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Despite the disruption to the postal service we were delighted to receive 304 entries this year, which were read by our panel of judges who used our carefully developed guidelines to select a short-list of thirty. These were given to the chief judge who commented as follows: JUDGE’S REPORT Kathleen Conlon “To succeed in its aim, a short story has to engage the attention from the outset; and, because of the constraints of word length, it must set a convincing scene economically; and, most importantly, it must present a fresh approach to the chosen subject. Characterisation is important, as is consistency of theme. Language should be clear and precise; excessive imagery, and over-use of metaphor, which obscures rather than elucidates, only impedes our understanding. All nine of these stories had something to recommend them, but the winners were those which succeeded best in marrying content to form, and each contained that element of surprise which lifted it out of the ordinary. Interestingly, all three were either set in the past or else events in the past were instrumental in shaping the present situation, and all were adept at invoking period detail in a convincing fashion, but the overall winner had an authenticity which convinced the reader that the characters were real people attempting, in their different ways, to cope with the aftermath of a real and life-changing event. It is no mean feat to incorporate a historical fact, of which we are all aware, into a work of fiction without the joins being evident, but this story succeeded in doing so. Of the twenty-seven short-listed stories, I have no hesitation in awarding it first place.” Please note that some stories, highlighted orange, are available to read. The Winners 1st Prize Douglas Bruton, West Linton: The Boy Who Stayed At School. 2nd Prize Brenda Ryan, Bolton: Bitter Sweet. 3rd Prize Rosemarie Rose, Cwmbran: Me and Sophia Loren Highly Commended Dorothy Schwarz, Colchester: I’m Not Tired. Cherry Lawton, Wolverhampton: The Anti-Ageing Diet Plan. Commended Iain Pattison, Bristol: Once Upon a Crime. Rosemarie Rose, Cwmbran: The Dandelion Lawn. Jonathon Pinnock, St Albans: The Last Words of Emanuel Prettyjohn. Louise Hume, Brighton: Vivid. Shortlisted S. Whaley: Jam, Jerusalem and Jeronimo P. Philippou: A long Way Home J.Copley: The World Left Behind D. Patterson: Happy Birthday, Catherine P. Barbieri: Man Made N. Gilbert: Alligator Wrestling in the Far West L. Voyce: Dreamtime Providence M. Pearcy: We Shall Overcome M. Swann: Julia’s Big Day L. Armitage: Fete and Fortune J. Morris: A New Place D. Manser: The Lonely Salesman P. Jacobs: It’s in the Bag C. McHaines: Party Talk J. Hall: Seeing Red S. Holman: Forgetting What We Knew M. James: Must End Monday T. Jayatilaka: As long as she Waited Please click HERE to view Kathleen Conlons individual comments. |
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RESULTS  The competition was ably judged by Jane Aspinall, who cheerfully and effervescently (?) gave us a well constructed critique of the winners and runners up on the presentation evening, as well as treating us to some of her own fine work. 
The Winners 1st Prize Anne Stewart: BALANCE SHEET 2nd Prize Wendy Klein: ORIENTEERING FOR A BLIND DOG 3rd Prize Sharon Black: SEA GLASS Humour Prize Paul Groves: ELVIS LIVES Local Prizes Michael Cunningham: ON THE WAY DOWN Highly Commended Ms A.M.L Laugher: IN PRAISE OF KITCHEN ROLL Sharon Black: MORNING AFTER Denise Bennett: For Edward Thomas Commended C.J Allen: PAUL Lauren Urquhart: LOVE IS POISON Roger Darby: ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM |
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