Our POETRY judge, Jen Calleja, is a writer, translator and publisher based in Hastings and originally from Shoreham-By-Sea. She is the author of Vehicle: a verse novel, the essay-and-poem collection Goblinhood: Goblin as a Mode, the book-length poem Dust Sucker, and the poetry collections Serious Justice and Hamburger in the Archive. She also translates German-language fiction, poetry and essays, and was shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize for her translation of Marion Poschmann's The Pine Islands. She is co-publisher at Praspar Press, which publishes Maltese literature in English and English translation.

In her role as Hastings Book Festival poetry judge, Jen says "I'm looking for poems that are so intriguing I want to read them twice (or more). I like to see attention to form and how it works in tandem with what the poem is attempting to say. If you put time and care into your poetry - while having a good time in the process - it will come through in the final submission."

Visit her website here: www.jencalleja.com

Our CREATIVE NON-FICTION judgeSam Davey is the founder of the Hastings Book Festival (previously 'Hastings Literary Festival') and chair of the Hastings Writers' Group.

Sam has created the Founder’s Prize for CREATIVE NON-FICTION as an opportunity for new and emerging local writers. Creative Non-Fiction explores real events and experiences in a way that is both informative and engaging, often using narrative techniques found in fiction – such as vivid descriptions, dialogue, character development, and narrative structure – but all the while maintaining factual accuracy. Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” is a fabulous example.

She is a prize-winning short story writer and her second novel “The Chosen Queen” will be published by Diversion Books in June 2025. Sam has always loved the Arthurian stories, having first encountered the retellings as a young girl. She lives on the southeast coast of England with her husband. 

Visit her website here: SamDaveyRoughMagic.net

Our SHORT STORY judge, James Young, is a writer and literary translator from Northern Ireland.

His short stories have appeared in a wide range of publications and been shortlisted for the Sean O'Faolain, Wasafiri, Fish, and Bath prizes. He is the editor of Short Fiction literary journal and the founder and director of the Hastings Writers Workshop, a creative writing centre established in 2021. His translation of The Love of Singular Men by the Brazilian author Victor Heringer was a finalist for the 2024 National Book Critics Circle Awards John Leonard Prize and the ALTA First Translation Prize, won the 2024 Jabuti Prize for the best Brazilian novel published abroad, and was runner-up for the Society of Authors/Translators Association First Translation Prize.

James offers this advice for competition entrants: "A good short story can change how we see ourselves, others and the world, and linger long after we've finished reading. It can delight, move and surprise, and leave gaps only our imaginations can fill. It is a space for fresh, authentic, often rarely heard voices, thrilling experiments with style and form, vividly drawn characters and settings, and, of course, gripping, unforgettable stories. The best short story writers make subtle magic with narrative structure and time, and conjure endings that open up, not slam shut. Tips? Be exciting. Be original. Let your story surprise you as much as it does your readers. Strive for perfection and fall heroically short. Redraft until your ink runs dry or your keyboard has lost its markings. Alternatively, ignore all of this – just write it!"

You can find details of James's workshops on his website here: hastingswritersworkshop.com