"Reading the stories for this award – which all focus on the symbol of dresses in the Broadgreen Historic House collection – was a privilege and a joy. Many shortlisted story have fine literary qualities, and each story weaves a narrative around one or both of the dresses, which is no small feat.

"We were intrigued and entertained by the range of ideas in these stories, to do with character, plot, setting and voice. We read romance, stream of consciousness, heist thriller, speculative fiction and everything in between. It was so interesting to see what could be inspired by using vintage dresses as prompts. An unexpected number of stories challenged gender norms; not all of them were set in the era the dresses were made.

"In the end, the winning stories stood out in certain ways. They kept our attention in terms of narrative: what will happen?! They showed originality of telling. And they had something to say about how we live, how we are moved emotionally in our lives."