Pat Kavanagh Prize celebrates Creative and Life Writing students
Primary page content
The annual prize recognising the excellence of MA Creative and Life Writing students was awarded to Sophie García Halliday.
Sophie García Halliday
Now in its 17th year, the £500 Prize commemorates literary agent Pat Kavanagh, who passed away in 2008. The Pat Kavanagh Prize is sponsored by C&W agency, and agent Sarah Ballard from C&W presented the 2026 award at a ceremony on campus.
This year’s winner is Sophie García Halliday for ‘Edith Hendricks,’ an excerpt from an as-yet untitled novel about a food writer in 1960s New York and her relationship with her mother, who is a survivor of the German occupation of France during the Second World War.
The shortlisted writers for 2026 were:
- ‘Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha’ by James Wham
- ‘Girl zone’ by Sophie Renouf
- ‘Nine Months’ by Rachel Robinson
- ‘Means of Coping’ by Clara-Læïla Laudette
Since the founding of the prize seventeen years ago, many of the winners and shortlisted students have used it as a springboard for their writing careers.
Dr Tom Lee, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing
Dr Tom Lee, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing and co-ordinator for the Pat Kavanagh Prize, said “We are delighted to be able to celebrate the work of our wildly talented students on the MA Creative and Life Writing in collaboration with C&W Literary Agency.”
The MA has been so valuable for me, not least because it gave me the time, space, and structure to focus on my writing. It’s probably been the most formative experience of my writing life.
Sophie García Halliday, winner of the Pat Kavanagh Prize 2026
Winning writer Sophie García Halliday said, “I feel very surprised and lucky to have won the prize! Jim Wham, Sophie Renouf, Rachel Robinson, and Clara-Læïla Laudette were all shortlisted, too, and they are all incredibly talented writers, so I am in very good company. I’m grateful to the team at C&W for their reading my work and for their kind feedback. It’s helped me feel ready to take the next steps in my career as a writer.”
“I owe a lot to the faculty, particularly Francis Spufford. Without him I wouldn’t have known to focus on this novel and make it the work it is today,” she added.