Originally from Belfast, Elaine Canning is a festival and literary prize director, writer and editor living in Swansea, south Wales. She is currently Director of Swansea University’s Cultural Institute and the Dylan Thomas Prize. In 2023, she was elected a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales for leadership in public engagement andunderstanding.

Selected and with a foreword by Tyler Keevil.Edited by Elaine Canning.“It was an enthralling selection of stories this year. I found the process of reading through them both inspiring and humbling, and it was incredibly difficult to choose our finalists. The top twelve include an exciting mix of voices, perspectives, genres, and styles. I can’t wait to share them all with readers.” – Tyler Keevil“The stories which feature on the 2026 shortlist transport readers across various parts of Wales and further afield, including Italy and the US. These are compelling, tender stories focusing on environmental challenges and the natural world with strong folkloric elements; complex parent-child relationships; self-identification and obsession; and rural versus urban landscapes. It is an honour to include the work of the finalists in a special anthology dedicated to this competition – many congratulations to them all.” – Elaine CanningFrom the finalists and overall winner of the 2026 Rhys Davies short story competition comes this glittering, brilliant collection.A young woman with a camera retraces steps and memories as she searches a well-known hill for answers about herself and her community’s mythology; a model commits to a late night encounter in New York City as he pursues dreams of a new life; a sixteen-year-old girl faces life-changing decisions after a visit to a London hospital; and a father obsesses about the removal of a blackthorn tree from his garden in an attempt to purge memories and reality. Meanwhile, mothers chase sons’ ghosts, an artist searches for reindeer, and a taxi driver delivers a mysterious package against a backdrop of musical reminiscences.Polyphonic, deeply intimate and full of life, these are stories that traverse time, rural landscapes, coastal shores and cityscapes, that transport the reader from Wales to Italy, the US, northern forests, and more. Exploring eco-fiction, postmodernism, mystery and mythology, the writers of these stories represent some of Wales’ finest contemporary storytellers.The Rhys Davies Short Story Competition recognises the very best unpublished short stories in English in any style by writers aged 18 or over who were born in Wales, have lived in Wales for two years or more, or are currently living in Wales. Originally establishedin 1991, Parthian is delighted to publish the 2026 winning stories on behalf of the Rhys Davies Trust and in association with Swansea University’s Cultural Institute.

• Authors in this anthology: Blackthorn Winter by Dean AtkinsRobbery by Hannah DaffornFlash Flood by Lucie DonahuePiedmont by Ben FergussonFermata by Sybilla HarveyTake Me by William HuttonThe Reindeer by Issariya MorganHefted by Michelle PennyThaw by Diana PowellA River in Egypt by Satterday ShawOut of the Reen by Beth WebsterKilvey Hill by Rhys Owain Williams