stinging Fly, Irish Times, Poetry Ireland Review, Southword, and The Best New British and Irish Poets.

Rep: Julia Eagleton, Janklow & Nesbit UK.
Website: https://www.paul-mcmahon.com/

HEATHER NEWTON is the award-winning author of the novels Under The Mercy Trees (HarperCollins 2011) and The Puppeteer’s Daughters (Turner Publishing 2022) and the story collection McMullen Circle (Regal House 2022). A practicing attorney, she is co-founder and Program Manager for the Flatiron Writers Room writers’ center in Asheville, North Carolina, and teaches for UNCA’s Great Smokies Writing Program and the Charlotte Center for Literary Arts.

A number of years ago whilst on holiday I stumbled upon a small stall that was selling printed feature length screenplays. I bought ‘Rocky’ for $20! I loved it and felt compelled to write my own. I’ve written two feature length screenplays and written a handful of short stories. I am currently working on a novelette- length piece of fiction.
Aside from writing I’m a Police Detective based in the UK with my wife, 2 children and our black Labrador. When time allows I love being outdoors, in the mountains, climbing, running and cold water swimming.

Alan McCormick lives in Wicklow. He’s a trustee of InterAct Stroke Support who read fiction and poetry to stroke patients. Earlier this year he was awarded an Irish Arts Council Literature Bursary to work on a book of creative non-fiction.

His writing can be read in recent issues of The Stinging Fly, Banshee, Southword, Exacting Clam and Sonder; Best British Short Stories, Popshot and Confingo; and online at 3:AM Magazine, Fictive Dream, Dead Drunk Dublin, Mono, Words for the Wild and Époque Press. His story, ‘Fire Starter’, came second in last year’s RTÉ Story Competition in honour of Francis MacManus.

Caro Griffin lives in London and Maine. She recently completed an MSt in Crime and Thriller Writing at Cambridge University. Her short story ‘Winter’ won PaperBound Magazine’s Writing Prize, and her story ‘Bones’ was one of the winners of the 2021 City Writes competition, sponsored by City, University of London. Her first novel, Lobster Wars, is about two boys who witness a murder on a remote island off the coast of Maine. The Grey Zone is a fast-paced, contemporary crime novel that also takes place in coastal Maine.

Gabriela is a writer and performer. She has been awarded the Royal Society of Literature V S Pritchett award and is published alongside Sarah Waters in Virago’s collection of ghostly tales, Something was There. After receiving a First Class degree in History, Gabriela trained at Drama Studio London where she was awarded student of the year. In 2007, she completed an MA in Creative Writing with Distinction, and co-founded writLOUD, a literary event based in London (now called Hubbub). Currently, she teaches ‘writing out loud’ for MA students at Oxford University, as well as hosting her own workshops for writers. She also provides mentoring services for writers.

Gabriela is the Assistant Director at The John Osborne Arvon Centre for Writers.

For most of her life Jenny Pollak has been a full time artist, focusing her arts practice in photography, sculpture and video installation. In 2012 she began a poetry practice, and has since been published in various journals and anthologies, including Meanjin; the Australian Poetry Journal; Red Room Poetry; Plumwood Mountain; and Australian Award Winning Writing. She has been shortlisted for the Bridport Prize, the Fish Poetry Prize, and the Newcastle Poetry Prize, among others. In 2016 she won the Bruce Dawe Poetry Prize. Shadowplay, a collaborative poem written with the British Poet Philip Gross, was published as a pamphlet book by Flarestack Poets, UK, in 2018. She is currently working on her first collection of poetry.

Kieran Marsh’s short fiction has been published, shortlisted and featured broadly in magazines and newspapers including New Irish Writing, RTE’s Arena program and most recently the Froom Literary Festival Competition. His novel, The Recipe of You, was shortlisted for the Flash 500 novel competition and got an honorary mention from the IWC for their Novel Fair. He is currently completing a Masters in Creative Writing in DCU. More information and links to published work on http://gooseberryseason.com.

Helen’s two early collections, Bottle bank and For the Chiding Dove, were published by YWO/Legend Press (supported by The Arts Council) and available on Amazon.
Also published in Aesthetica, Orbis, The Fenland Reed.
Helen’s poetry was longlisted for The Rialto Nature and Place Competition 2018 and 2022.
Helen was Longlisted for the 2019 Ginkgo Prize competition.
Helen’s poetry was Shortlisted for the Bridport Poetry Prize in 2018, 2019 and 2022.
Longlisted for The National Poetry Competition 2022.

Barbara Black’s work has appeared in The Cincinnati Review, Geist, The Hong Kong Review, Prairie Fire, and CV2, and in many anthologies, including Bath Flash Fiction Award 2020. Achievements include: Fiction Finalist, 2020 National Magazine Awards; Winner, 2017 Writers’ Union of Canada Short Prose Competition; Winner, Federation of BC Writers Contests (Prose Poem) 2018 and (Flash Fiction) 2021/2022; and Shortlisted for the 2023 Edinburgh Flash Fiction Award. Her debut short story collection Music from a Strange Planet was a 2023 International Book Awards Finalist (Best New Fiction); 2023: Indie Reader Discovery Award Winner (Short Story Collection); 2023: Firebird Book Awards Winner (New Fiction) and Winner (Short Stories); 2023: Sunshine Coast Writers & Editors Society Book Award Winner (Fiction); and 2022: The Wishing Shelf Book Awards Winner (Adult Fiction). Her flash and microfiction collection Little Fortified Stories is forthcoming in spring 2024.

Hongwei Bao grew up in China and lives in Nottingham, UK. He studied Gender and Cultural Studies at the University of Sydney, Australia, and creative writing at City Lit, London. He uses poetry, short stories and creative nonfiction to explore issues of queer desire, Asian identity, gender politics and transcultural intimacy. His work has appeared in Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, Ponder Review, Positions Politics, Shanghai Literary Review, The Autoethnographer, The Sociological Review, Voice & Verse, Write On and Words Without Borders. His nonfiction ‘Fragrant Bananas’ is forthcoming with the Allegory Ridge Nonfiction Anthology Allegheny.

J.B. Rex was shortlisted in the 2023 ChipLitFest Short Story Competition, longlisted in the Fish Publishing 2022 Short Story Prize, won 2nd place in the 2018 Bluecat Screenplay Competition, was a finalist in the 2017 Screencraft Horror Screenplay Contest, and was published in the Conte Online literary journal. He spent 15 years in Boston working as a preschool teacher and playing music in a touring rock band (Charlene circa 1997 – 2008), as well as co-running a recording studio (Dented Head Studios) and an independent music label (SharkAttack! Music). He is currently a psychotherapist in private practice. J.B. Rex lives in Pennsylvania with his wonderful wife and two cats. He goes to the skatepark every weekend to ride his skateboard with all the youngsters, but has not perfected his frontside half cab kickflip, yet.

For most of her life Jenny Pollak has been a full time artist, focusing her arts practice in photography, sculpture and video installation. In 2012 she began a poetry practice, and has since been published in various journals and anthologies, including Meanjin; the Australian Poetry Journal; Red Room Poetry; Plumwood Mountain; and Australian Award Winning Writing. She has been shortlisted for the Bridport Prize, the Fish Poetry Prize, and the Newcastle Poetry Prize, among others. In 2016 she won the Bruce Dawe Poetry Prize. Shadowplay, a collaborative poem written with the British Poet Philip Gross, was published as a pamphlet book by Flarestack Poets, UK, in 2018. She is currently working on her first collection of poetry.

John D Kelly lives in Co. Fermanagh. His poetry has appeared in many literary
magazines and anthologies including Poetry Ireland Review, Magma, Cyphers,
Crannog, Skylight 47, The Honest Ulsterman, etc. Among several awards, he
won the Listowel Poetry Short Collection Award and also the Desmond
O’Grady International Poetry Competition, in 2020. His manuscript was highly
commended in the Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award 2016. Most recently he was
a finalist in the Montreal International Poetry Prize, 2022. His first collection:
The Loss Of Yellowhammers was published by Summer Palace Press in 2020.