OUR JUDGES
Pippa Brush Chappell
Pippa is a writer, editor, and tutor with a PhD (1999) from the University of Alberta. She has taught at universities in Canada and the US, and in the UK she has taught in secondary schools and worked in fundraising.
Pippa is a developmental editor and group coach with The History Quill, specialising in historical fiction. She also works as a tutor for GCSE and A‑level English; runs the Reading Room and the Writing Room; and is studying to serve as a celebrant.
Her creative work includes published short fiction and poetry, a Pushcart Prize nomination in Quartet, and a historical novel shortlisted for Novel London 2020.
Leeanne Parke
Leeanne is a published poet whose work has appeared in a range of poetry anthologies. Her writing is often observational, exploring themes of identity and otherness.
After winning the Chesham Literary Festival Poetry Competition in 2024, she went on to serve twice as a judge for the competition.
A keen reader of both fiction and poetry, she is delighted to be judging this year's Chesham Short Story Prize.
Richard de Silva
Richard is a writer from South London, who has lived in Chesham for ten years.
He has a degree in Creative Writing and writes short stories across different genres, including literary, science fiction, crime, and humour.
Richard's work has appeared in numerous publications, including Ripple, Titanic Terastructures, To Hull and Back, and The Chalk Stream. He was also a prizewinning poet of the 2025 Chesham Literary Festival.
He has recently written a novel that draws on his Anglo-Indian roots, for which he is now seeking representation.