The joint winners, Lesley Saunders and Mandy Coe, impressed the judges with their contrasting but brilliant styles and shared the £10,000 Prize.
The award ceremony again formed part of the Manchester Literature Festival and was a gala dinner held at Manchester Metropolitan University, hosted by James Draper and Matthew Frost (this time working as a humorous double act) with music from the Gavin Barras Duo and readings from the judges and six finalists.
And in terms of being honourable, asking for anonymous entries ensures that reputations and allegiances don't enter the equation.
Also asking for a batch of poems rather than a single entry allows judges to look beyond competency and control in writing and to reward other virtues, such as risk-taking, inventiveness and sustained achievement.
Michelle Kern from New York won the Jeffrey Wainwright Manchester Young Writer of the Year Award.
The runners up were John Wedgwood Clarke, Clive McWilliam, Lesley Saunders (who won in 2008) and Jack Underwood.
The Manchester Writing School launched the first Manchester Fiction Prize in 2009, with Nicholas Royle as Head Judge, joined by Sarah Hall and M. John Harrison; the School launched a second Fiction Prize in 2011, with Royle chairing the panel for a second time, joined by Heather Beck, John Burnside and Alison MacLeod.
In 2013, the Prize became an annual event and a Manchester Writing for Children Competition (Poetry) was launched, with judges Mandy Coe, Imtiaz Dharker and Philip Gross.