A Keele University academic is celebrating after winning a prestigious prize from the Royal Society of Literature for her short story set in Stoke-on-Trent.

Dr Lisa Blower, a lecturer in Creative Writing, said she was 'chuffed' to be awarded the V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize 2025, after seeing off competition from hundreds of other authors.

Previously unpublished, Blessing in Burslem will feature in the upcoming issue of the society's Review magazine, which will be released next month. The story, which explores a recent widow's complicated relationship to grief, identity and the self, will also be available to read online, with Lisa receiving £1,000 and a trophy.

On winning the prize, Lisa said: “I'm so chuffed! I was delighted just to be shortlisted alongside several other great short stories, so to win the award is very special.

“I write a lot about Stoke-on-Trent, where I’m from. The story is about a 70-something widowed woman who answers a call to be a model for an art class at the Burslem School of Art and whicshe gradually comes to see as a way to be remembered, having otherwise lived invisibly and on the margins.

“It looks at the way we view our bodies as we age, the way we come to separate mind from body as we come to the end, and how we strip away layers of ourselves to find our true identity.

“I'd like to dedicate this success to Philippa Brewster who was my agent for about 15 years, and we lost her last year. This is proof that her light still shines on me, so thank you very much.”

Author and judge Tania Hershman described it as being “a piece of writing that offers the reader more and more each time you read it,” while adding she felt privileged “to have been one of those who could make sure it finds its way out into the world with all of the celebration it deserves.”

Lisa, who joined the creative writing team at Keele in 2023, was born in Stoke-on-Trent and went to school in Stockton Brook. The award-winning writer often pays homage to the Potteries in her work.

The author of three books, her play The Miner Birds commemorating 40 years of the North Staffs Miners' Wives Action Group will be performed at The New Vic Theatre on March 6th, with tickets now on sale.

The V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize was founded by the Royal Society of Literature in 1999 to commemorate the centenary of an author widely regarded as one of the finest English short story writers of the 20th century. The award is supported by the Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society.

*Image courtesy of ALCS (Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society).