MinK2026: MinK#6: The Trees

For 2026, MK Lit Fest adopted The Trees as the theme for its sixth flash fiction, creative non-fiction and poetry competition in the MinK series. Writers from Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire were free to interpret that as they wished. Here you will encounter kings and children alike hiding amongst branches, trees of every species that have been loved or mourned, future cities where nature has taken rewilding to new levels, and museums where bonsai are grown on 3D printers. There are trees that we have hugged or longed to embrace, and trees that have embraced us in return. Trees have made a view or a memory, or buckled a pavement or haunted a dream. Why not take a seat in our verbal arboretum, and settle down for a fascinating read or forty-eight...