Congratulations go to Francesca Ash (2018 C), who has been awarded the prestigious Dan Hemingway Prize. Fran is now in her fourth and final year at the University of St Andrews, studying English Literature.

The prize was initiated by Dr and Mrs Hemingway in 1992 after their son Dan, a former University of St Andrews undergraduate, was killed in an accident in 1991. The Prize is awarded for the best, original short story submitted by a St Andrews undergraduate.

Fran won the prize for Renamed, a story based on the real-life situations of boys inducted onto the Chichester naval training ship in 1866. The story primarily follows James, whose troublesome past and hopeful future frame his first day on the ship. Francesca was inspired by the stories her parents had told her about the Arethusa training ship in Greenhithe, which motivated her research into the original training ship, the HMS Chichester. 

After graduation this summer, Fran hopes to study for a master’s degree in Anglo-Saxon literature.