PRIZES at the first ever Magic Oxygen Literary Prize were handed out after judges waded through hundreds of entries from writers across the world.

The unique competition is the only literary prize in the world to donate a tree for every entry received - with 800 planted in Bore, Kenya.

Australian writer Michelle Wright was awarded first place at a special ceremony at The Hub on Saturday for her short story Blurred Edges, ahead of fellow Australian Casey Tonkin with Weapon of God and James de Beresford’s Tears in Hailar.

Catherine Rolfe took first place in the poetry award with Step-Mother, with The World Stands Still To Weep by Sarah Wallis in second place and Heather Combe’s The Loneliness Of The Drunk Mathematician in third place.

Editor in chief at Lyme Regis-based Magic Oxygen Publishing Simon West believes the competition has proved so popular because entrants are rewarded with a tree being planted in their name. Trees will also be planted for each book of shortlisted entries sold.

"We wanted to do something better than a regular literary prize" said Simon. "As well as the trees which authors can track with GPS co-ordinates, the entry money is being used to build a classroom at Kundeni School in Bore.

"It's remarkable how useful some of the tress that have been planted are to the community. Some of the plants are being used to produce medicines and pesticides - while they can also purify drinking water with some of the seeds.

"We chose Kenya because countries on the equator do the best work in absorbing carbon dioxide - and it is fantastic for the writers to be rewarded with something for their work, even if they have been unsuccessful."

Author and editor at Magic Oxygen, Tracey West said: "Writers need notebooks and notebooks require trees.

"We hope our pioneering competition turns into an inspirational legacy that is replicated by other publishing houses and competition organisers."

Events were held across the town last week to celebrate Lyme’s literary heritage and to get youngsters exciting about reading and writing. Highlights of the first Lyme Regis Literary Festival included the Hip Yak Poetry Shack at The Marine Theatre - with performances from Matt Harvey, Chris Redmond, Liv Torc and Jonny Fluffypunk.

Entries for next year's Magic Oxygen Literary Prize are to be submitted between July 1 and December 31.

"We had the confirmation on Saturday that we will definitely be running it again" said Simon. "It is an incredibly rewarding

thing to be involved with and it means so much to us."

For more information, and to buy the shortlisted poems and stories as a collection, log onto magicoxygen.co.uk