The Laurie Herring Prize for Critical Response
Winners of the 2026 Laurie Herring Prize with this year’s guest speaker, Grace Murray; judge, Dan Clifton, and Laurie’s sister, Anna Herring
Thank you to everyone who submitted an entry to the 2026 Laurie Herring Prize. Your words surprised and delighted, provoked and entertained.
Years 7 and 8
FIRST PRIZE
Jessica Dury: Life on Display
SECOND PRIZE
Katherine Davidson: Why Does the World Favour Morning People?
THIRD PRIZE
Lev Higginson: A Piece of Shell
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Caleb Rowlandson: The Championship is the Toughest League in the World
Jonty Croskell: Why was Lewis Hamilton so Bad Last Season?
Victoria Unazi: Charting Evanescent Thoughts on Human Essence, Flaws and All!
Years 9 and 10
FIRST PRIZE
Evie Wallis-Fahy: The Enigma of the Minds at Bletchley Park
SECOND PRIZE
Elizabeth Wordsworth: It’s All in Your Head: Migraines
THIRD PRIZE
Riya Sharma: The Lives Between Stops
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Riccardo di Maria: Why Airport Security is so Infuriating
Yessa Bielova: Moving to Another Country
Bruno Ashord: Optimism or naïvety? A response to Bregman’s “Humankind”
Years 11 to 13
FIRST PRIZE
Libby Edmunds: The Arrogance of Placemaking: Did Donald Barthelme’s 1974 Short Story “I Bought a Little City”, Predict the Commercialised Approach to the Modern Redevelopment of our Cities?
SECOND PRIZE
Tadiwanashe Mabena: ”Severance”, the Ethics of Slavery and the Importance of Empathy
THIRD PRIZE
Poppy Harding: Kindness in the Law
With thanks to Dan Clifton for judging this year’s competition, and to Grace Murray for presenting the awards.