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Thank you to the 750 students, designers, photographers, scientists, philanthropists, teachers, social workers, conservationists, painters, actors and retirees who put pen to paper and entered our inaugural writing prize – and with such vivid, compelling and often soul-baring work.
The youngest entrant was 18, and the eldest 84. Time and again we were struck by the clear care taken in crafting these rich and original pieces, be they poignant and highly personal stories of finding homes away from home, vivid romps through the bedrooms of drag queens, or ambitious, transportative prose poems. Choosing the winners has been both uplifting and immensely challenging. The competition set out to find a selection of outstanding writers from the USA and the UK, and the judges were blown away by the standard of the entries we received. ‘It’s ultimately so moving to have so many intensely talented people turn it on, so to speak, for The World of Interiors!’ says judge and creative director at large Hamish Bowles. Entrants were given the deliberately ambiguous prompt of ‘Writing Home’ and tasked with creating a piece of short creative writing in whatever style, mode or form they would like – whether poetry, prose, journalism or creative non-fiction.
A small team of four dedicated staffers who understand the magic ingredients of a WoI piece carefully read each entry before whittling the applications down to a longlist of just 12 – each one outstanding and totally distinctive. These were then read, re-read and pored over by our expert judging panel, including Hamish, WoI editor Emily Tobin, esteemed editor Shelley Wanger and acclaimed playwright Jeremy O. Harris. They knew going in that the winning pieces would have highly original ideas and an exceptional quality of writing, but ultimately, as Emily puts it, ‘we chose texts that moved us deeply; that stayed with us long after reading’.
The final six entries are presented here on worldofinteriors.com, and in the November 2024 issue of The World of Interiors, with one overall winner from the UK and USA and four worthy runners-up.
The competition coincides with an important anniversary year for The World of Interiors, as we celebrated our 500th issue in April 2024. It’s also a crucial milestone for our sponsor, Montblanc, which has helped to bring the competition to life. This year, the luxury maison celebrates the 100th anniversary of the ‘Meisterstück’ pen, first issued in 1924. Meisterstück literally translates to ‘masterpiece’ in English; a fitting reflection, we think, of the works created below.
If you missed out this year, stay tuned as the writing competition will be returning in 2025 with a new theme and another chance to feature on our pages. Sign up to the newsletter for the latest announcements about next year’s competition, and to read even more of our favourite stories on the longlist.
UK Winner: Tayiba Sulaiman
Tayiba is a writer and translator from Manchester, England. She recently completed a literary translation mentor ship in German with the National Centre for Writing. As the judges discussed her piece, there was a unanimous sense it was ‘complex’ and ‘mysterious’ – other words reverberating around the room were ‘mystical’ and ‘dark’, ‘rich’ and ‘alive’. ‘Her story holds a great deal of power,’ says judge Hamish Bowles, with Jeremy O'Harris agreeing: ‘I felt like I was in VR.’ Shelley says the opening line ‘hits you like a gut punch’. Read Tayiba’s winning story here.
US Winner: Mary Bergman
Mary is a preservationist from Provincetown, Massachusetts, and now lives on Nantucket Island. When not writing or swimming, she can be found at the registry of deeds or in the dunes. Mary’s story, We Could Never Live Here Again, swoops over each sense one by one, just as it sculpts the ‘wind-blown Liza Minnelli’ within it. ‘It felt like a celebration of this specific moment in time,’ says judge Emily Tobin, ‘and the sadness that can be glossed over by someone else’s experience in that same space.’ Shelley Wanger describes the piece as ‘unbelievably original’. Read Mary’s winning story here.
Further reading on The World of Interiors Writing Prize:
- Read the runner-up entries that were too good not to publish
- Meet the judges: Emily Tobin, Hamish Bowles, Jeremy O’Harris and Shelley Wanger
- Sign up to The World of Interiors newsletter, and be among the first to know details of the 2025 competition
A version of this article also appears in the November 2024 issue of ‘The World of Interiors’. Learn about our subscription offers. Sign up for our bi-weekly newsletter, and be the first to receive exclusive stories like this one, direct to your inbox
