We are delighted to announce the results of the 2025 Imagined Worlds Creative Writing Competition:

Winner: Tom Harris, Filed in Advance Commended: Jack Wyatt, The World Without Me Commended: Stephanie Kho, Recycle

The competition invited writers from across London to submit short works of fiction in response to the theme Imagined Worlds. Our panel of judges — Francis Gene-Rowe, Ese Erheriene, and Chris Barnham — had the difficult task of selecting from a strong and varied pool of entries.

The winning and commended stories are published in In the Bag of Stars, the first ever publication from Calico Press. The pamphlet also includes pieces from members of our Teens Creative Writing Club.

On Saturday 30th May, we celebrated the launch at a showcase and reception at Manor House Library, where five writers read their work to an audience of family and friends, fellow club members, colleagues from Calico Projects and Lewisham Libraries, local ward councillors, and supporters of writing initiatives from across London.

The readers on the night were:

Ryan W. — What Did I Miss? James Mac — Two Poems William Bennett — Walking Around the Block Jack Wyatt — The World Without Me Tom Harris — Filed in Advance

Physical copies of In the Bag of Stars are available to purchase at all four Calico libraries, and it can be read for free in the Lewisham Community Zine Library. A digital copy is available to read below.

We hope this is the first of many more Calico Press publications to come. Watch this space for future writing opportunities.