Dust and Divinity

Dust & Divinity features twenty-five winning and shortlisted stories from the 2025 Ink of Ages Fiction Prize, an international short story contest organized by World History Encyclopedia and sponsored by Oxford University Press.

Mesopotamian tablets, ancient Egyptian murder, Norse tales of magic, and the discovery of a lost shoe all serve as inspiration for just a few of these stories. Our writers take us from the valleys of South Wales to Pakistan’s Lake Saif-ul-Malook, from Polish salt mines to the foothills of Chinese mountains. Murder, betrayal, death, and disaster meet hope, resilience, and a sprinkle of humor. In the face of despair, at least there’s family (when they’re not conspiring against you), music, art, dogs, and Danish pastries.

What endures when everything else has turned to dust?

Adult Prize

• Zannanza by Anna McHugh – First Prize
  Inspired by the murder of Zannanza, the Hittite prince who was requested as a husband by a widowed Egyptian queen.
• Møya by Senthan Thomas Sivasangar – Second Prize
  Inspired by Møya i Ulveham, an old Norwegian myth spread via folk ballads.
• Shining Light by Richard Garcka – Third Prize
  Inspired by the construction of the Lighthouse of Alexandria.
• Federico by João Costa – Highly Commended
  Inspired by the Spanish Civil War.
• The Deluge by Abaan Zaidi – Highly Commended
  Inspired by Tablet 11 of the Epic of Gilgamesh, also known as the Flood Tablet.
• The Diary by Matt Roberts
  Inspired by a diary entry about the Aberfan disaster.
• The Salamander of London by Peter Hankins
  Inspired by coming across the Cellini anecdote while reading about the Great Fire of London.
• The Sound of Salt by Will Reardon
  Inspired by the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice.
• Bog Child by Mairi McCurdy
  Inspired by an old-fashioned child’s shoe found in a bog in Donegal.
• Encrusted by Michael Kowalczyk-Barker
  Inspired by Wieliczka salt miners in southern Poland.
• To End a Nightmare by Miriam Culy
  Inspired by the Black Death.
• Fidelity by Morna Sullivan
  Inspired by the writing and illustrations, particularly one of a dog, in the Book of Kells.
• A Mountain God's Dilemma by Paul Burdick
  Inspired by the author's mother escaping Nazis in Germany during World War II.
• Echoes of Hunger and Hope by Moira Lee Pellehan
  Inspired by the brutal reality of people’s lives during the Great Famine in Ireland.

• To Forget by Sophia Campbell – First Prize
  Inspired by Native American residential schools and the forced assimilation programs of the 19th and 20th centuries.
• The Defeat of the Emperor by Cassandra Hughes – Second Prize
  Inspired by the author's research on Napoleon for school.
• Maidens, Men and Raging Seas by Prisha Roy Mahapatra – Third Prize
  Inspired by selkies from Celtic and Norse folklore.
• Shattered Souls, Eternal Light by Faaris Jamali – Highly Commended
  Inspired by folklore about Lake Saif-ul-Malook in Kaghan Valley, Pakistan.
• The Weaver by Jenna Davis – Highly Commended
  Inspired by the story of Arachne.
• The Land We Dreamed Of by Tatiana Randjelovic
  Inspired by the US's Western expansion.
• Wedding Flowers by Emily Peters
  Inspired by the marriage of Hera and Zeus.
• The Magic of Myth by Yau
  Inspired by the stories of Nüwa, the goddess of nature in Chinese mythology.
• The Tortured Artist by Iris
  Inspired by the life of Vincent van Gogh.
• The Spinster by Somya Jain
  Inspired by the Greco-Roman myth of Arachne and Athena.
• The Secret of the Louvre by Kayla Williams
  Inspired by the theft of the Mona Lisa in 1911.